Hiring help with your home is a luxury not everyone has, and if you're weighing it up, it's worth knowing what you actually get for it. Beyond the obvious, someone to help realise your vision, good design consultation quietly prevents the kind of expensive missteps that are easy to make on your own.

Here's how.

Interior design can feel like a closed world if you're not in it, so if you've never worked with a designer, it's easy to assume it's not for you. That's changing. Design consultations exist precisely for people who want expert direction without committing to a full, ongoing project.

Here's what one actually involves.

Can't put your finger on why a room isn't working? I’ll unpack the common culprits, from scale to lighting to layout, and simple ways to put it right.