When you’re remodeling or building a new home, an architectural color consultant OR an interior designer could be of great value to you. How do you know which of us to hire? What’s the difference? It all depends on your project scope and needs. Read on!

Colorful ladies and gentlemen worldwide,

Greetings to you all from LFB Color Consulting studios in The Woodlands, Texas. I hope that this finds you well and rested after your weekend. Today on the blog I’m addressing the differences between architectural color consulting and interior design.

There are 3 key distinctions:: accreditation, breadth of services, and space planning.

Interior designers are accredited via professional degrees and ongoing continuing education coursework.

Architectural color consultants specialize in all manner of color, materials and finishes and are NOT necessarily accredited as interior designers. In my case, I have a bachelor’s degree in Accounting with an associate’s degree in Fashion Design and various color certifications. I do NOT hold an interior design degree, though, and thus haven’t been educated in all interior design areas.

Architectural color consultants specialize in the selection of colors, materials, finishes and fixtures only.

This includes paint, hard surfaces, lighting and plumbing fixtures, carpeting, wallpaper and upholstery fabrics. At LFB Color Consulting, I tell prospective and existing clients that though I’m not a designer, some of my work intersects with design, and I specify wherever a color decision needs to be made.

LFB Color regularly specifies upholstery fabrics, gives color direction on furniture and other large purchases, selects the proper window treatments based on color and style, and even consults on lighting installations and fixtures. I give both general and specific color direction as needed.

The broader the scope of your design needs, the more likely it is that you’ll need to hire an interior designer. Interior designers offer a much wider breadth of services than we architectural color consultants do. If you need furniture, art, rugs, lamps and other decor sourced, then you will be best served by an accredited interior designer.

There’s more…………

Do you need assistance with space planning and extensive preliminary design work?

Here’s when you call an interior designer, not me! My skill set as an architectural color consultant does include the review of architectural plans to determine optimal color and materials design schemes, BUT I am simply not a space planner.

The more detailed your project is from inception, the more I would recommend that you interview and hire the right interior designer.

So then, when DO you call me, your architectural color consultant?

Colorful people, you should reach out to me—a seasoned architectural color consultant who DOES stay abreast of new color and design industry trends—if and when

• you already have curated a beautiful collection of art, furnishings and other decor but need help with any new color, materials, finishes and fixtures on your home build or remodel

• you feel overwhelmed during the design process with your builder and could use my expert eye to pull everything together and create cohesion—paint, flooring, counter tops, back splash, plumbing and lighting fixtures, hardware, and any fabrics or wallpaper

• you’ve done much of the materials sourcing yourself and struggle to finalize all of the options

• you need simple but important color direction to create a paint color palette

For anyone reading the blog today still wondering if you need my assistance or more information about the LFB Color design process, please reach out to me here: lauren@lfbcolor.com.

We at team LFB offer a complimentary discovery call to gain understanding of your project scope and needs. From there we determine a course of action together.

As always, thank you for your readership!

Until next time and very colorfully yours,

Lauren Battistini