A designer asked, “If I present pricing during the presentation, it brings up more revisions. Should I wait and send pricing later instead?”

This is an important question designers often face and it’s one you don’t want to mess up. In this article, I share why the timing of your pricing reveal matters more than you think and how it affects approvals, objections, and even profitability.

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There’s a fear in the interior design industry (and in many creative service industries) that sending an Investment Guide will scare off potential clients or make you look uppity. Because of that, many designers default to just sharing their hourly rates or a flat fee per room. In this article, I show you how to share pricing in a way that communicates value and positions you as the expert.

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Recently, we offered a brand new training on how to create and format construction documents and spec books. If you missed it, be sure to add your name to the waitlist here to know when we’re hosting it live again..

In the live training, we covered:

• Industry standards for formatting CD sheets, and numbering and sequencing sheets within a construction document set

• Utilizing recognized drafting symbology appropriately, and ways to format construction and fabrication notes on construction drawings

• Standard formatting for plans, elevations, sections, and detail drawings, and how to cross-reference related drawings between sheets in a CD set

• How to distribute appropriate materials and finish information between schedules on a CD sheet, and within a Spec book

• The most thorough and efficient ways to format information and links within a spec book

• How to document your process and standards for CD and spec production so you can more easily outsource that work

One designer who attended the training provided this feedback:

“The level of detail discussed in this training was 🔥. I had no idea an interior designer should be producing documents at the same level as an architect. I earned a certificate in interior design, so none of this was ever taught. I am thankful that my eyes have been opened to what I should really be doing.”

We thought this was a great opportunity to discuss the differentiation between an architect’s role and an interior designer’s role, and the competencies an interior designer should have regarding construction documentation. 

Join me inside The DTS Files for insights based on my work with hundreds of interior design businesses.

What do you do when the worst contractor you’ve ever worked with sends you a dream client? Take the job? Run for the hills? Here's how to protect your business, your boundaries, and your bottom line.

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Ever feel like you’re leaving money on the table with window treatments?

If you’ve wondered how to turn them into a profitable (and seamless) part of your design business, this one’s for you. I’m breaking down five ways to sell them, the risks you need to watch for, and where the real revenue is hiding.

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A designer wrote in with a tough situation: a junior team member is using her portfolio to land side work. If you’ve ever had that pit-in-your-stomach moment when you find out someone on your team has crossed the line, this one’s for you. In this article, I talk about how to protect your business and what to do if it’s already happened.

Want my advice? Join The DTS Files to unlock it inside this members-only post.

25 years in business. Confident in their client relations, design skills, and financials. Paying the team? That’s another story.

This designer asked us:

How do I know what to pay a new hire, especially if I’m weighing experience vs. education?

If hiring feels like a mystery or you’ve ever second-guessed what you’re offering, this post will walk you through, step-by-step, exactly how to set the right salary and avoid overpaying, underpaying, or boxing yourself in.

Want my advice? Join The DTS Files to unlock it inside this members-only post.

13 projects. One burned-out designer. And a question we hear all the time: “I need to clone myself. Who should I hire first?”

If you’re feeling stretched thin and wondering how to grow your team without making a costly misstep, this one's for you. The answer might not be what you think.

Want my advice? Join The DTS Files to unlock it inside this members-only post.