“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” Dickens had a deeper meaning when he wrote this, but his words could very easily be applied to the process of building or remodeling a home. It can be a nerve-wracking process; parting with your savings, determining who to hire, making decisions about things you only halfway understand.

Great professionals make the entire process easier, and one of the most important is a talented interior designer. It is easy to look at their portfolios to see whose work you enjoy, but how can you know who you should trust, and who you will enjoy working with? We worked with Yates Desygn, a Dallas-based design firm, to come up with 5 questions you should ask any designer before hiring them on your project.