Home Design: When to call in the professionals

A renovation can be stressful, costly and scant on fun, but recruiting a design professional can reverse that and improve the outcome

David O’Brien’s stylish lighting plan is rooted in practical design with receded LED ceiling spots, pendants over the island and wall lights which can be dimmed for a softer atmosphere by night.

Switch on the television these days and channel hopping will likely land you at a home renovation programme awash with design input.

But have the likes of Kevin McCloud, whose every word we hang on, actually made the public more inclined to involve a design professional in a project, or are we still thinking the money ought to be allocated to the fancy kitchen and the statement light we saw in a magazine?