Whether to publish fees is a question that comes up whenever an interior designer plans a new website. There is no single right answer, but there is a clear picture of what most practices do, and a middle path that suits many of them.
Do interior designers put prices on their websites?
Rarely. The BIID's 2019 fees research reported that about 80% of designers listed none of their fees online. About 11% listed fees for some services and 10% for all of them. The sample was UK-based and is several years old, so treat the numbers as a sketch rather than a rule. The pattern, though, matches what you see browsing designers' sites: portfolios, no price lists.
The case for keeping prices off the page
Interior design is bespoke. A kitchen in a 1920s house and a staged apartment are different jobs, and a single figure can mislead in both directions. The BIID's article, Should you publish fees on your site?, sets out the usual argument: a conversation lets you explain your value before the client judges the number.
The case for showing something
Clear fees can make a practice look established and honest, and they save time on enquiries that were never going to proceed. The same BIID piece notes that some designers have published fees for years and found it works for the kind of client they want. It depends on who that client is.
A middle path
You do not have to choose between a price list and silence. Many designers describe how they charge and where a typical project begins:
| What you could publish | What it does |
|---|---|
| How you charge (flat fee, hourly, percentage, or a mix) | Sets expectations about the shape of the conversation |
| What the first stage includes | Shows what a client receives before committing to the whole project |
| A "from" figure or typical range | Filters out poor fits and prepares good ones |
| What changes the cost | Explains scale, structural work, travel and how involved you are on site |
If you give a range, say plainly what it covers. A "from" price can lead a client to expect the low end, so name what pushes a project higher.
How to decide
Three questions settle it for most practices. Is your work priced so differently from job to job that any figure would mislead? Do you get many enquiries from people who could never afford you? And how comfortable are you talking about money in a first call? If enquiries are mostly well matched and every job is different, describe your process and keep the figure for the conversation. If you lose time to poor fits, a range will earn its place. Either choice can be reversed later, since a page of text is easy to change.
Where to put it on the site
Not on the home page. Keep that for photography and a point of view. A short "Working together" or "Fees" page, linked from the about page and the enquiry form, is enough. Say how the process runs, what the first stage involves and what happens after someone writes to you. Pair it with a simple enquiry form, so the first message already carries the project location, scope and timing. For the pages every designer's site needs, see What should an interior designer's website include?
Where Bay House fits
We design websites for interior designers and will talk through how much to say about fees as part of the design. Some practices publish a range, some describe their process and leave the figure for a first call, and we build either one so it feels like part of the studio rather than a price tag bolted on. Our Signature Site starts from $12,500, and every project ends in a fixed-price proposal. See our pricing or how we approach web design in Annapolis.
Common questions
Do most interior designers show their prices online?
No. In a 2019 survey by the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID), about 80% of designers listed none of their fees on their websites, 11% listed some and 10% listed all. It is a UK survey and an old one, but it shows publishing fees is still the exception.
What can I say about fees without a price list?
Say how you charge (flat fee, hourly, a percentage of the project or a mix), what the first stage includes, and a starting point or typical range. That tells a client what kind of conversation to expect without quoting a project you have not seen.
Will showing a starting price put off good clients?
It may put off clients who could never afford the work, which is partly the point. The risk is that clients anchor on the lowest figure, so label a range clearly as typical and say what makes a project cost more.
