How to Be a Great Client: Working With an Interior Designer or Decorator
Working with an interior designer or decorator is a beautiful mix of logistics, emotion, and trust. You’re investing money, time, and energy into spaces that hold real life—and that can stir up big feelings. In this post, I’m sharing what I’ve seen make projects feel easeful and collaborative from both sides of the table: how to be a great partner to your designer or decorator, how to give helpful feedback, and how to trust the process without losing your voice.
Why this matters (for everyone in the room)
Design projects touch a lot at once:
Money and long-term investment.
How those using the space move, work, rest, and connect.
Identity—how a home or business feels to anyone who walks through the door.
Because of that, it’s totally natural to feel excited, protective, or even a little anxious when big decisions are on the table.
A great partnership between an interior designer or decorator and those hiring them doesn’t mean everyone always agrees. It means:
There’s clarity about who is doing what and why.
Those using the space feel heard and supported.
The professional has enough room to do the work they were hired for.
When that happens, projects don’t just look good—they feel good to live and work in.
What an interior designer or decorator is really doing for you
From the outside, it can look like designers and decorators “just pick pretty things.” The reality is much deeper (and more strategic):
Listening for the story – How do those using the space want this to feel? What’s working now? What isn’t?
Translating that story into form – Patterns, fabrics, furnishings, and details that support how life actually happens in the room.
Editing options – Narrowing thousands of possibilities down to a curated set of strong choices, so you’re not overwhelmed.
Advocating for those using the space – Sometimes that means gently steering away from something that looks lovely on a screen but won’t hold up in real life.
Coordinating the soft layers – Sourcing, scheduling, working with upholsterers and wallpaper installers, tracking orders, and making sure the details line up.
In other words: they’re holding both the emotional side of the project and the practical side at the same time.
Before the project begins: setting everyone up to win
How you start has a big impact on how the whole project feels. A few things that make the beginning phase smoother:
1. Be honest about how you want to live and work
Instead of saying, “We want it to be pretty,” try:
How you actually use the space now (even if it feels messy).
What frustrates you on a day-to-day basis.
How you wish the space felt—for mornings, work, guests, downtime.
The more a designer or decorator knows about how those using the space live and work, the more accurately they can design for them.
2. Share inspiration, not instructions
Mood boards and saved images are wonderful. The key is how you talk about them.
Helpful ways to share:
“I’m drawn to how calm this room feels.”
“I love the way the pattern is bold but still soft.”
“This color combination makes me feel awake, but not jittery.”
Your designer or decorator’s job is to translate the mood and feeling of your inspiration into something that fits your architecture, budget, and life—not to replicate someone else’s space.
3. Be as clear as you can about budget and timing
It’s okay not to know exact numbers at first. But a general range and any non-negotiable timing needs are essential.
Be open about:
What you hope to invest in this phase.
Whether there are future phases you’d like to plan toward.
Any timing realities (moves, events, business launches, or quiet seasons).
This helps your designer or decorator recommend realistic options and phase things thoughtfully.
Holding any of your thoughts, concerns, dreams, and/or expectations for the space is doing a disservice to yourself and your space. And, it will muddy your pleasure with the end result because it won’t represent what you desired. But equally important is trusting the professional(s) you hire.
During the project: trust, communication, and timing
Once things are underway, a few habits make everything feel smoother for everyone.
1. Trust the process you agreed on
Most interiors professionals have a process: discovery, concept, revisions, sourcing, install, styling. It may feel slower than your internal pace, but it exists to protect both sides.
Trusting the process can look like:
Allowing the concept phase to be about ideas, not immediate shopping.
Waiting to see the full presentation before asking for changes based on one in-progress image.
Giving your designer or decorator space to troubleshoot when something changes or goes sideways (shipping delays, backorders, etc.).
When you try to reorder the phases mid-stream, it can create stress and confusion—and often doesn’t speed anything up.
2. Give specific, kind feedback
Good professionals want your feedback. It helps the work fit those using the space more closely.
Helpful phrases:
“This feels a little too formal for how we live day to day.”
“I love this pattern, but I’m nervous about keeping it clean on the sofa. Could we use it on pillows instead?”
