How To Price Your Interior Design Services

Picture the scene: a design lecture has been arranged for an audience of professional interior designers, the subject of the lecture could be anything: lighting, sustainability, colour, kitchens...anything interior design related.  When the floor is opened up for questions, among the first questions asked is: 'how do I charge for my services?'.  

How to charge, how to structure fee proposals, how to get paid for professional services is a key preoccupation among professional designers - it's such a quagmire, so hard to balance all of the (apparently) conflicting forces and interests.  

I'll save an explanation of the extremely complex and multi-layered considerations for creating a fee proposal for another time - it deserves at least a video explanation, if not a whole course.  However, before everything else, the critical building block needed to calculate a fee proposal is the setting of your hourly rate.  

Your hourly rate isn't guesswork, it isn't even educated guesswork (involving competitor comparisons, for example).  It is a rigorous and data-driven calculation that takes into account the specifics of your situation, your business operations.  Although, it is a good idea to compare this with local competition (if that information is discoverable - many keep it a safely-guarded secret*note at bottom of page).

That's why, to help out, I've created an automatic calculation tool.  It's in the form of an Excel spreadsheet, and can be accessed via a free mini-course on my website LINK HERE. 

There is a short video attached to the course, and an area from which you can download the calculator.  

As part of the video I explain that you need to estimate how popular your services are going to be, how much of your client-facing time you'll successfully sell.  This will vary depending on how well established your business is.  I call this factor 'occupancy', akin to the measurement of how often a hotel bedroom is booked, what percentage of the time.  

You'll notice that if you opt for a low 'occupancy' number (if you're inexperienced and still waiting to build consistent business), then your hourly rate can soar up.  That's because you'll sell fewer hours, so need to charge more for each of them in order to meet target salary rates.  If this applies to you, I suggest that you may need to reduce your salary aspirations accordingly, aiming for a lower, more realistic salary that recognises that your business is not yet at full speed.  

I do hope you find this useful!  I will be making materials that cover the minefield of 'how to structure a fee proposal' in the New Year, keep a look out.  As ever, I also welcome any suggestions on materials that would help you manage any aspect of your design business - let me know what you need help with! 

Best wishes 

Julia 

* The BIID conducted a survey in 2019 that found an average range of £76-150 per hour to hire the most senior designer in UK residential interior design practices, more recently (2023) a Forbes article suggested US$100-200 as an average rate.