Frequently Asked Questions

Answer: You may have a busy life with little to no spare time to design your home to your liking, or you’re overwhelmed with the number of home décor choices available. Perhaps you’ve even scoured the shelter magazines (Veranda, Traditional Home, Texas Home & Living, etc.) and maybe even torn out pages of rooms you like, but are still unsure how to pull it all together to get the “complete look” you’re trying to achieve. For the past 11 years, Kristy Mastrandonas has been designing award-winning model homes for homebuilders throughout Texas...all on a Budget! Kristy and her associates at Hallmark Design Group can develop a design plan to help you pull one room together or your entire home.

Answer: Most experienced Interior Designers will be able to help you at any stage of a design project, but it’s usually best to begin working with a designer at the earliest stages of your design project, if not before. As with any process, good planning is the key to successful results. Hallmark Design Group can help you as little or as much as you desire. Whether you need help selecting paint colors or furniture placement to help on planning and completing an extensive remodeling project or selecting and specifying materials & finishes for new construction, we can take your design project from conception to completion.

Answer: Yes, it is true that most retail establishments offer “free” design assistance, and sometimes but not always, those consultants may be good at what they do. However, their primary allegiance and obligation is to their employer. They are also limited to the products they sell. At Hallmark Design Group, our allegiance and obligation is with you, the client. When you hire Hallmark Design Group as your interior design firm, you are in a sense our employer. We will share our numerous years of knowledge and expertise, our creativity and our resources. And while we have numerous vendors/manufacturers to draw upon to design your project, we have no vested interest in any product or merchandise with any of them. Our only concern is that we achieve your design goals and exceed you expectations.

Answer: Kristy Mastrandonas, our Principal Interior Designer, is a licensed and registered interior designer with TBAE (Texas Board of Architectural Examiners), professional member of both ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) and IDS (Interior Design Society), serves on both local chapters as a board member, and is a national board member for CQRID (Council for Qualification of Residential Interior Designers). Kristy is currently the 2012-2013 President-Elect of the ASID Texas Chapter.

While most people use the terms interchangeably, there is a significant difference between a licensed and registered interior designer and an interior decorator. Anyone can refer to him or herself as an interior decorator, but there are strict requirements to become a Licensed & Registered Interior Designer (RID), and those requirements vary from state to state. In the state of Texas, anyone calling him or herself a RID must meet specific educational and experience requirements, and pass the NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification) examination. In addition, an RID must take continuing educational courses every year on the many facets of Interior Design, such as Accessibility (ADA), Sustainability (Green Design), as well as courses on Health, Safety and Welfare to maintain RID standing. So why should this matter to you? Interior Decorators are primarily concerned with surface decoration, such as paint color of fabric selections. As licensed and registered interior designers, Hallmark Design Group is naturally concerned with these issues as well, but we are equally concerned with proper space planning, adequate lighting, safety and accessibility, acoustics and sound transmission, organizational and storage needs, building codes, as well as conservation and green design. We have in-depth knowledge of products, materials and finishes , as well as expert training to plan, execute and mange your project from start to finish. We strive to work with only the best suppliers, contractors and other service providers.

Answer: At Hallmark Design Group, we aim to make your interior design project a fun and rewarding experience. We begin each design project with an interior design consultation so that we can learn about your space, how you live in your space, what works and what doesn’t, as well as listening to how you envision living in your new space. During the interior design consultation we will also discuss your desired start and finish date, and help you establish a budget that is comfortable for you. Some of our clients prefer to take design projects in stages as time and budget allows, while others prefer to complete it all at once. Hallmark Design Group is pleased to help either!

Answer: This is a very common concern of clients, especially if they’ve never used an interior designer or have used an inexperienced interior decorator. At Hallmark Design Group, we firmly believe that the client’s home should be reflective of their personal tastes and suit their lifestyle, not a designer’s “signature look”. Prior to the Interior Design Consultation, we send our client’s a Lifestyle Questionnaire which will help them focus on their desired outcome. It also helps us to get to know our client better, thus designing a space that is uniquely theirs. Did I mention we don’t do “cookie cutter” designs?

Answer: That’s perfectly fine! In fact, many of our client’s prefer to design their home in stages. If a client’s ultimate goal is to design/re-design their entire home, Hallmark Design Group will create a comprehensive design plan (a road map if you will), and implement as time and budget allows.

Hallmark Design Group is fortunate to have some creative customers, and we welcome them with open arms! In these instances, Hallmark Design Group creates a design plan for the client to implement themselves. Of course it would be our pleasure to assist you as little or as much as you desire should you find you are not achieving the polished, professional look you desire.

Answer: Hallmark Design Group can help with either project. We have had numerous years experience selecting and specifying interior and exterior materials & finishes for client’s homes - from starter homes to multi-million dollar homes - for new homes or remodels, and luxury homebuilders model homes. We are known for our creative architectural details (specialty trim details, built-in bookcases and/or furniture, etc.) and our attention to detail. When you select Hallmark Design Group as your interior design firm we assist you from conception to completion. We provide you, your builder and/or contractor with detailed drawings and a specification package that has all of the material and finishes listed per room. So whether you’re remodeling your kitchen or bathroom, adding an addition or building a new home, Hallmark Design Group can help you achieve your interior design goals.

Answer: Absolutely! We will meet with you for an initial Interior Design Consultation to discuss the size and scope of your project, discuss your desired start and complete date, as well as discuss your design style and more. We prefer to meet with your contractor prior to any design project start to ensure that all questions have been answered. Depending on the complexity of the design project, Hallmark Design Group can create a design plan complete with specification packages for you and your contractor to refer to throughout the design project.

Our Interior Rearrangement service would be perfect for you! We would start the process with an Interior Design Consultation so that we can get a look and feel for your space, take all necessary measurements and photographs, discuss what you like and don’t like about your existing space, as well as learning about your desired outcome. From there we go back to our design studio to develop a well-laid-out plan to utilize as many of your beloved items as possibility. In all, this process can take as little as a day to a couple or a couple of weeks depending on the size and complexity of the new design plan.

Absolutely! In fact, working with an Interior Designer can actually save you money in the long run, not to mention time and aggravation. When you hire Hallmark Design Group as your interior designer, you’re not only hiring creative talent, you are also hiring years of knowledge and expertise. We can help prevent costly design and purchasing mistakes while advising you on where to splurge and where to save so that you can get the most bang for your buck, so to speak.

Hallmark Design Group advises all clients to start a design file. We suggest perusing through shelter magazines (Veranda, Traditional Home, Texas Home & Living, etc.) and tearing out pages that catch your attention. When we meet for our Interior Design Consultation we will review your design file to help determine the style direction you desire. We also suggest you start thinking about your desired timeframe (start and complete date), as well as the monetary investment you’re comfortable with. The best client/designer relationships start with open & honest communication.

No! In fact, Hallmark Design Group has just launched “Design From a Distance”. This service is perfect for those that live outside the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. We can help you as much or as little as you desire. For example: We can develop a whole house paint scheme, one room design plan, kitchen design plan, bathroom design plan, etc. Chances are whatever design project you have, Hallmark Design Group can design for you! Whichever design package you decide, we prepare a complete set of guidelines for you to make implementing the design easier, almost foolproof! Cost of this service will vary due to the nature of “a la carte” type design.