How to Set Up a Client Waitlist for Your Interior Design Business
©️ Dakota Design Company 2017-2025 | All rights reserved. This content may not be reproduced, distributed, or used without permission.
Written October 2020 | Updated August 2025
Are you nervous to move to a waitlist in your interior design business? Afraid it will have potential clients going to someone else with their project?
There are always times when you can’t add any more immediate client work, meetings, or planning to your calendar.
💡 Want the exact waitlist strategy I’ve helped hundreds of interior designers implement? In my Waitlist Workshop, you’ll learn the industry-standard timelines, the proposal and contract language to use, and exactly how to turn your waitlist into a paid, happy-to-wait client pipeline.
01 | Change Your Mindset About Making Clients Wait
I know it can be scary to put clients on a waiting list because of a scarcity mindset (what if we have a bad month, what if we can’t book more projects, what if people don’t want to wait).
Look at the data, look at the demand. Creating a waitlist allows you to serve your clients more fully because you won’t be overworked and overwhelmed with managing the details of your existing project load.
02 | Set the Expectations in Your Marketing Materials
I am a HUGE fan of putting project availability on websites and in marketing materials/emails.
First, it sets an expectation for potential clients so they know right off the bat if their timeline matches up with your availability.
It creates a sense of urgency for clients to book before you fill up.
✏️ Pro Tip: In the Waitlist Workshop, I give you the exact copy to use in your marketing and walk through standard timelines by service type so you know exactly when you can start new projects and can communicate that confidently to clients.
03 | How to Know When It’s Time to Move to a Waitlist
If you’ve never stepped back to review your current project load, it can be hard to know exactly when to start a waitlist.
The key is understanding your true capacity, and that requires mapping out your current and upcoming projects against your available working hours.
The process I teach in the Waitlist Workshop makes it simple to:
See exactly when your next opening will be
Plan your marketing around those openings
Create urgency without overbooking yourself
Getting Interior Design Clients On Your Waitlist
When handled correctly, a paid waitlist:
Adds value and positions you as a premium choice
Creates a sense of exclusivity
Gives potential clients a clear next step to secure their spot
Rather than letting potential clients walk away and find someone else, give them the opportunity to commit now, with a deposit, contract, and clear start date.
Inside my Waitlist Workshop for Interior Designers, you’ll learn:
How to frame your waitlist as a premium experience, not a delay
What to say so clients feel confident booking in advance
How to structure your contract to protect both you and the client
→ Get the Waitlist Workshop here
If you already know how to schedule your projects but want to make sure your clients feel supported and not forgotten while they wait?
This is SO simple to do. Grab my plug-and-play waitlist email sequence.
Looking for more? Keep reading:
