How To Book Your Dream Interior Design Clients By Using 3D Renderings In Your Design Process +SketchUp Training
If you’re a new interior designer, you may be wondering if you really need to use 3D rendering in your design business. After all, skipping this process will save you time and energy on your projects, right? Wrong.
Not only will incorporating 3D renderings in your design process set you apart as a true professional, but these images will actually save you time by eliminating excess communication and conveying your ideas faster than if you simply created a mood board.
Read on to hear my experience with 3D rendering, my tips on why you should include these images in your design process, and gain exclusive access to my comprehensive SketchUp course for interior designers.
What Are 3D Renderings In Interior Design?
A 3D rendering is a photorealistic image that shows your client what their space will look like once it's completed. It’s a 3-dimensional layout of each room that you will be designing with all of the completed elements in place.
Using 3D Renderings in your interior design business will help you book more of your dream clients by accomplishing two major things:
Offering 3D renderings will upgrade your design services and show off your expertise as a designer, which will lead to more luxury projects.
Using 3D renderings will speed up your overall design process by eliminating some unnecessary communication and revisions, freeing up more time for other projects.
3D Renderings Will Upgrade Your Interior Design Services
When I get on a discovery call with a new lead, I always share my design process and outline the deliverables that they will receive with my design services. When I mention 3D renderings as part of my process, the potential clients are always so excited. They tell me that they can’t wait to see the images because it’s exactly what they need to fully understand what the space will look like in the end.
Some interior designers don’t offer this added element to their design service, so it will set you apart as a more professional and “full-service” designer if you’re able to offer 3D renderings for your clients. In turn, this can result in you booking more of your dream clients because of your professionalism and expertise!
3D Renderings Will Speed Up Your Overall Design Process
As an experienced interior designer, or just someone with a natural eye-for-design, you can easily look at a paint color, piece of furniture, and a rug and visualize those elements in a finished room. But, your client most likely can not - which is why they hired you! Even if they can pick out a few elements that they like, they need help putting the pieces together to see a cohesive design - which is where 3D renderings can help. Providing these images helps to get the final result across quicker and "sell" your project ideas faster.
When I first started designing in the real world for another company, I realized that not everyone utilized 3D renderings in their design process. I thought this was a little strange, but I was a new employee, so I didn’t make a fuss about it.
But here’s what I noticed: the clients couldn’t visualize the end results of the projects with just a mood board and a floor plan to look at. Sure, all of the paint colors, furniture choices, rugs, lighting, and more were nicely laid out on one mood board page, but that’s not enough to fully convey the completed room design. This led to a lot of simple questions that could have been easily answered if the client was presented with 3D renderings of the rooms.
So, when I got the chance to take the lead on a design project, I knew I wanted to use 3D renderings in my process. Not only did it impress my boss and the client (I don’t even think I had to do any revisions for the project after showing the images), but the company I worked for started incorporating 3D renderings on all of their projects.
Through this early experience, I learned that a 3D rendering is hands-down the easiest and fastest way to “sell” your design ideas to your client, which speeds up your overall design process.
How To Start 3D Rendering (SketchUp Fast Start Training)
While there are a lot of different softwares and tools for 3D rendering, my best recommendation is SketchUp. I personally use this tool in my own business and I have a full SketchUp Fast Start Course in my group for interior designers, called Design Business Secrets+. Here, you’ll learn SketchUp basics, how to use features like the toolbar and panels, and even practice building and rendering models.
Inside the group for designers, you’ll also get 1-on-1 priority feedback and coaching from me, so I can provide my expert insight on your SketchUp designs and offer my suggestions. I’ve been running my own 6-figure interior design business since 2020, and now I help women start and run their own profitable design businesses. Check out Design Business Secrets+ today to see how I can support you!
→ 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.
What If You Can’t Do 3D Renderings?
The good news is you don’t have to be the one to complete the 3D rendering for your client. If you don’t have time in your schedule to learn the software, you can outsource this process to an expert - check out places like Fiverr or Upwork to hire a freelancer who knows how to use 3D rendering softwares. Or, you could even connect with another interior designer who can do the renderings for you - we have an entire community of interior designers inside the Design Business Secrets+ group, including some who offer rendering services. You’ll be able to connect with hundreds of other women who are starting and running their own design businesses, and maybe even find the perfect person to outsource your 3D renderings to!
Expert tip: Roll that added business cost right into your design fee, and then it’s not actually cutting into your profit!
Truly, there are a lot of options and ways you can provide renderings for your clients without needing to spend the time learning the required skills.
Key TakeAway
Ultimately, I highly recommend incorporating 3D renderings into your design process to position yourself as the expert designer you really are, and speed up your overall design process, which leads to booking more of those dream clients!
Again, check out my group for new and aspiring interior designers, Design Business Secrets+ to get exactly the support you need when starting and running your own profitable interior design business.