Marketplace Challenges for Interior Designers – Have Yours Changed?

From finding installers and other tradespeople to ongoing lead time issues and rising costs, the various marketplace challenges for interior designers are being impacted by geography, local competition, the general economy, and consumer skepticism. (Run-on sentence, much?)

According to a piece at DesignersToday.com, the biggest issue facing interior designers right now also include managing expectations, finding talent, the “speed” of business in the luxury furnishings industry, and dealing with unrealistic client budgets.

We guess it goes without saying that, when one asks designers for the “biggest issue” they are facing at the moment (that is issue, singular), they offer not one but many (14, 15, or 16 depending on how you count them)! (Hey, that’s almost like the way we’ve written not one, not two, but three run-on sentences in a row. How designer-like are we?!?)

For example:

“Overall, I think it’s managing expectations – internal and external.  If I could highlight some of the top ones we see on our end, I’d say: Talent (it’s still a challenge to find the right talent when hiring); Industry speed of business (I find the industry still moves quite glacially, as a whole); and budgets, a perennial favorite that never really goes away. Clients’ expectations of how much things should cost versus how much they really do cost. And in general, the rising costs of it all.” ~ Alex Alonso, Mr. Alex Tate Design, Miami, FL

Furnishing Supply Chain Issues Persist

As for consumer skepticism, Claudia Leah of Claudia Leah Design in Naples, FL shares her thoughts:

“We are in this weird spot where on the one hand, we are still experiencing supply chain issues for certain quality items, components, and trades, literally designing around availability. Yet we are also facing the threat of discounted overstocks on the retail side where mass-produced container items are being shoved into our clients’ inboxes, making them question if we as designers are telling them the truth about those long lead times.” (emphases added)

Brittany Farinas at House of One in Miami agrees:

“One of the biggest issues facing designers today is the lead time on materials. We are still working through this [despite being] post-pandemic.”

Finally, the exponential growth of online shopping for anything and everything for the home – including luxury furnishings, designer wallcoverings, and hand-woven rugs (among so many other high-end items) has led to pricing pressure on designers and furnishing dealers alike.

If you find yourself losing sleep because of the regularly shifting marketplace challenges for interior designers, Ted is available for business coaching and consulting to the trade. Simply… Get in touch with TD Fall today.

Interior Design Budgets – A Designer’s Nightmare Come True

Too often, discussing interior design budgets with potential clients can be a nightmare. So many homeowners think they know what a job is worth yet may not have the knowledge to understand the full range of steps needed to match their dreams. So, while they feel like they “know” what a project should cost – and that may be all they’re willing to spend – it’s your job to educate them about their misconceptions and help them move toward a more realistic number.

Yeah, waking from that nightmare is a huge relief!

Take Command of Conversations About Interior Design Costs

Good thing for us, the folks at Business of Home corralled five interior designers to explain how they deal with unrealistic expectations about design costs with their clients.

Needless to say, it all begins with communication and education with plenty of follow-up during a project, if you’ve accepted the job. Then too, it may not be worth your time, energy, and frustration of the budget is unrealistic. Sometimes, as you’ll soon see, you just need to say, “No thank you”.

This is true for Robin Gannon of Robin Gannon Interiors in Lexington, MA:

“Sometimes that’s just what their budget is, and they’re not a fit for us. As a firm, it’s important to understand what you do and what you do well. You can’t sacrifice the quality of what you do simply because of somebody’s budget.”

The same is true for Helena Brana of Brana Designs in Corona del Mar, CA:

“Transparency with our clients is one of our founding principles. We discuss clients’ budget expectations very early in our communications and estimate costs based on our experiences with comparable projects. [Not all] clients are the right fit for us, and it’s better for everyone to find out early to avoid disappointments later on.”

Adjust Your Design Clients’ Expectations

Doing this is a priority for Daniela Holt Voith of Voith & MacTavish Architects in Philadelphia, PA:

“We seek to set client expectations not just about budget, but also about schedule and fees. We can design a beautiful, functional project for a client based on all the listening in the world, but if it’s not in the budget, it’s a nonstarter. As much as you never want to walk away from an opportunity, if there’s no consensus, it’s better to part ways amicably.”

Handling the budget conversation should be done up front, says Johanna Barger of Johanna Barger Design in New York:

“Design is a very creative field, but it is also a business – my business. And I never shy away from budget discussions. I take the financial aspect of the process very seriously, and one of the first discussions in our initial meeting is cost expectations.”

And further, she says:

“Many clients do not have a sense of the financial commitment it takes to create what they see in magazines or on social media. Part of my service is to educate the client through direct, transparent conversations about numbers while also realizing their design aspirations.” (emphasis added)

Finally, we have these comments from Alison Downey of Downey Interiors in New York:

“The project budget is always part of our initial conversation before moving forward. As our fee is commensurate with the budget, and [considering] clients don’t always understand the vast range of options when it comes to price points, we take the time to educate them from the get-go. In order to determine a realistic level of investment [rather than] ‘budget’, we prepare a project plan that includes a high and low total reflecting the items we anticipate will be used.” (emphasis added)

She continues with:

“If the client doesn’t feel comfortable moving forward, we need to determine whether the project is a fit [for us]. When a project doesn’t align with what’s needed for a successful outcome, it likely won’t be a good experience for anyone involved. That said, we wholly respect a realistic budget that is set at the beginning of the project. We work hard to be as accurate as possible and guide the client when they are veering off course. It is our job to check in with them, let them know where things stand financially, and ensure they are well-informed.”

Conversations about money can be tough, as can dealing with a potential client’s expectations based on their interior design budget. Yet, as we all know, they must take place and must be frank and open. Anything less would be not only a disservice to your client, but to yourself, as well.

If you find yourself regularly getting caught in the nightmare surrounding interior design budgets with clients, Ted is available for sales coaching and business consulting to the trade. Simply… Get in touch with TD Fall today.