Frequently Asked Questions
Full-service interior design or turn-key interior design means the interior design firm manages all the work involved in a renovation or decoration project on behalf of the client. Everything from the initial design, through to selecting the items for the space, engaging any trades, placing the orders, managing the logistics of deliveries, coordinating installations, managing the timeline and budget, and accessorizing and styling. The biggest benefits to full-service design is the time and money clients save getting through the project.
MOD invites you to talk with their clients about their experience. Please reach out for a list of references.
A retainer is a deposit that is held until the completion of the project, where it is either applied to the final invoice.
We source furniture from various vendors. The Design Centers in Dallas are a great resource for us. We also use local stores, showrooms, manufactures, and retail locations, as well as online and catalogue retailers. If our clients have a source that they prefer to work with, we are more than happy to do so. We also work with local custom furniture builders, custom upholstery, and drapery workrooms as well.
No. We will work with your builder, or tradespeople. We are more than happy to refer you to those who can help as well.
We primarily prefer email communications for non-urgent matters or communications with detailed information. You are welcome to call us, However, if it is not a pre-scheduled phone conference, we are often unable to answer as we are often be in the middle of a meeting, on the road or deeply focused on a design project.
Our business hours are Monday – Thursday 10am to 5pm, Friday 10am to 2pm. On rare exceptions we can schedule meetings outside of normal business hours. There is an additional upcharge for meetings scheduled for nights or weekends.
No, we offer partial and full-service design options. Clients have the choice to purchase items themselves or use our full-service option, where we curate the entire custom design.
Interior decorators typically focus on the decorative elements of a home, such as: paint color, window treatments, bedding, furniture, décor, etc. Interior designers do this, and more. An interior designer have knowledge of interior architecture principals, drafting skills, general building code guidelines and more. MODI is qualified to handle both your decoration and architectural design needs.
The completion time will vary from project to project. A typical kitchen remodel may take approximately 3 months to design and build. If you are remodeling your bathroom, the process may take only a month from start to finish. A custom home design from start to finish may take 3 months to layout and plan the details. A living room remodel may take a month to design, and 2 months to receive and install all product and furniture. Much of this depends on your builder, and your comfort with making decisions in a timely manner.
The portfolio page on this site has a good sampling of our work. Feel free to contact us if you are looking for specific projects.
We don’t have a particular “style” that we stick to, we love and appreciate the beauty in every design style. Our client’s preferences, the architecture of the home, and budget will dictate the interior’s style. We always avoid overdone styles and love to incorporate something unexpected in every space we create.
Our typical project is in NE Tarrant county. We do work throughout the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex and take on out of town/state projects on a case by case basis.
Professional interior designers receive discounts from vendors because they are registered resellers of home goods. The discounts vary from vendor to vendor. MODI does share part of that discount with our full-service clients and gives you access to their huge depth of our resources. The to-the-trade furniture industry is quite substantial—80,000 vendors present their wares in High Point Market alone. So, this isn’t just about pricing, but also about access to trade-only sources.
We require 100% deposit on all orders for many reasons.
- It cuts paperwork in half (instead of billing for a deposit and final invoice).
- Since we do turn-key project installations (where we do one delivery after all of the orders are in at our local receiver’s warehouse), you would still be required to pay for items in full prior to receiving them.
- Projects move more quickly this way, as it makes the entire order process more efficient and allows us to get your orders to you quicker.
Here’s an example of the to illustrate our point: Our vendors won’t ship your items until they are paid in full, so in the case of a 50% deposit, we would then pay our vendors 50%. They would send us an invoice when the item is ready to ship. We then send you a balance-due invoice. We process your payment, then pay our vendor. Some vendors still send paper invoices and only take checks, so this can add a week or two to the lead time.
The estimated freight costs are an industry standard which covers:
- Repacking by receiver
- Crating or packaging by vendor
- In-home delivery and placement of your item
- Cutting for approval cost and mail fees (fabric)
- Freight from vendor to receiver or workroom
- Unpacking and inspection by receiver or workroom
- Storage at receiver until client is ready for delivery
- Insurance on your item while it is in transit and in storage
We include freight estimates at the time of proposal instead of surprising you with these costs at the end of the project. We keep an eye on the overall percentage to verify that it accurately reflects the quoted costs.