Finding an interior designer who can bring your vision to life is like finding a partner — it won't work if the chemistry isn't right and you both have to like the same things. Just being your interior designer style is not enough. It's a very personal process and it's important to find someone you feel comfortable working with and who you think "understands."

Here are five tips on how to find the right interior designer for you:

1. Be honest with yourself and the designer about what you want in terms of service. Do you want pea soup or do you want someone to order it for you after you design it yourself? There's nothing wrong with the routes or a lot of variation between them, but you'll get much better results if you start with the same expectations richmond interiors .

2. Try to calculate your budget. I find that many clients don't like disclosing their budgets until the estimates are out. I think people are skeptical about telling their designer what they want to spend, but it's much easier to know in advance because the designer can work according to what they direct and ensure they are spending the expensive substances used in the most economical way possible. Instead of thinking that they have the budget to fence the house.

3. Let your designer guide you, don't instruct them in the process. They know what they are doing and while how you want your home to look and feel is very important, it is also important to let the designer guide the process.

4. Deadlines are missed if you don't respond effectively to emails, forecasts and invoices. Items on hold will run out, items in stock will sell out and suddenly have a long deadline. August changed and the factory closed. Suppliers and specialists are hired elsewhere and suddenly you have to wait six weeks for something almost ready if you replied to an email five weeks ago. It's amazing how quickly five weeks of unanswered emails have gone by!

5. Go with someone you completely trust and whose tastes you trust. The most enjoyable thing you will have and the most exciting thing you will have is when you are pushed in a new direction, which can make you feel a little uncomfortable at first. You want to work with someone you end up trusting more than yourself because these whimsical lights will make the room grand and yours, not just another well-decorated room in a real estate flyer brochure.

MORE: Need some inspiration? Check out Rita's interior for Deborah Needleman and Jacob Weisberg's home in Garrison, New York.