3 Reasons NOT To Price Your Interior Design Services Hourly + What To Do Instead!

Interior designers, have you ever worked with a client who watches practically every detail over your shoulder and asks how long tasks are going to take? Or even worse, they rush your creative process by telling you to speed up what you’re doing? If you answered “yes”, I’m willing to bet it’s because this client was paying an hourly project fee for your design services.

If you want to eliminate this stress in your client relationship and give yourself a space to design freely without the pressure of how many hours are passing by, you need to consider switching to a project-based pricing model (otherwise known as a “flat fee”). This is exactly what I do in my interior design business, and it’s how I was able to scale my income to 6-figures while working part-time hours.

Read on to learn three crucial reasons NOT to price your interior design services hourly, and what to do instead!

Hourly Pricing Creates Stress For Your Client

When you price your interior design projects hourly, you are essentially asking your clients to sign a blank check. Especially as a beginner with limited experience and confidence, this can make potential clients uncomfortable. You want to build trust with your new clients as much as possible, not give them a reason to feel uneasy working with you from the start. It’s very natural for a potential client to feel hesitant about committing to your services when they really don’t know what the total investment is going to be.

This is not an ideal scenario for creating a collaborative environment between you and the client. This added time pressure hinders your creative abilities and negatively impacts the final result of the project. Every designer’s creative process is different and can depend on many factors, so putting a time restraint on your design process only breeds stress and anxiety throughout the project.

Whether you are the one worried about overcharging your client when tasks inevitably take you longer than expected, or your client is the one passing this stress onto you, the end result of the project will suffer.

Hourly Pricing Doesn’t Account For the Typical Challenges of a Beginner

Pricing your interior design services can be very overwhelming as a beginner in this industry - you probably have no idea how many hours all of the different tasks will take you. Some key challenges arise if you decide to price your projects hourly - you could vastly undercharge or overcharge your client simply based on your time estimations as a beginner.

Think back to your very first design project (whether it was for fun in your own home or your first paying client) - did you accurately estimate how long the tasks would take to complete? Probably not! It’s way more likely that unexpected challenges and situations arose during the project. That’s completely normal for a beginner!

Now, imagine if you were on a tight budget with a client who was paying hourly; those unforeseen events would have a major impact on the final cost of the project. You would either have to charge more money and potentially strain this client relationship, or decide to complete the extra work without pay, which I NEVER recommend!

The challenges of pricing your interior design services as a beginner can make your fees drastically different from client to client, which really isn’t a good thing. Instead, you want to create a stable foundation for your business, predictable costs, and trust with your paying clients. Make sure you read until the end to learn exactly how I accomplish this with a project-based pricing model.

→ If you haven’t officially launched your own interior design business yet, check out this post for the top 5 reasons you should get started.

Hourly Pricing Creates Resistance In the Sales Process

You might think you are doing your client a favor by pricing your work hourly, but the reality is, people want to feel like they have control over their investments. After all, your clients are paying good money for your services, and they deserve to have an extremely clear picture of what they will receive and exactly how much it is going to cost them.

Even if you can provide a pretty accurate time estimation when pricing hourly, it’s not an exact price. A lot of potential clients will feel uneasy about this “guesstimate” cost - which can make closing your sales difficult.

My goal is to show you that starting your own interior design business and making a living working with your dream clients is absolutely possible - and that means you need to close your sales! Honestly, pricing is just one aspect that can impact your ability to land your dream clients. Whether you’re a beginner or not, you might need support learning how to price your interior design services and how to solidify your sales process. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, consider checking out my monthly coaching program for interior designers, Design Business Secrets+.

I created this exclusive coaching program to help aspiring and existing interior designers build the life they dream of. With my proven systems, you’ll be able to earn 6-figures as a professional designer while working part-time hours! If this sounds like the life you’ve been dreaming of, read more about Design Business Secrets+ today.

Transitioning From Hourly Pricing To A Project-Based Pricing Model

By offering a fixed price (or a flat fee) for your interior design projects, you will not only eliminate the stress and micromanagement from your clients, but also provide a clear expectation of the full investment at the start of the service. This builds trust and transparency with your new clients, which is the best way to begin a new project!

You’ll be able to relax and stay in your creative zone throughout the project without worrying (too much) about the ticking clock. Of course you will still meet project deadlines, but you’ll be able to budget your time in a way that works for you without overcharging the client. Remember, every designer has a different process, and that’s okay.

Shifting away from hourly pricing can transform your business - you’ll be able to foster amazing client relationships and use that momentum to attract your dream clients.

How To Price Your Interior Design Projects

Hopefully by now you’re convinced that switching over to a project-based pricing model is right for your business. But you might be wondering exactly how to calculate those prices.

I’ve got you covered inside my monthly coaching membership - you’ll gain access to priority coaching from me, tons of ready-to-use templates for your business and social media, and a growing community of women who are building their interior design businesses from scratch. You’ll also get my “Perfect Pricing” course and calculator, so you can stop guessing when pricing your interior design services!

Head over to Design Business Secrets+ today to learn all of my best kept secrets and proven processes for building a thriving interior design business!