Dear Dakota,

Although I have completed several kitchen and bath projects, I don't market myself as a K&B designer because I haven’t found the service to be profitable. Is that an area I should expand my business into? And what advice do you have for how to make these projects more profitable?

Join The DTS Files for my advice and insights.

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.

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.

When determining how to price your residential interior design services, it’s important to understand the various pricing structures out there so you can choose the one that will work best for YOU.

In addition, there are other factors to consider like your location, your marketing, your experience level, whether you are sourcing retail vs. trade furnishings, your clients, your scopes, your client experience, your team, and so on.

While every designer I’ve worked with since 2017 prices a little bit differently, I’ve definitely seen consistent ranges among the most popular methods, as well as what I believe to be the pros and cons of each. 

*As a side note: my expertise lies in residential interior design businesses, not commercial, so keep that in mind as you read this post if you’re a commercial designer.

Six Pricing Models for Residential Interior Designers …

Join The DTS Files to unlock access to this article.

Dear Dakota,

Should I give friends and family a discount? If so, how should I structure it so I don’t get burned?

Join The DTS Files for my advice and insights.

Dear Dakota,

I presented the final design to my client along with the invoices for their rooms and they balked that there was no discount. I don't offer discounts or market anything about discounts. What do I do, and how do I prevent this from ever happening again?

Join The DTS Files for my advice and insights.