The Interior Design Business

The working life of an interior designer is rarely, if ever, entirely plain sailing. As we strive to deliver projects on time, that meet our client’s brief as well as their budget, there are frequently bumps on the road to navigate, pitfalls to avoid and unforeseen difficulties that arise which challenge the most resourceful and most creative-thinking designers. So, quite how do interior designers...

We all know those crazy interior design TV shows where wannabe amateur designers try to cover themselves sometimes in glory but more often than not cover themselves in paint. Love them or hate them they make weirdly compelling viewing for practicing designers and the public alike. But do these reality TV shows bear any resemblance to what real designers do? How do they impact the public’s percepti...

There are many ways in which products can be unsustainable. Some are flown halfway round the world, some are produced using unacceptable quantities of water and other natural materials, some produce dangerously polluting substances as bi-products and others exploit and dehumanize the people that produce them. And then there is the problem of what happens to the product when it is no longer require...

In this show, we’re looking forward to Decorex 2022, Europe’s leading event for interior design professionals, which opens its doors at Olympia London on Sunday 9 th October running until Wednesday 12 th October.   So, what can we expect from this year's event?   We talk to Bethan Laura Wood, Carden Cunietti, Natascha Dartnall, Alidad, De Rosee Sa and Rita Konig to find out.

All designers have them. The clients who are allergic to colour, refuse to listen to the designer’s pearls of wisdom, fail to recognise their strokes of genius and only want what they already have. Or, worse still what their best friend already has! But why are some clients so afraid, and what exactly are they afraid of? And how can interior designers help their clients discover their true inner s...

In this episode, we’re exploring healthy spaces, happy places and how to integrate wellness into the design process. Wellness is defined as ‘the state of being in good health, especially as an actively pursued goal’. Interior designers have always understood that well-ordered, functional spaces can relieve anxiety and bring relaxation and peace, but today’s well-informed clients are now demanding...

Interior designers are well respected for their creativity, but much less so for their business practices. Most design studios are micro businesses whose owners are often too busy designing to pay sufficient attention to contracts and other key project documents. So, what do designers need to do to tighten up their business practices in order to be seen as true professionals? And where can they tu...

Success, like beauty, is firmly in the eye of the beholder. For interior designers, and the practices they run, it goes without saying that success involves happy clients and being paid to create beautiful, functional interiors but, in reality, what does this look like? What really constitutes success for an interior designer? Is it fame? Or is it fortune? And in the end, does size really matter?...

In this episode, we’re taking a detailed look at typical lighting issues facing interior designers with advice on how to deal with them from Luke Thomas, Design Director at John Cullen Lighting. Interior designers and their clients often underestimate the importance of lighting. Simply put, it seems senseless to spend time, energy and lots of money designing and installing beautiful interiors, if...

Interior designers are always looking for ways to showcase their work and gain recognition from a wider audience, but this is not always easy to achieve. Getting editorial coverage in glossy magazines can be tricky and Instagram has become a seriously crowded place. But what about winning interior design awards? Will winning a recognised design award bring about the desired rise in profile? Or doe...

You’ve worked hard to get your interior design qualifications and you have spent years working even harder in other people’s design studios honing your knowledge and skills. Finally, you feel ready to break free, spread your entrepreneurial wings and run your own interior design company.   But how do you know when the time is right to take the first step? And do you go it alone or join forces with...

So, you have spent a fortune on your website and have a clutch of completed photogenic projects ready to be showcased. As a designer, you know that quality photographs will make your interiors sing and induce those high spending clients to pick up the phone. But how do you go about finding that special photographer who will be capable of conveying and amplifying your unique style? Once found, how...

For interior design projects, the perfect client is one with deep pockets and a spirit of adventure; a client who admires their designer’s personal style and respects and trusts the designer’s vision for their spaces. So just how important is it for designers to have a recognisable style to attract their dream clients? And how should designers define their unique design vision and then communicate...

Most interior designers begin in a whirl of creativity, energy and optimism. In an average working week, they will act as designer, specifier, accountant, project manager, client liaison, IT support, office dogsbody and tea-lady. There is no time to spare for marketing the business or finding new clients. Workflows are impossible to manage, and famine follows feast in a never-ending cycle that can...

The worst experiences often make the best stories. Never has this been truer than in the world of interior design! In this episode, we are going to explore some of the best-worst moments in the careers of Joanna Wood from Joanna Wood Ltd, Irene Gunter from Gunter & Co and co-host, Susie Rumbold from Tessuto Interiors. We'll find out how this acclaimed panel of designers solved the insoluble an...

This year, Decorex, Europe’s leading event for interior design professionals, returns as an in-person event.  The show welcomes back the design community at Olympia London from Sunday 10 th until Wednesday 13 th October. What can we expect from Decorex 2021? In this special episode, we talk to designers Sara Cosgrove, Laura Hammett, Charu Ghandi, Olivia Outred and Dee Gibson as well as Ben Rigby f...

Home staging is the preparation of a private residence for sale but how far is it an area of opportunity for interior designers today?     We're joined by Paloma Harrington-Griffin, Founding Director of the Home Staging Association and Lauren Colquhoun, Senior Interior Designer at the Accouter Group of Companies to assess the state of home staging in the UK and find out how designers can tap into...

In this episode, we explore interior design and the circular economy with Jules Haines from The Haines Collection and Chaline Church from 540 World. In 2018, a major study concluded that the world was only 9% circular with more than 90% of raw materials not being cycled back into the economy. Clearly, for the health of the planet and the survival of the human race, we must become more sustainable...

It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there for interior designers. The competition is fierce and new designers are entering the market every day. We work our socks off, our designs are beautifully considered, and we have happy clients, but for many designers the reality is one of alternating feast and famine, and sometimes it can feel as though we are being left behind.  Not only do designers have to find...

2020 was the year that bought our homes and the way we use them into sharp focus. Stuck inside while the pandemic raged, we were all forced to find space at home to work, play and carry out activities that would previously have been done elsewhere. For residential interior designers, all this domestic churn has created real challenges as they try to advise their clients on future home trends and a...

In the third decade of the 21st century, designers could be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed by the colossal variety of pattern available to them. Fabrics, wallpapers and tiles are embellished with patterns created by man, while stone, timber and other materials provide us with the ever-changing patterns that occur in the natural world. Throughout history, much of man’s ingenuity has been spent de...

A group of nine forward-thinking and influential design firms have joined forces to launch an ambitious initiative for our industry, Interior Design Declares. They have committed to working together to urge everyone in the UK design and construction industry to adopt a paradigm shift in their behaviour over climate change. We're joined by three of these founding members - Oliver Heath from Oliver...

In his 2003 book, Emotional Design, the well-known American academic, Don Norman, came up with a theory to capture how and why people react, and emotionally connect, to certain objects and visual experiences. His theory was that true delight and enduring pleasure in something can only be achieved if positive visceral, behavioural and reflective reactions are achieved. In this episode, Jeff and Sus...

How do you design an overseas project for clients, especially in these most difficult of times? Established in 2009 by husband-and-wife team Aaron and Laura Hammett, London-based studio, Laura Hammett Interiors, has since expanded into a global design powerhouse, undertaking complex residential projects for demanding private clients all over the world. But, how do the team manage to maintain their...

Originating in the late 1990s, blogs were, initially, personal online diaries or journals, mostly written in internet cafes by gap year students on their travels. From these humble beginnings, and with the advent of social media, blogging has evolved into big business and is an important way for creative businesses of all kinds to engage with their target customers. But, writing a blog can be a da...