The Interior DesignHer Blog
real-world interior design business education
Transform Your Interior Design Business in 2024
Transform Your Interior Design Business in 2024
We’re less than a month away from a brand new year.
How about instead of starting a new diet or signing up for a gym membership, we all make a determined, systematic and knowledge-backed effort to transform our interior design businesses???
2024 is going to be a year of flux for our industry. Between the rise of AI, higher than “normal” interest rates and an economy that doesn’t “feel right”, change will come for interior designers.
Why not get ahead of the game and make that change work for us?
Today’s interior design business lessons come from podcast hosts Terri Taylor, Michele Williams, Michelle Lynne, LuAnn Nigara x 2, Melissa Galt, Laura Thornton, Cheryl Kees Clendenon, Liz Lapan and Renée Biery.
Guests include Val Duvick - Val Marlene Creative, Jamie Van Cuyk, the owner and lead strategist of Growing Your Team, Susan Hayward & Jillian Hayward Schaible - Susan Hayward Interiors and Bessie Seeley, founder of Kardinia Interior Design.
School’s in session. Let’s put those thinking caps on:
Interior Design Business - Terri Taylor - Profitable Remodeling - 30 min
Profit is a Choice - Michele Williams - Financials are the Foundation to Work Life Balance - 49 min
Designed for the Creative Mind - Michelle Lynne - Keys to Hiring and Retaining Team Members for Your Interior Design Business - 43 min
Window Treatments for Profit - LuAnn Nigara - What Would Lu Do?: Seven Strategies for Business Excellence in 2024: Steps 1 and 2 - 32 min
The Affluent Creative - Melissa Galt - What Your Affluent Clients Want - 59 min
The Business of Beautiful Spaces - Laura Thornton - Let's Talk About How to Cultivate Lasting Relationships with Contractors with the Mother Daughter Duo from Susan Hayward Interiors, Susan Hayward + Jillian Hayward Schaible - 29 min
A Well-Designed Business - LuAnn Nigara - Bessie Seeley: Growing a Thriving Interior Design Firm From the Kitchen Table - 56 min
Damn Good Interior Design - Cheryl Kees Clendenon and Liz Lapan - Why your clients should not hire you - 35 min
Interior Designers Will Thrive in 2024
Interior Designers Will Thrive in 2024
2024 is almost upon us. And it’s going to be an interesting year for interior designers. With interest rates (finally) flattening…and promises of lowered rates later in the year, housing markets are primed to heat up…which is good news for residential designers.
Combine this with advances in AI and a wealth of services designed to level up the business-side of your interior design business, 2024 is destined to be a year of positive change for a lot of interior designers. It’s time to get excited…and get moving.
Today’s interior design podcasts at a glance:
The Design You Podcast - Tobi Fairley - There’s No Perfect Design Business with Sara Noble - 42 min
Window Treatments for Profit - LuAnn Nigara - Vita’s Tip in 10 with Vita Vygovska: End of Year Activities to finish strong - 13 min
Resilient by Design - Rebecca Hay - The Top 3 Products to Maximize Profitability in Interior Design - 27 min
Business of Home - Dennis Scully - The Thursday Show: Heidi Caillier's next phase. Plus: Airbnb's mysterious AI investment and more - 1 hr, 4 min
The Quality of Your Relationships Are Going to Make or Break Your Interior Design Business
The Quality of Your Relationships Are Going to Make or Break Your Interior Design Business
I’m going to say something that is going to sound controversial to a lot of the interior designers who read this blog…but it shouldn’t.
The quality of your relationships are going to make OR break your interior design business.
And it’s not just lil old me who thinks so. All 5 of today’s podcasts make an argument that the quality (and quantity) of your actual human relationships are ESSENTIAL to the success of your interior design career / business.
The relationships you’ve built with your suppliers, contractors, trades, etc will determine what happens when something BAD happens with a project - late delivery, product damage, jobsite drama, etc. Will your supplier/contractor/plumber come to your rescue? Have you earned that goodwill?
