"If decorating sounds fun to you, learn a few principles, trust your instincts, and do it yourself. If decorating feels overwhelming or exhausting, hire a talented designer you love and enjoy the process through them."

-Sarah Fennell, Founder of Interior Delights

That is my honest answer whenever someone asks whether they should hire an interior designer.

You might be surprised by that answer coming from someone who works in the home decor industry. Most articles on this topic make it sound like hiring a designer is the obvious choice. The truth is, I've seen beautiful homes created both ways. I've also seen expensive professionally designed rooms that missed the mark entirely and DIY projects that turned out stunning because the homeowner understood what they loved and had the patience to create it.

The question isn't whether you're capable of decorating your home. Most people absolutely are. The real question is whether you enjoy the process enough to invest your time in it.

One of the biggest misconceptions I see is that beautiful homes are created by people with some magical design talent. In reality, the homeowners who get the best results often aren't designers at all. They simply take their time. They gather inspiration photos. They start with major furniture pieces instead of random accessories. They make decisions intentionally rather than impulsively. More often than not, that approach leads to a home that feels personal, welcoming, and authentic.

On the other hand, there are plenty of situations where hiring a designer makes perfect sense. If you're building a new home, working with a large budget, managing a major renovation, or simply don't enjoy decorating, bringing in a professional can save tremendous amounts of time and stress. Life is busy. Many homeowners would rather spend their weekends with family than researching furniture dimensions and lighting placement. There is absolutely nothing wrong with outsourcing something you don't enjoy.

One thing that has shaped my perspective over the years is seeing what happens when homeowners try to decorate without a plan. The biggest decorating mistakes are surprisingly consistent. People choose furniture that's too small for their rooms. They buy decor before creating a vision. They pick paint colors before selecting major furnishings. They ignore scale. Then they wonder why the room never feels finished.

Perhaps my most repeated decorating opinion is this: bigger art is usually better than smaller art. If you've ever walked into a room and felt like something was missing, undersized artwork is often the culprit. People tend to be cautious when choosing wall art because they're afraid of going too big. Ironically, the opposite mistake is far more common. Large scale artwork creates confidence, balance, and visual impact. Tiny pieces floating on large walls rarely do.

Of course, hiring a designer doesn't automatically guarantee success. I've seen professionally designed rooms that were beautiful on paper but disappointing in real life because the designer focused more on trends than on what the homeowner genuinely loved. A home should reflect the people living in it, not whatever happens to be popular on social media this year. The best designers understand that their job is not to create their own vision. Their job is to help bring your vision to life.

For homeowners who don't want to hire a designer but still want their home to feel professionally decorated, my advice is surprisingly simple. Start with your biggest frustration.

Most people assume their problem room is the living room. In reality, I find the areas that cause the most stress are kitchen counters, dining tables, entry consoles, and other flat surfaces where life accumulates. Backpacks get dropped there. Mail gets stacked there. Chargers appear out of nowhere. Somehow every family develops a magical clutter magnet somewhere in the house.

Instead of trying to redesign your entire home, focus on one of those trouble spots. Create a beautiful vignette that you genuinely love looking at. Add a decorative riser, a beautiful vase, fresh or faux flowers, and perhaps a runner that anchors the arrangement. At the same time, create a hidden place nearby to stash the inevitable daily clutter.

This might sound almost too simple, but I've watched it work repeatedly. One homeowner transformed a single surface with a thoughtfully arranged vignette. The arrangement looked so beautiful that she naturally stopped piling random items there. Because that area stayed cleaner, she moved on to another room and created a second vignette. Then a third. Over time, her entire home became more organized, not because she hired a designer or followed some complicated system, but because she created spaces she wanted to preserve.

That's one of the most overlooked truths in decorating. Beautiful spaces influence behavior. When a room feels intentional and welcoming, people tend to take better care of it.

Another area where homeowners waste tremendous amounts of money is shopping without a plan. We've all done it. You walk into Target intending to buy laundry detergent and somehow leave with a cart full of decorative items. The problem isn't the store. The problem is that most purchases are made without considering how they fit into the overall design of the home.

One of my favorite practical tips is to carry photos or swatches of your key design elements when shopping. Keep images of your rug, upholstery, curtains, and wall colors on your phone. If you're serious about decorating intentionally, create a small folder dedicated to your home's color palette and materials. Before purchasing something, ask yourself whether it complements those elements. If it doesn't, leave it behind. This simple habit can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars over time. Watch my video for my favorite tips! 

If you'd like additional inspiration while decorating, publications such as Country Living (https://www.countryliving.com), Better Homes & Gardens (https://www.bhg.com), Southern Living (https://www.southernliving.com), House Beautiful (https://www.housebeautiful.com), and The Spruce (https://www.thespruce.com) offer excellent examples of well designed homes that balance beauty and livability.

At the end of the day, deciding whether to hire an interior designer isn't really about money, talent, or even experience. It's about how you want to spend your time. Some people love the hunt for the perfect lamp, the excitement of choosing fabrics, and the satisfaction of watching a room come together piece by piece. Others would happily hand those decisions to someone else and focus on everything else life demands.

Neither approach is better.

The best homes aren't created by designers or homeowners. They're created by people who know what they love. Whether you hire a designer or do it yourself is simply a matter of how you want to get there.