How does purchasing work when using a professional designer?

Interior design solutions don’t stop at creative ideation and slick 3D renderings. Bringing the entire vision to life requires several more months of hard, hands-on work. Once designs are reviewed and approved by the client, the next step is to actually find, customize, and purchase new items like furniture, accessories, drapery, appliances, flooring, fixtures, etc. This entire process is called “sourcing and procurement.”

A thorough understanding of the sourcing and procurement processes is critical for saving yourself time and ensuring client satisfaction. In turn, this knowledge will help you stay on budget and on track, which keeps the entire project profitable and emphasizes your expertise to the client. Interior design procurement is not a simple process, and many things can go wrong that will result in going over budget, missing deadlines, or failing to get an item that your client badly wanted.

So, after the design is created, presented and approved by the client the actual procurement or the FF&E of all the items happen. This is a very intense and important time of the design process and often filled with many obstacles and problems.

Why is it better the interior designer follows this project stage?

Work with a professional will make appears that everything runs smoothly but behind the scenes that are never the case.

The interior designer will make sure that the highest level of quality is delivered in the most reasonable amount of time without the stress and time waste for the client.

The interior design team communicate with all suppliers regarding specifications, ordering, quality inspections, coordination, delivery and financials.

In this article, we will answer commonly asked questions about the specific steps involved in procurement and sourcing for interior design. Keep reading for a set of recommendations on developing your own reliable processes.

What is the Difference Between Interior Design Sourcing and Procurement?

Interior design sourcing and procurement are two complementary but distinct steps in the completion of a renovation or construction project. Sourcing involves the selection of vendors and suppliers that can provide (e.g., manufacture, build, purchase) required items, and interior design procurement refers to the process of specifying order details, pricing different options, reviewing and placing the orders. Specifically, these phases of the interior design process typically involve the following types of work:

Sourcing

• Determining the exact pieces that will be sourced

• Review of all product options (e.g., finishes, textures, dimensions, colors, etc.)

• Identifying one or more vendors for each item (if multiple quotes are desired).

Procurement

• Budget tracking based on client selections

• Approval of final product specifications

• Product price comparisons

• Order Review and approval (e.g. total cost, design proof, etc.)

• Order placement

• Logistics coordination.

It is so thanks to the interior design experience that the procurement process at the end run smoothly and without any stress, money and time waste for the client.

Creator's Den can help you to create beautiful spaces. For more information or to book a consultation on our website, contact us today.