Same questions for your employees, contract workers, service providers, VAs, etc? Are you part of THEIR team? Are they part of YOUR team? Or are you just a pay cheque?
And what about your clients? You’re not “just” designing their interior space…by transforming their home, you’re transforming how their lives will function moving into the future. You’re kinda a big deal in their lives. Do they feel the love? Do you actually give a poop emoji?
Relationships matter. How are yours?
Today’s Podcast Episodes at a Glance:
Designed for the Creative Mind - Michelle Lynne - From Jobby to Design Firm; The Business of Building Your Business - 52 min
A Well-Designed Business - LuAnn Nigara - Heather Vitti Pruett: Resilience and Relationships: Keys to Success in Her Interior Design Business - 1 hr, 3 min
Damn Good Interior Design - Cheryl Kees Clendenon and Liz Lapan - What got you here isn't going to keep you here in 2024 - 47 min
Home Stagers and Designers on Fire - Marianne Cherico - How to Collaborate with a Pro Organizer - 42 min
Business of Design - Kimberley Seldon - Use Your Sales Rep with Carmen Reinour - 36 min
6 Lessons for the Business Side of Your Interior Design Business
6 Lessons for the Business Side of Your Interior Design Business
We’ve got 6 kick-butt lessons for the business side of your interior design business in today’s collection of interior design business podcasts.
Today’s lessons come from podcast hosts Terri Taylor, Michele Williams, LuAnn Nigara, Melissa Galt, Laura Thornton and Kate Greunke. Their guest lecturers include Stacy Hernandez, the principal and CEO of Elegant Avenue Interiors and Rachel Krull, designer & owner of Monday Morning Interiors
School’s in session. Let’s put those thinking caps on:
Interior Designers Can Thrive in Turbulent Times
Interior Designers Can Thrive in Turbulent Times
Whether today’s economic woes are real or imagined, most interior designers are seeing a pullback from clients concerned about the higher costs of borrowing and fears of a recession. So…what are we going to do about it?
Today’s podcasts have a bunch of lessons for improving your business today AND for the future. Hope it helps :)
Today’s interior design podcasts at a glance:
The Design You Podcast - Tobi Fairley - When Life Throws You Lemons with Nicole Fulton - 34 min
Window Treatments for Profit - LuAnn Nigara - Vita’s Tip in 10 with Vita Vygovska: Secret Weapon of Every High Achieving Window Treatment Professional - 19 min
Designer’s Oasis - Kate Bendewald - 47 Gift Ideas for Interior Design Clients - 38 min
Resilient by Design - Rebecca Hay - Social Media Mastery in Turbulent Times: Insights from Darla Powell - 56 min
Business of Home - Dennis Scully - The Thursday Show: Amber Lewis hits her stride. Plus: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams inventory heads to The Dump - 1 hr, 12 min
Interior Design Artistry, Custom Creations, AI & a Path to Happiness and Financial Success
Interior Design Artistry, Custom Creations, AI & a Path to Happiness and Financial Success
There is a lot of nervous chatter in the interior design world about how AI powered technology is going to disrupt the entire industry.
But, maybe the fear that AI-generated designs is going to commoditize the industry & see small design firms replaced by AI-powered interior design apps is being blown way out of proportion.
Maybe AI-powered tech frees designers from a whole host of time consuming repetitive tasks allowing for a deeper focus on artistry, custom furniture - hardware - lighting - fabrics - etc, improved customer service, deeper relationships with clients, trades, contractors, suppliers, media and your local community…you know…fun stuff.
Listen to today’s Interior Design Podcast Episodes:
Convo By Design - Josh Cooperman - Sensational Tactile Creations that Loom Large in a Time of Renewed Artistic Appreciation - William Storms - 52 min
Creative Genius Podcast - Gail Doby and Erin Weir - How to Fail at Business and Other Tips for Success (David Farris) - 49 min
The Interior Design Business CEO - Desi Creswell - When Your Day (Or Week) Is Derailed - 27 min
Business of Design - Kimberley Seldon - Winning at Project Management with Alexandra Crevier - 36 min
The Holistic Interior Design Business Podcast - Rachel Larraine - How to Publish Your Work & Get Noticed- 1 hr, 9 min
Is Virtual Reality the Future of Interior Design?
