Top Questions To Ask Before Hiring An Interior Designer
Hiring an interior designer is one of the best investments you can make to personalize your home, but choosing the right designer is the key to a successful, enjoyable, and beautifully executed project. Whether you're furnishing a new home, refreshing outdated spaces, or building a new custom home - the designer you choose will shape your entire experience.
I’m Ellen, Owner & Designer of EP Design Studio based in central California - let me breakdown the best questions to ask and what to look for when hiring the right designer for your home!
Project Minnewawa Avenue in Fresno, California - Furnished & Photographed by EP Design Studio
1. Do you have an investment guide for potential clients?
Your budget is one of the most important factors in your design project and it’s completely normal not to know what to expect. Most homeowners hire an interior designer only once in their lives, so trying to gauge a a realistic investment can feel challenging. During your initial conversations, ask the designer if they have an investment guide you can review. This is typically a general overview that gives you a realistic ballpark of: design service fees, furnishing budgets, data from past projects, etc.
This is exactly what I provide to my own prospective clients when they inquire about working with me. A well-prepared designer should have something similar available or at least have clear reference points to help guide these early budget conversations. It’s also important to know that most designers cannot give an exact design fee upfront. The final quote depends entirely on the overall scope of work.
2. Can you walk me through how your process works?
A great client experience starts with a clear and streamlined process. The right interior designer should be able to explain to you their process and what their role is at every phase of the project. This kind of transparency gives you clarity, sets expectations, and builds confidence in their ability to lead and manage your project effectively. A well outlined process ensures your project moves forward smoothly. Designers who have a solid, documented process are typically more organized, communicate more clearly, and are better equipped to keep your project on schedule.
3. Will you prepare a design proposal for me to review?
This is a contractual agreement between the client and designer. A professional interior designer should always provide a detailed design agreement before any work officially begins. This proposal outlines the scope of work, compensation, budget, designer/client responsibilities, and more. It serves as the foundation of the entire project and ensures that everyone’s expectations are aligned from the very start. A designer who takes the time to create a thorough proposal is a designer who values clarity, communication, and professionalism.
In my own process, the proposal is prepared after the paid consultation once I've fully understood the overall scope of work. This ensures that the client’s proposal is accurate, thoughtful, and tailored specifically to their project goals.
It’s very much not recommended to engage in paid interior design services without a formal contract in place. While small, one-time services like hourly consultations may not require one, large projects such as furnishing, renovations, remodels, custom builds or anything full-service absolutely do need one. A design agreement protects both you and the designer by letting both parties know how issues like relationship conflicts, payment disputes, damages, and more should be handled. Which is why having one in place is essential for a professional experience.
4. How does your client onboarding process work?
A clear new-client onboarding process is essential because it sets expectations and outlines the immediate next steps for your project. Every designer handles onboarding differently, some provide a full guide (which I highly recommend), while others walk clients through the process more informally. Regardless of the format, it should be organized and streamlined to launch the project smoothly.
For my own onboarding process, I email a document to my new client that details everything they should be expecting during each phase and any immediate next steps (like scheduling a measurement meeting). Here is some of the main information I include in my onboarding document:
Highlights each phase of the project
How communication will work
My project management platform for designs and invoices
Reminders of design fee, project timeline, etc.
Contact information
As a client, you should never be left guessing about what comes after signing the contract or where your project stands at any given moment. A designer with a clear onboarding system demonstrates preparedness, professionalism, and respect for your experience.
*Project Minnewawa Avenue in Fresno, California - Furnished & Photographed by EP Design Studio
5. What is the designer’s role on the project?
Understanding a designer’s role in your project is one of the most important factors in determining whether they’re the right fit. The level of involvement a designer has should align with your project goals and values. Do you want a designer to fully lead the project from start to finish, or do you prefer a more collaborative approach where you remain hands-on? These distinctions matter more than most clients realize and can significantly impact both the success of the project and your working relationship.
For example, full-service furnishing and styling - EP Design Studio’s signature service - is ideal for clients who value convenience and expertise. In this approach, the interior designer leads the overall vision (while tailoring it to your personal style) and manages every detail, from sourcing to installation. Clients don’t have to handle furniture sourcing or logistics; they simply approve of all of the selections and wait for a move-in-ready home.
Other clients may prefer a more collaborative experience, such as local design consultations, where they already have a vision and want professional guidance or feedback along the way. There’s no right or wrong choice; the key is being honest about what you want. Clear communication ensures your designer can support you in the way that best fits your needs and leads to a successful, enjoyable project.
6. How involved can the client be on the project?
This also goes back to the previous question. Know how much you can be involved in the project! This should be discussed early with the designer during the consultation and the proposal review meeting. If you want to be involved in every aspect - tell the designer from the very beginning so they can tailor their design services to meet your needs or at least be able to tell you that it might not be a good fit for what they offer. Just as much as you want to work with a designer who is aligned with your goals - we also want to work with clients who are aligned with our process!
7. Do I need to work with a licensed interior designer?
The interior design profession is not federally regulated, and falls to the states individually. Most U.S. states do not require an interior designer to be licensed and that can vary widely across the country. It’s important to know the rules in your own state so you can hire the right design professional. In the U.S., interior design regulations generally fall into three categories:
Practice Acts require interior designers to be licensed or registered in order to legally practice interior design in that state. These states may also grant permitting privileges, allowing qualified designers to submit drawings and pull certain building permits without an architect, within a limited scope of work. Only a handful of states require this: Louisiana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Title Acts protect professional titles such as “Registered Interior Designer” or “Certified Interior Designer”. In these states, anyone may technically practice interior design and call themselves a general “Interior Designer”, but only designers who meet state requirements can legally use the protected “registered” or “certified” title. Some Title Act states also offer permitting privileges to registered designers. Most U.S. states have title acts for interior design regulation.
No Regulation means there are no protected titles or licensing requirements specific to interior design at the state level. There are many states that do not have regulation in place.
To see how each U.S. state is categorized, please check out this map from the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (CIDQ) outlining interior design regulation in North America.
The most important takeaway is to always check the regulations for your specific state. That said, in states with Title Acts only, having a “certified” or “registered” title does not automatically make one interior designer better than another. Many incredibly talented and well-known designers have built successful careers through non-traditional paths, such as working for established firms, taking various design courses, and gaining hands-on experience over time (Amber Lewis, Shea McGee, and Joanna Gaines are great examples).
What truly matters most is finding an interior designer who understands your vision, communicates clearly, and aligns with your project goals, timeline, and investment. When you feel confident in your designer and their process, that partnership is what leads to a successful and enjoyable design experience, especially in states where licensing is not required.
So, these are the top questions you should be asking every interior designer before hiring one. Hopefully this blog post helped you prepare and feel confident reaching out to designers!
Are you based in based in central California or in the Los Angeles & Orange County areas? We’d love to work with you - reach out here!
EP Design Studio is a full service interior design company based in Fresno, California serving throughout the Central Valley, Central Coast, and open for travel to Southern California.
