How To Work With A Designer:
Pricing What to Expect & What to Know

I treat this initial meeting also as an interview, not only meet clients and review the scope of work, but to also view my portfolio if they haven’t already seen it already on my website, and review all my fees and services. There is a lot of important info to know about the best way to interview an interior designer, so I’ve written a separate post about that too!

I treat this initial meeting also as an interview, not only meet clients and review the scope of work, but to also view my portfolio if they haven’t already seen it already on my website, and review all my fees and services. There is a lot of important info to know about the best way to interview an interior designer, so I’ve written a separate post about that too! You can also expect to be charged a retainer up front before work starts. The retainer can either be part of the designer’s set fee, or credited towards hourly rate invoices, or held until the end of the project to be credited back to the client on the final invoice. Either way, a retainer is customary and typically paid upon signing of the designer’s contract before any design work begins. The retainer amount is typically determined by the designer and again, there are no set rules on what this amount is. My retainers vary and I base them on the size of the project. I always let my prospective clients know upfront what the retainer will be after I’ve reviewed the scope of work with them. They will see it in the first paragraph of my contract along with all my other fee details we’ve discussed during our initial consultation.

You can also expect to be charged a retainer up front before work starts. The retainer can either be part of the designer’s set fee, or credited towards hourly rate invoices, or held until the end of the project to be credited back to the client on the final invoice. Either way, a retainer is customary and typically paid upon signing of the designer’s contract before any design work begins. The retainer amount is typically determined by the designer and again, there are no set rules on what this amount is. My retainers vary and I base them on the size of the project. I always let my prospective clients know upfront what the retainer will be after I’ve reviewed the scope of work with them. They will see it in the first paragraph of my contract along with all my other fee details we’ve discussed during our initial consultation.

Now, about that infamous “designer discount”…..yes, it’s true, interior designers can get a “trade” discount on most home products. The discount will vary greatly from source to source. Basically, we designers will get a large trade discount (between 40-60% off retail) for items like designer fabrics, trims, wallpapers, and high-end designer home products in the trade showrooms. When it comes to online home décor stores, we can often order directly from the manufacturer of the item and purchase at wholesale or almost wholesale prices. However, the big retail home stores are not so generous with their trade discounts. They typically will only give designers 5-20% off retail prices.

Some designers will pass along their trade discounts to clients and others will not. I feel it’s important for you to know up front what your designer will do with their trade discount and how they will let you know what the discount will be. Again, this gets back to me stressing that trust is super important! I’ve heard of too many client-designer relationships going bad because of mistrust and that is terrible for you as well as the reputation of the design business in general. If you know in advance everything about how your designer will charge you and find it agreeable, then you will be off to a great start to beat the odds that all will run smoothly!

There is much more to know about working with an interior designer, so make sure to sign up for my newsletter so you don’t miss my next post in this series, or other great tips, trends and inspiration! I hope you found this post helpful. If so, leave some feedback in the comments section below or if you still have questions, let me know and I’ll do my best to answer it shortly.

Thanks for reading!