Is Virtual Reality the Future of Interior Design?
Residential interior design is a luxury service. Period. AI and virtual reality are about to radically change how you deliver that luxury service.
In one of today’s four interior design business podcasts, interior designer Ellie Redders talks about her use of virtual reality as a tool to showcase her design concepts. And while this is pretty awesome for 2023, it’s nothing compared to what’s coming next.
Right now, Ellie’s use of virtual reality is way more impressive than floor plans and 3D renderings, but it’s nowhere near as cool as it’s going to be once AI really gets rolling.
Imagine this:
During your initial site visit, you use your next-gen LIDAR app to accurately measure your potential client’s home
You and your AI-powered design software create an amazing design concept
That design concept is automatically generated as 2D floor plans, 3D renderings and a fully immersive virtual reality space
In addition to the design, options for every piece of furniture, window covering, lighting fixture, etc are selected. These options will be classified by vendor, price, availability, etc
When you present your design concept to the prospective client, they will be able to view and interact with your designed space in a fully-immersive virtual space.
And once they’ve signed the contract, AI-powered software will set up a timeline, submit purchase orders, alert employees, vendors & trades to their roles in the project, etc
Now that sounds like luxury.
Today’s Interior Design Business Lesson: Money, Sales, Profit, Brand, Leadership, Operations & Automation
Today’s Interior Design Business Lesson: Money, Sales, Profit, Brand, Leadership, Operations & Automation
Today’s Interior Design Business Lesson includes tutorials on Money, Sales, Profit, Brand, Leadership, Operations & Automation.
Today’s lessons come from podcast hosts Terri Taylor, Michele Williams, LuAnn Nigara, Melissa Galt, Laura Thornton and Michelle Lynne. Their guest lecturers include Mike Michaelowicz, Rachel Leuck, Jessica Frigon from Project Love Co.
School’s in session. Let’s put those thinking caps on:
Interior Design Business - Terri Taylor - Money and You - 19 min
Profit is a Choice - Michele Williams - All Roads Can Lead to Profit - 53 min
Window Treatments for Profit - LuAnn Nigara - Rachel Leuck: The Best Strategies for Selling Luxury Window Treatments - 1 hr
The Affluent Creative - Melissa Galt - Who Your Brand Needs To Be For Affluent Clients, Part 2 - 40 min
The Business of Beautiful Spaces - Laura Thornton - Let's Talk About Business Operations and Automating your Business to get Back your Time in 2024 - 35 min
Designed for the Creative Mind - Michelle Lynne - Evolving As A Leader In Your Design Business - 19 min
The Future of Interior Design
The Future of Interior Design
What does the future hold for interior design & interior designers?
Today’s three interior design business podcasts provide three fascinating POVs on what the future may/should/could hold for interior designers. So many ideas bouncing around in my head after listening to these podcasts.
Flexible Planning = Interior Design Business Success
Flexible Planning = Interior Design Business Success
Today’s crop of interior design business podcasts has got me 100% excited.
Coming from 4 different people with different personalities & approaches to business success - Marc Müskens, Erin Weir, Desi Creswell and Darla Powell - all 4 episodes highlight my belief that interior design business success requires two things:
A plan, process, guiding philosophy, etc. Your business needs structure. Boring but true.
Within that structure, you have to be flexible. Life is going to hand you opportunities and if you are unable to pivot, you will miss them.
Balancing structure & flexibility isn’t an easy task, but if you can do it…the sky is the limit for your interior design business.
So much good stuff from today’s podcast guests Kathryn Greeley, Isabella Patrick and Cheryl Luckett.
