So, you’ve decided you want to redo your outdoor space. Awesome. However, once the excitement of your new commitment wears off, you’re left to take the first step. Among these is picking a landscape designer to begin your project. But how do you find the right landscape designer in your area?
This may seem like an impossible prospect. Thankfully, it’s not. With both modern technology and traditional strategies, you can find the right landscape designer for your project quickly and painlessly. Here’s what to consider before offering a company your money.
Ask Around
For many of your city's best landscape designers, their reputation will precede them. Good or bad, you remember the experience you had with the people who redid your entire outdoor space. Because of this, one of the fastest ways to find out which landscaping companies are worth your time is just to ask your family and friends.
A personal testimony from someone you trust is just as good, if not better than faceless reviews from dozens of people online. Not only can this individual share their experience, but you will be able to see the outcome first-hand. This process can work in reverse, as well.
If you see someone with a back yard you truly admire, find out who did the project. If similar names continue to pop up, then it’s a good sign you’ve found the right person for your own outdoor living space. .
Use Online Resources
How did anyone find anything good before the internet? We’re just kidding. But seriously- the age of the internet has made finding great craftsmen, contractors, and designers easier than ever. Online resources devoted to geographic searches include sites such as Houzz, Yelp, and Angi (previously Angi’s List).
With the introduction of social media, this reach has expanded even further. Instagram and Facebook are now powerhouses for landscape designer companies across the country to showcase their work.
To find an excellent option near you, ensure you refine your location. For example, a search for landscape designers in California will open a broad, hard to narrow pool of hundreds of options. Narrowing down to a radius of a few miles of your town will help to simplify your options. Most sites will even allow you to search by zip code.
Consider Their Catalogue
The best designers maintain public portfolios of their work for a reason. If a company is proud of the jobs they do and are willing to share the outcomes online, it says a lot about them. Less reputable companies are unlikely to show you their work from start to finish. Or, they may require prospective clients to reach out before showing work. In the world of landscape design, this may be a red flag.
The more willing a designer is to showcase their work publicly, the more they signal that they are proud of what they produce. What you see is what you will get, and a designer who isn’t trying to hide that is likely to continue to be honest throughout the design process. If you are paying someone a great deal of money to renovate your space, then this honesty is important.
Not only does a public portfolio iimply transparency, but it gives you a great idea of what the designers' preferences and abilities are. If you are looking for a luxury pool renovation but see no prior examples in their gallery, it could be an indication to move on. At the end of the day, the more content a company has to prove the quality of the work, the more confident you can be that you will join the ranks of successful and shareable projects.
Define Your Project
In many ways, picking the right landscape designer for your space is all about knowing what your project looks like. In other words, to find the right person for the job, you first have to know what the job is. Some contractors are better suited for some work than others.
For example, if you are looking to completely replant your backyard and highlight beautiful native plantings and the landscape of your space, you should look into designers with a specialty in garden design. However, a different designer would be preferred if the bulk of your project contains pool installation and perhaps a new deck.
At the end of the day, everybody has their niche. Landscape designers are no different. Finding the person who is right for your backyard reno is a lot easier when you know what you are looking for. Take the time to write out your backyard wishlist and shop designers based on your dream space.
Know Your Budget
Knowing what you can afford helps to shape the entirety of your project. From start to finish, money is a factor in every element of backyard renovation, including choosing a designer. You may be shocked to find out that some companies will not even bother working with clients who can’t afford to spend a certain amount on a project. This is a more common occurrence than you think.
For this reason, understanding what you can afford will promote great communication and transparency between you and your designer. Knowing what is in your budget will help your design team to create a space you love, that you can actually afford to create without pausing the project, or changing the plans midway through. Just as knowing what you want is important, knowing what you can afford can determine your potential design pool.
Take Reviews With a Grain of Salt
Everything is not as it seems, especially on the internet. Whether you’re viewing a hundred paid positive reviews from faceless bots, or one scathing review from a client who is unreasonably angry, not everything you see online should be trusted. When determining which reviews are and are not trustworthy, consider the following.
Are they written by real accounts? Reviews written by verified users should be trusted over those written by faceless, bot accounts. Sadly, many companies with larger online presences may find it easy to fake good reviews. Alternatively, even great landscaping companies have a bad day. Incoherent ranting or a lack of description may indicate an unjustly critical review.
Ultimately, it’s important to take online ratings with a grain of salt. If possible, use other barometers to gauge if a landscape designer is the right fit for your project. Their body of completed work as well as their local reputation say more about how they would perform in your space than anything else.
If you follow your gut and know what you’re looking for, finding a landscape designer that’s right for you doesn’t have to be hard.
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