Signs it’s Time to Raise Your Rates as an Interior Designer
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Written October 2022 | Updated January 2025
How to know when it’s time to raise your rates as an interior designer?
One of the things I’ve done with my 1:1 clients to fully understand their pricing is to review their financials, their market, their processes, and their team. Because I work exclusively with designers, I am familiar with pricing across the US and Canada, and I know what interior design businesses are charging, what their markups are, what their team structure is, how streamlined their processes are, and more.
And just about 100% of the time, interior designers are undercharging. Since 2017, I’ve only had one interior design business owner client who I felt was overcharging based on their hourly rate. Sure, I’ve had clients who were adding unnecessary steps to the process (and therefore increasing the billings to the client) but if I’m just considering the hourly rate, there has only been ONE.
Two assumptions I’m making as I write this post:
#1: You have a feeling your pricing is off, which is why you’re here reading this article.
#2: You’re taking excellent care of your clients, providing them with fabulous results, and have received client testimonials confirming these facts.
Here are some clues it might be time to raise your rates.
01 | You Haven’t Raised Your Prices in the Last Year.
Hi. Your pricing should increase with inflation. If everything costs 10% more than it did last year, at a MINIMUM, you should increase your fee by 10% to cover this jump.
02 | You’ve Invested in Professional Development, Your Company, and the Client Experience.
If you’re like 100% of my clients, you’ve invested in your business in the last year to become more efficient, proactive, and knowledgeable.
Maybe it was in education and training, branding, website, processes, or photography. Or maybe you invested in elevating your client experience and incorporating software into your process to give clients an on-brand, streamlined experience.
All of these investments improve your business, your ability to serve your clients efficiently, and your clients’ experience throughout the process.
03 | You’ve Grown Your Team and Offer More Comprehensive Services.
If you've grown your team and can now offer more personalized customer service or additional high-end services—like project management, architectural services, renderings, and more—your rates should reflect the added value you're providing.
Plus, these services come with increased expenses, so it's important that your pricing accounts for the expanded capabilities and support you're offering to clients.
04 | You’ve Gained Experience.
You’ve put in the time, learned from your mistakes, and become even better at what you do. With every project, you fine-tune your processes and learn how to navigate new challenges. Your expertise is worth more now—and that should be reflected in your rates.
05 | You’re On a Waitlist, and People are Still Hiring You.
If you’re completely booked out and people are signing contracts, paying installments, and waiting to start, it’s a good time to raise your rates. This is basic economics. Supply + demand. So, be sure to raise your rate so you aren’t locking people in for next year at this year’s rate (which is likely already too low — just sayin’).
06 | You Have a High Close Rate.
If you’re booking 100% of the prospects you get on a discovery call with or do a consult with, you need to raise your rates. I would say if you’re booking more than 50%, it’s time to raise your rates.
07 | You’re Working Nonstop Yet Aren’t Profitable.
This one is pretty self-explanatory. If you’re working all the time (you should track your hours to see where you spend your time) and are not profitable (you should review your financials after every project and monthly), then something is off.
If you aren’t able to compensate yourself fairly for the hours worked, it’s because either your processes stink (sorry!) or your rate is off. Or both.
If your business isn’t profitable, it’s a hobby, not a livelihood. (Learn about making your projects more profitable here.)
And if, after you pay your taxes, you realize you made $1/hour, it’s time to raise your rates.
08 | You’re Resentful and Burning Out.
You know you should be so grateful to do the work you do, yet with every project, you feel resentful toward the client and mad at yourself. With every task you add to your list, every yes you hear yourself saying, every distracted conversation you have with your kids, you fill with bitterness and guilt and question what you’re even doing.
Tasks begin to take longer. You have to bribe yourself to get any client work done. Your brain feels foggy. You feel anxious.
Oftentimes, if you’re feeling this way, there is MUCH more going on than just incorrect pricing. Ask yourself: “If I were making $X,XXX- XX,XXX more on this project, would I be more excited about it?”. If not, then something else is going on. Or, it could be because you’ve been taking on projects at a low price for too long, and it’s causing burnout — so now, no matter how much money you might bring in, it doesn’t even matter because you simply need a break.
09 | You’re Attracting the Wrong Clients.
Pricing is marketing. If you’re comparing website designers, and one charges $700 for a 5-page site and one charges $7,000 for a 5-page site, who do you instantly think will provide you with a better product, better service, and better value?
Ding-ding-ding! The $7,000 web designer, 100%.
Don’t talk about the discount or the financial savings you bring to your clients. Instead, talk about the value, the time savings, the quality, the convenience, the customized experience, and the comprehensive process.
If you keep getting clients who are asking for discounts, negotiating your price, and having trouble following your process, I’d say a rate increase is overdue (as well as a serious review of your marketing and client process; more on that here).
10 | You’re Ready to Start Focusing on Fewer, Higher-Paying Projects.
As you grow as an interior designer and gain more experience and expertise, you might find you no longer want to juggle a high volume of projects. If you’re like most designers we work with, you probably have a goal of working on fewer, larger-scale, higher-paying projects. Raising your rates will help ensure you can focus on these types of projects without burning out or taking on too much. (BUT, you must be able to deliver on these larger projects without sacrificing quality or service.)
11 | Your Portfolio Has Grown to Reflect the Projects You Want to Attract.
As you complete more high-end projects and build a portfolio that reflects the caliber of work you want to continue doing, your pricing should align with that shift. The type of work you feature in your portfolio directly influences the kind of clients you attract, and if you’re showcasing luxury projects, your rates should reflect the quality of those projects. Clients who see this level of work typically aren’t surprised by premium pricing.
Additional Resources for Interior Designers
Need help with pricing your interior design services so they are profitable? Here are some additional resources created specifically for interior designers that you might enjoy
The Interior Designer’s Guide to Choosing a Profitable Pricing Method—our Pricing Playbook to help you weigh the pros and cons of each pricing model to determine which will be the most profitable for you.
Our Pricing & Proposals Workshop for Interior Designers. Learn:
how to set your base rate
fee ranges across the US for hourly, flat fee, and PPSF
how to factor in product markup
how to set minimums and communicate them with clients
how to align your pricing to attract dream clients
mistakes to avoid when pricing and putting together proposals/contracts
when to collect fees throughout the process
…and more!
