I recently had the honor and pleasure of joining Odile Smith of The Biophilic Hub for The Biophilic Hub Summit. Odile helps interior designers and architects transition to nature-centered profitable businesses, and she and I talked about building a successful marketing strategy to effectively target and reach new audiences in your interior design or architecture business: those who care deeply about the environment and its survival. 

When it comes to interior design projects, transparency in pricing is key to establishing trust and ensuring a successful collaboration between you and your clients. When I say transparency, I don’t mean you should pass along your trade pricing, disclose proprietary to-the-trade vendor information, or explain how you came to your (or your team’s) hourly rate.

Yeah, no. ← and if a potential client requests this information from you … RUN.

Or if a … clears throat … “business coach” puts out a blanket statement that it’s illegal to charge markup … RUN.

What I’m saying is …

ear Dakota,

I do flat fee billing and am a huge advocate of “the fewer invoices the better.”

The question is: how do I invoice? 

I love the invoice capability of my product management software but it lists each item by price. I can’t decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I love the idea of high-low design and sometimes it takes one expensive piece to make the space.  I always panic when I list prices individually in case the client will see the expensive item and give pushback (even though the total is coming in on budget.) They will see the price of an individual item and think it’s too much to pay for whatever item it may be.

I’m curious how others are invoicing. Are they sending a general invoice with only final pricing, or are they itemizing each item listed with an individual price?

What have you seen work the best?

Join The DTS Files for my insights and advice.

Dear Dakota,

What do I do when a client doesn’t provide timely feedback?

This is a question we hear all of the time from our 1:1 clients.

In our experience, most designers give between …

Join The DTS Files to get my advice.

Invoicing clients for your interior design projects doesn't have to be a headache. But it is an integral part of running a successful design business and is a topic I get the most questions about.

In this article, I’m sharing the ins and outs of invoicing for your flat fee interior design projects so you can make the process more organized, efficient, and professional.

Whether you're collecting fees for consultations, design services, furniture purchases, or out-of-scope requests, these specific tips will ensure you can spend your time designing, NOT chasing down past-due payments like a debt collector.

And, this goes without saying, but just in case …

… Unlock the rest of this article when you join The DTS Files.

Interior design is both an art form and a professional business endeavor. It requires a combination of creativity, technical skills, and effective project management. As an interior designer, maximizing efficiency within your design process is crucial to delivering exceptional results and providing your clients with an enjoyable experience.

In this blog post, I’ll share a few ways interior designers can make their design process more efficient, enabling them to work smarter, improve their client experience, AND, for those who bill flat fee, increase their profitability. Woop woop. 

We’ll start from the very beginning, before the whole thing goes off the rails, then move through onboarding, concept phase, designing, and presenting. Here we go!

Dear Dakota,

How can I build a consistent flow of clients for my interior design business?

Join The DTS Files for my advice and insights.

Running an interior design business means juggling clients, projects, and endless admin tasks—which can be time-consuming and overwhelming. Luckily, there are software solutions to help streamline these processes so you can focus more on designing beautiful spaces.

Two of the top client management tools for interior designers are HoneyBook and Dubsado. In our 1:1 services, we implement both, depending on the client’s needs. But which one is the right fit for your business?

In this post, we’ll compare HoneyBook and Dubsado, breaking down their key features, pricing, and ease of use so you can decide which platform suits your design business best.

Join The DTS Files for my advice and insights.