Let’s be honest: most client chaos isn’t intentional.

It’s not that your interior design clients WANT to make your life harder or slow their project down.

They just want to make sure their project turns out as great as it possibly can. And they, more often than not, simply don’t know how the process works or what is normal/not normal.

And what happens when they don’t know?

• They go rogue and start shopping on their own, sending you ideas to “help you”.

• Or they delay approvals because they’re waiting for their sister or best friend to weigh in.

• Or they suddenly want to be looped in on every single update and delivery schedule, micromanaging the very process they hired you to handle for them.

Sound familiar?

The truth is interior design clients unknowingly derail their own projects all the time. And unless you set expectations clearly from the start, the entire experience can turn from elevated to exhausting. 

Fast.

The good news?

It’s almost 100% avoidable. (When is it NOT avoidable? When you’re letting bad fit clients infiltrate your pipeline.)

Here’s how to keep your clients in check (for lack of better words) while making them feel totally supported throughout the entire process. Or, as I like to say, “How you can make Nos sound like YESes.”

When presenting your design fees to a potential interior design client, do you send the proposal first and the contract later? Or do you send everything at once so they have all the details before signing?

Some interior designers separate these steps. Some do them at the same time. Some send a contract out later, like mid project (🙀). Others don’t use a contract at all (🙈).

Obviously—the last two? NOT good strategies.

If you want a process that protects your business, builds trust, and keeps projects running smoothly, the proposal and contract go hand-in-hand.

PS: I’m not an attorney and this is not legal advice. This is based on my experience working 1:1 with over 100 interior design businesses.

Keep reading for my advice on when to send these two documents.

You’ve finally made it to the end of a project, the furniture is installed, everything is in place… and yet, something feels unfinished. The excitement you expected from your client? Yes, they love it, but there’s still something left to be desired.

And, maybe they don’t fully realize it, but you do. Because YOU know the power of styling.

When styling and accessorizing aren’t part of your interior design process, the project never truly feels complete. Read more to learn why.

As an interior designer, you started your business to design—not to focus on marketing and sales. But when you decide to go out on your own, sales and marketing are CRITICAL if you want to book clients.

I've talked to a lot of interior designers, and I know most of them don’t enjoy having sales conversations. They get nervous. They trip over their words. And next thing you know, they’re discounting their services, throwing in extras for free, and practically handing over the keys to a new car while they’re at it.

But here’s something I believe so firmly in (I mean, I built my entire business on it, so obviously, I believe in this):

If you have a solid client experience process in place, you shouldn’t have to "sell" at all.

Yes, you read that right. When your process is seamless, proactive, and aligned with your ideal client’s needs, people should be 90% pre-sold before you even get to the dreaded "selling" phase.

*Now, I’m not saying you don’t have to market. You do. You should always be marketing. But I’m saying you won’t have to SELL.

Remember sales and marketing are two different things.

Let’s break this down.

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Just about every interior designer I work with says the same thing:

They want bigger and better projects.

Why? Because bigger and better projects mean they can take on fewer clients while charging more for each one.

Win-win. The designer isn’t spread so thin, and they can focus on delivering a high-touch, elevated experience for the projects in their pipeline. Plus, larger projects often yield more opportunities for professional photography—and when you have more rooms to showcase, editors are more likely to feature your work in a home tour.

This kind of exposure creates a snowball effect: more traffic, more inquiries, more press, and ultimately, more opportunities.

So, I get it—landing bigger and better projects is the ultimate flex.

But for many designers, it’s just not happening. Instead, they’re stuck attracting bad-fit clients and projects that don’t align with their goals.

So, what gives?

After working with interior designers for over eight years (from those just starting out to those generating multiple millions in revenue annually) and running my own luxury wedding and event planning company, I’ve learned a lot about what attracts luxury clients—and what sends them running the other way.

Before we dive in, keep this in mind:

I’m talking about attracting luxury clients, NOT booking them.

If you can’t seem to get luxury clients to even reach out to you, chances are, one or more of the eleven reasons below are to blame:

There’s marketing, and then there’s sales. 

Marketing is about bringing attention to your business—getting people onto your email, onto your website, or engaging with you on social media. It’s the inquiries and the conversations.

Sales, on the other hand, is what happens next: converting that attention into paying clients. It’s turning those inquiries into signed contracts and deposits … those window shoppers into buyers. 

If you have leads coming in but want to manage them better (and increase your chances of turning those leads into paying clients), streamlining your sales process is key.

For most interior designers (and service providers), the sales process typically looks like this:

Join The DTS Files to see exactly how to use HoneyBook during the sales process.

If 2025 is the year you plan to take your interior design business to the next level, I’d bet marketing is top of mind. I know it always is for me.

Because marketing is a topic we’re asked about almost as much as pricing, I’ve rounded up my best blog posts with specific advice to help interior designers go into 2025 with all their i’s dotted and t’s crossed.

👏

Here’s the thing: business operations is my specialty, but marketing is my passion. It’s where creativity meets strategy, and when you get it right, the results can be game-changing.

Each of the articles below is packed with detailed steps and insights. I’m sharing them in order of how you should implement them so you have your own handy “Marketing Playbook” for the new year.

Join The DTS Files to access these articles.