From the family you spend special holidays with to the friends you invite over for weekend get-togethers, deep meaningful relationships are the foundation of home. And you want your home to hug your people when they’re in it.  Likewise, the foundation of designing your home is leveraging great relationships we’ve built over the years with architects, builders, contractors, suppliers + other awesome vendors.

Whether we’re furnishing one room or designing your entire home from top to bottom, there are hundreds if not thousands of questions; a ton of moving parts + lets just say that the receiving warehouse (or a receiving company) is likely one of the most integral parts of the entire process. 

Which is why, as your design + organizing bff, my job is to educate you about all the tricky ins and outs of our crazy business, freight and delivery being one of them.

But first, let’s look at the differences between Freight, Delivery + Installation. Shall we?

What Is A Freight Charge?

Freight is the transportation of furniture or furnishings from the manufacturer (i.e. the vendor) typically to a receiving company. Almost always it’s billed after an item has shipped from the manufacturer. 

Why is it billed after it’s shipped? Because often the actual costs are unknown. However, one way to think of this that makes it less confusing is “in-bound freight.”

What Is A Delivery Charge?

Delivery is exactly what it sounds like. It’s when a receiving warehouse delivers furniture to your home. But I’ve separated it out from Installation because from time to time, a receiving company may deliver furniture to a vendor for upholstery or other work. In which case...

What Is An Installation Charge?

After all, construction is complete a receiving warehouse delivers and installs furniture inside your home. Sometimes you’ll hear this referred to as “in-home” or “white-glove” delivery. For us at Elegant Simplicity, installation includes placement of furniture, hanging of wall art, unpacking + positioning of area rugs. It’s everything fully installed in your home.

What Does A Receiving Warehouse Do? 

A receiving warehouse accepts freight deliveries on your behalf. Upon delivery, they inspect each shipment + document that any furniture or furnishings haven’t been damaged. 

If something has been damaged, they’ll not only communicate the issue with us but as your interior designer, they’ll provide us with the best course of action. Sometimes, an item is repairable but other times it needs to be returned + replaced. How a receiving company handles problems is what separates the good from the great receiving warehouses.

But a receiving warehouse is in charge of a lot more than simply receiving freight deliveries + quality control. In many cases, boo, they actually assemble furniture like adding legs to the bottom of chairs + sofas. 

A receiving warehouse also is in charge of repackaging, protecting + storing furniture items until it’s time for installation day. And to top matters off, a receiving company will provide white-glove delivery (removal of packaging) and installation services in your home.

Why Is A Receiving Warehouse Crucial? 

I love this question, which is why I posed it to myself *wink* But in reality, to really paint the clearest picture of why a receiving warehouse is critical let’s assume we don’t use a receiving company for a moment.

We’ve got two options: 

We Ship All Furniture To The Elegant Simplicity Office

In an ideal world, this sounds grand. Unfortunately, we’d need a full-time warehouse manager, a loading dock for an 18-wheeler to unload in + then we’d need to open, inspect + dispose of furniture crates + packing supplies. We’d also then need to have a place to wrap, protect + store each item before loading each piece into our own delivery truck.

Fortunately, we specialize in interior design + professional organizing (that’s why you hire us *wink*) not in receiving.

We Ship All Furniture To The Project Site (i.e. your home)

Let’s assume it's not a new build or a remodel because we could never have furniture delivered + stored there. So, for the sake of simplicity, let's assume we’re simply furnishing + styling a few rooms in your home. Well, we could have everything delivered to your residence but…

Again you’d need a loading dock for the 18-wheeler (or they’ll leave the shipment in a crate on the street #WompWomp), you’d need to unbox the crate + dispose of it, inspect the furniture for damages + then place it in the room we’re installing. Imagine doing this for every single piece of furniture or furnishing we purchase on your behalf.

Not to mention *wink* you’d have to block out a window of time typically 3-5 hours for each delivery. Can you say #FullTimeJob 

Ok ready for the #1 reason we partner with + use a receiving warehouse? Well, for all the reasons I’ve listed above — most trade vendors won't ship to a private residence. And it makes sense, they’re trying to streamline their process + can’t prepare for delivery where their trucks may not be able to get to.

So, as you can see a receiving warehouse is crucial to the full design process from various logistical standpoints.

How Do You Budget For Freight, Delivery, and Installation

With over a decade of experience, we’re fairly savvy when it comes to budgeting. Upfront, we allocate a percentage of the budget towards freight, delivery, and installation, and then before creating a final budget for our clients to review, we revise this to account for any changes we’ve made along the way. 

As mentioned, freight charges aren’t known until after the item has shipped which is why it’s important to work with a designer who knows what to expect. Often we’re really good at getting significantly close estimates for each item.

As for delivery/installation, we know the furniture or furnishings being delivered to the receiving warehouse and request an estimate of all charges prior to the manufacturer shipping them.

In both cases, you know the relative costs so there are no surprises *wink*

Well, there you have it...everything you need to know about Why An Interior Designer Works With A Receiving Warehouse.

Designing a home that you’ll not only live in but a home that’s intentionally designed to be everything your family needs + nothing more –– now that’s the ultimate love investment! It’s also an investment in time. An investment in energy. And a financial investment. But don’t forget friend, that creating home isn’t about reaching a final destination nor is it something you just happen upon.

Our homes should represent us. They should embody the things we value + what we believe. Which are likely going to change over time (because life happens, boo!)

In other words, what you really want isn’t cheap furniture that looks nice or a quick + easy design solution but rather a home you love, value + respect. A home that you can live in for the unforeseeable future + be proud of.

Which is why, in order to create a home that feels like the most comfortable part of your day, an interior designer + professional organizer at Elegant Simplicity has to consider every aspect of how you live –– does it make sense for you, your family AND the environment? 

Because it matters.

Sound exhausting or overwhelming? Fortunately (or should I say, lucky for you) with a lifetime of knowledge that we’ve accumulated from first-hand experiences –– we do the hard work.

Now don’t be shy, if you’re planning your next project, let’s chat. 

Go on, book a one-on-one FREE 30-minute Clarity Call with us + get ready for some magic, sister!