Enjoy :)
Today’s Interior Design Podcast Episodes:
Beyond Interior Design - Marc Müskens - Unlock Your Design Potential: Insights from Marc Müskens - 25 min
Creative Genius Podcast - Gail Doby and Erin Weir - Collected Wisdom (Kathryn Greeley) - 44 min
The Interior Design Business CEO - Desi Creswell - CEO Transformation: Isabella Patrick’s Journey to Success - 59 min
Designed by Wingnut Social - Darla Powell - Get a Licensing Deal by Building Relationships With Vendors - 37 min
Make Your Interior Design Business Better: It’s Time to Take Action
Make Your Interior Design Business Better: It’s Time to Take Action
Great business advice is…great. But, without action, even the best advice is useless. At some point, you have to TAKE ACTION.
Today is a great day to take action to improve your interior design business.
And by the way…documenting those action steps - and missteps - and sharing on social is a great way to build your brand. Your future clients are going to love learning about your journey towards awesomeness.
Today’s Interior Design Podcast Episodes:
The Mindful Designer - Timothy Murenzi - The Client Discovery Call Chronicles - 12 min
A Well-Designed Business - LuAnn Nigara - What Would Lu Do: How To Turn Your Aha’s into Action - 37 min
Damn Good Interior Design - Cheryl Kees Clendenon and Liz Lapan - The Price is the Price- selling products for the win - 46 min
Roadmap to Referrals - Stacey Brown Randall - What People Get Wrong About Referrals - 28 min
This Is The Perfect Time to Renovate Your Interior Design Business
This Is The Perfect Time to Renovate Your Interior Design Business
As luxury service providers, residential interior designers are seeing the end result of today’s economic concern/fear/panic/dread being reflected in our businesses. Whether it’s higher interest rates or fear of a recession, homeowners are pulling back on home renovations.
Sure, ultra-rich clients - Sylvester Stallone - are renovating their mansions with their ultra-rich designers - Martyn Bullard - but for the rest of us - Robb & Company…something hinky is going on.
Which makes this the perfect time to take a good hard look at our businesses and look for ways to level up what we’re offering to our clients AND make our businesses more resilient & profitable.
Fortunately for us all, we’ve got TWELVE high-quality interior design business podcasts episodes today from hosts Terri Taylor, Karyn McRae and Helen Lynch, Kate Greunke, Darla Powell, LuAnn Nigara, Nikki Rausch, Melissa Galt, Rick Campos, Laura Thornton, Dennis Scully, Michelle Lynne and Rebecca Ward.
Today’s podcast guests include Abigail Wideman, Whitney Schanie, Heather Vercellino, Elizabeth “Ellie” Lord-Levitt and David Netto.
If you’re looking to make your interior design business even better than it is today, I guarantee that you will
Interior Design Business - Terri Taylor - Losing Control - 27 min
Two Gins In : A Designer's Perspective - Karyn McRae and Helen Lynch - The Power of Collaboration - 24 min
The Kate Show - Kate Greunke - How to Create a Multi-Six Figure Window Treatment Business as Your Second Career - 39 min
Designed by Wingnut Social - Darla Powell - Mini News : How Buying Fake Followers Damages Your Instagram Account - 7 min
Window Treatments for Profit - LuAnn Nigara - What Would Lu Do?: Create a Trade Partner Kit to Build Relationships With Interior Designers - 25 min
Sales Maven - Nikki Rausch - How To Put People At Ease Quickly: Mastering Excellence - 34 min
The Affluent Creative - Melissa Galt - Who Your Brand Needs To Be For Affluent Clients, Part 1 - 39 min
Design Biz Survival Guide - Rick Campos - Heather Vercellino: Going ALL IN on the Business of Design - 47 min
The Business of Beautiful Spaces - Laura Thornton - Let's Talk About Getting Comfortable with Construction Knowledge in your Design Business - 42 min
Business of Home Podcast - Dennis Scully - Decorating may be dying, but David Netto is thriving - 1 hr, 10 min
Designed for the Creative Mind - Michelle Lynne - The Importance Of Client Education - 33 min
Design Curious - Rebecca Ward - Want to Create Mindful Spaces? Learn First the Psychology of Design & Environmental Psychology - 18 min