How do I Start an Interior Design Business?

3D render of a bathroom designed with Cedreo

3D rendering of a kidsroom designed with Cedreo

Whether you’ve just got certified as an interior designer or you’ve worked in an interior design business before, here are 6 steps to follow when you decide to start your home interior design business:

Define the Scope of Your Services

You will work with your customers on the definition of their project, get to know them in order to very precisely define your proposal but you will also have to decide if you want to work only on specific rooms such as kitchens or baths or if you want to manage the project management, in coordination with specialized contractors.

Set Your Hourly Rate

This is essential for researching the competition and finding out what interior designers in your community are charging. The median hourly rate is $ 30 but it varies depending on your region and your level of experience, according to ASID.

You will obviously start with a lower rate and slowly increase it as you succeed.

Create a Portfolio of Your Design Style

Because you don’t have customers yet, you need to create 3D visualizations of parts that can present your ideas and style to potential customers. Select interior design software to draw a house and create variations with the styles you like most. You will be more comfortable working for clients who share your style.

Create an Attractive Website to be Your Showcase

Once you’ve saved your business name and created several 3D visualizations to showcase the projects you’ve worked on, you need to work on a website that will reflect the quality of your work and your style. WordPress is the easiest to use and offers multiple themes for free or at an affordable price.

It will allow you to show mood boards, to give a lot of information about yourself to reassure your potential customers, to describe precisely how you work and of course to present your achievements.

Create an Instagram Page

Don’t wait for your website to be up and running, in just 2 minutes, create a social media page for your new home business and post all the 3D visualizations you created with your home decor software. Analyze the # that matters to your customers to appear in the search results.

Start Looking for Your First Customers

Use your network to find your very first customers, they will allow you to launch your business, obtain automatic reflexes and publish your first testimonials and opinions on your site.

To learn more: 10 Helpful Tips To Convince Clients You Are The Best Interior Designer