Interior Design and how much would services cost?

[Kristie]

Hopefully Tanya can help me out with this one.. but if anyone wants, please feel free to chip in!!

my house needs help....I've been wanting to design this place and get it a helluva lot more functional that it actually is... i constantly want HGTV for ideas and i have some great ideas but have no idea on how to go about getting things started or whatever...

so, i'm thinking about hiring an interior designer to help me out....

Question is.. how would i go about finding a good designer and how much would one expect to be paid?? What qualifications should i ask about and what should i have ready for them to come over and evaluate?

I'm thinking some of the rooms just need finishing touches...maybe additional paint (i don't really know what colors are good together) or rearrangement or just basic style (of which i don't have much knowledge)...

one things for sure, we have some serious lighting issues (as in just not enough light at night) and no blueprint plans to work off of for electrical wiring...I dread the whole "drywall" holes thing with just trying to find wiring or plumbing alone.

any advice is appreciated