“The color is almost right—I think we need it softer/deeper/warmer.”
You don’t need to use design language. Just be as honest and specific as you can about how something makes you feel and how it supports (or doesn’t support) daily life.
3. Respect the boundaries you agreed to
A few simple boundaries go a long way:
Using the communication channel you’ve decided on (email, portal, scheduled check-ins) instead of scattering decisions across texts, DMs, and late-night messages.
Grouping questions or changes together rather than sending a separate note for each small thought.
Remembering that your designer or decorator is often juggling timelines, trades, and other projects behind the scenes.
Honor your professional’s hours of operation and work/life balance.
When communication stays contained, your project usually moves faster and more peacefully.
What quietly makes you a wonderful person to design for
You don’t have to be “easy” to be wonderful to work with. You just have to be real, responsive, and open.
From my perspective as an interior decorator and pattern designer, some of the most wonderful people to design for:
Are clear about what truly matters to them and flexible about what doesn’t.
Share their preferences, then allow space for professional judgment.
Understand that small imperfections (a natural slub in linen, a hand-drawn line that’s not perfectly straight) are often part of the charm.
Know that investing in fewer, better changes—like the right wallpaper or custom upholstery—can have more impact than buying more “stuff.”
They also tend to ask questions like:
“What would you do if this were your space?”
“Is there a way to make this more durable without losing the feeling?”
“If we have to compromise, where would you recommend we do it?”
Those are generous questions. They tell your designer or decorator that you trust their experience and want to work as a team.
What can unintentionally make projects harder than they need to be
Most friction isn’t malicious—it comes from excitement, nerves, or being used to micromanaging other areas of life.
Some patterns that tend to complicate projects:
Moving targets. Changing the budget or the scope repeatedly while expecting the same timeline and level of detail.
Endless options. Asking to see option after option instead of using feedback to narrow the field.
Rewriting the brief mid-project. For example: starting with “calm, grounded, quiet color” and pivoting suddenly to “bold jewel-box maximalism” halfway through, without acknowledging the shift.
Micromanaging every choice. Hiring a professional for their expertise, then re-approving every tiny decision as if they’ve never done this before.
If you recognize yourself in any of these, you’re not alone. The kindest thing you can do for yourself and your designer or decorator is to pause and ask: “Have I changed the rules on us without realizing it? Is there a conversation we need to have so we’re all working from the same plan again?”
If you’re an interiors professional reading this…
You might be reading this as a designer or decorator thinking, “I’d like to say all of this, but I don’t want to sound sharp or ungrateful.”
Feel free to treat this as something you can point those hiring you toward:
You can highlight the sections on feedback and process in your welcome packet or onboarding emails.
You can borrow language like “those using the space” and “story of the space” to keep the focus on the people you’re advocating for.
You can use this as a gentle reference point when you need to reset expectations or re-align around the original brief.
My goal is to give you a resource that protects your process and honors your expertise—while still sounding warm, collaborative, and human.
Respecting the money side of the process
Every studio handles billing a little differently, but clear payment structure is one of the ways designers and decorators protect their time and keep projects moving. In my own practice, I work on a 50% deposit, with the remaining 50% due ahead of—or on the same day that—final design files are ready to be released to the printer or workroom. That moment marks the completion of the design service contract. From there, I’m still very much involved—helping place wallpaper and fabric orders on your behalf, coordinating with printers, and supporting next steps—but the creative and technical design work has been fulfilled. Honoring those terms and timelines is one of the kindest things those hiring me can do; it lets me stay fully focused on the quality of the work instead of chasing paperwork.
If you’re thinking about working with an interior designer or decorator, or you’re in the middle of a project right now, I hope this has given you a kinder, clearer view of what “being a great person to design for” can look like.
If you’re an interiors professional and you’d like support choosing wallpaper and fabrics for your projects—or you want a pattern collaborator who understands the realities of your workflow—I’d be glad to talk about working together.
You can:
Visit my website to explore my wallpaper and fabric collections.
Reach out to start a conversation about an upcoming space, whether it’s residential, commercial, or somewhere in between.
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