The interior design industry has exploded over the past decade, with more and more interior design magazines appearing on the shelves of new stalls and news agents and a huge increase in the amount of television viewing hours given over to interior design television programs as well as make over programs.
To go hand in hand with this increase in popularity there has also been a huge increase in the amount of people claiming to be interior design "experts" or fully fledged interior designers.
But what can these people do for your home that you cannot do yourself? The answer is probably very little in all honesty, that is unless you get a top grade interior designer who has made it their life's work to re design the interior of people's homes.
Many of the people who today claim to be specialists in the field of interior design have no more qualifications than a year or two studying at the local college in the evenings after they have finished their regular day job.
This is not what I would call an expert.
So unless you are totally satisfied that you are getting a time served, fully qualified interior designer who will be able to come up with plans and ideas that you yourself could not do then steer away and why not have a go at doing the job yourself.
Having a go at doing a little interior design in your own home may seem a little daunting at first but there is absolutely no reason why it should be, after all it is your own home and if you get it wrong who is going to be angry? No one, it's your home you can do as you please.
To make the job a little easier there are a few things that you can do before you start any work and there a few things you should get right in your own mind as well.
Firstly you need to be honest with yourself, if there are any jobs that you feel that you are not capable of doing then get a professional in or a friend who may be able to do it for you.
The last thing you want to do is try re-plumbing a bathroom and flooding the whole house.
Know your limits and budget accordingly.
Take the time to write down all of the thing that you want to achieve with your interior design project as well as a time scale and cost attached to these items.
Always be generous with these budgets as it's is much easier to work to a realistic budget than a hopeful one.
As certain rooms within the home are easier to work with it may be an idea to have a go at working in these specific rooms first, namely the living room and the front room.
Things to take into account when working with these rooms is the amount of light coming into them as well as the amount of living room furniture that will need to be placed or replaced.
It is important to understand the lighting in the room to give you an idea of what color tones to use that will enhance the features within the room.
The furniture issue is more of a practicality one, over size living room furniture is very popular at the moment and needs a larger room to accommodate it, if your room is not as large as you would like you will need to try another method of furnishing the room.
When you are happy that you have got the hang of the basics of interior design you might feel comfortable at having a go at other more difficult jobs within the home.
If you do get stuck for ideas there are plenty of interior design resource sites and forums on the inter web that should be able to point you in the right direction.