My OH and I are not very aligned about how to set up (kitchen, bathroom) & decorate our new place. Well, that is kind of an understatement. I think that at some point in the future, we will buy a duplex, so we can have two very different houses in one.

Meanwhile, as a Solomonic solution, we have (at least) agreed to try hiring an interior decorator. Would any EF member have any recommendations on good lads / ladies that could be shared, please?

Could you please also share which would be 'best practices' on choosing one? (to make sure that s/he fits our needs, and to make sure that s/he understands our wishes and tastes). I have seen some of my friends in UK and France living in AD styled houses, but not being of their taste, but the decorators'.... )

Thx!

I’m not sure I would trust any Swiss interior designer here - it’s all very Le Corbusier - but if you like that kind of thing, and like looking like any other home with more money than personal taste, then why not.

There are many businesses offering internal design services, depends on which direction you are looking e.g. Nordic etc ?

Indeed, indeed, you are perfectly right...that's why I am asking @ the EF! problem is that most of the people we have been 'talked into' by friends, are Swiss - from architects (with monumental personalit... i mean, 'cutting edge' styles), to decorators associated to a company - interested in selling its own products. And, yes, all of them with pretty interesting prejudgments.

So, in a way, i am looking for a free-lancer, someone creative and with flexibility.
That triggers another question -- should we ask for a 'book', or should s/he present one as an 'introduction', so we see which type of styles s/he can work around?

Thx!

I think I'd look in France, if I wanted something chic. And not over the board expensive that local friends of a local interior designer will come up with.

And yes, interior designers have, of course, a portfolio. It is on-line and some of it should be freely accessible.

Have you considered hiring and Interior Architect?

*runs away*

Kitchen is pretty straightforward, you can get pretty well detailed estimates for free from just about any kitchen designer in Switzerland (3D rendering) to help you refine your ideal kitchen

Bathroom designers are now more more & more common in a similar fashion too. Doesn't preclude the need for an interior designer ultimately but those two key rooms of a dwelling can be done very well

Me, I’d look in Norway or Denmark. Switzerland is great for it’s design icons, but I have yet to see a wonderfully designed Swiss home, despite millions spent and that was designed by a Swiss interior designer. Except one - and that was actually designed (and built) by a Swiss with Italian roots in the Toscana

Our experience with a new kitchen that didn't have shiny surfaces on cabinets was unpleasant, it was absolutely impossible to clean.


Fingerprints on the fridge door after each opening ..and I often wash hands, nearly every 5 minutes.



We tried Handy Power that is cleaning even old and yellow refrigerators,we tried Anti-Fett, we tried all what we had. The Kitchen was used 2-3 months.



We sold the flat.


If the decorator would suggest matt surfaces, pretend you changed your mind.LOL

I really like the simplicity of Scandinavian esthetics too. And the ellegance of Italian stuff. I would never hire an interior designer coz I need to feel my own imprint on the stuff around me and trust my own esthetics, but it must be lovely to enjoy somebody else's ideas and inspirations. I am sure that OP will find somebody lovely, here too. The French region is quite chic about these things, not as utilitarian and rigid.