How to Attract Better Interior Design Clients Without Lowering Your Prices
21 juli 2025 
3 min. read

How to Attract Better Interior Design Clients Without Lowering Your Prices

You’re good at what you do. You know that.
And yet… you still attract clients who ask for “just a few changes,” question your fee structure, or act surprised that good design isn’t cheap.

You’re not alone.
Talented interior designers end up working with the wrong clients all the time — not because of their skill, but because of how their studio is positioned.

This isn’t about branding. Or making your Instagram grid prettier.
It’s about one essential shift:

Stop trying to prove your value.
Start leading from it.

The problem isn’t your pricing. It’s the story your interior design studio is telling.

If you constantly get budget pushback, it doesn’t mean you’re too expensive.
It means your interior design studio is quietly telling the wrong story — one where clients feel like they get to shape the process, the pricing, and your boundaries.

And your clients?
They don’t want more say.
They want more certainty.

“When money isn’t the issue, everything else is.”

— Jeffrey Shaw

They’re not looking for options. They’re looking for someone who knows.
If you don’t claim that space, they will — and then you’re back in the loop of negotiating, adjusting, and over-explaining.

Most interior design clients don’t want more options. They want you to know.

Overwhelmed client surrounded by material samples and design optionsIt’s tempting: offer more visuals, more samples, more choices - just to be safe.
But over-explaining is rarely a sign of confidence.

High-end clients aren’t impressed by your flexibility.
They’re looking for someone who says, “This is what works. Here’s why.”

According to behavioral architect Callie van der Merwe, people make decisions emotionally first. They feel the answer long before they understand it.
They don’t need more input. They need someone to interpret what they can’t yet articulate.

What better interior design clients want

  • You don’t attract better clients by being more available.
    You attract them by being more grounded.
  • You don’t attract better clients by being more agreeable.
    You attract them by holding the line.
  • You don’t attract better clients by showing more options.
    You attract them by making stronger choices.
  • You don’t attract better clients by doing more.
    You attract them by doing better.

Confident interior designer presenting a clear concept with minimal distractionsA clear way of working shows knowledge. Confident design choices create trust. And a firm scope lets your clients breathe — because they know they’re in capable hands.

If you’re endlessly adapting, rewording, redesigning: you’re not flexible.
You’re exhausted. And your ideal clients feel that.

The shift that changes everything

Design process moments: from concept sketches to confident material choicesGreat interior design isn’t just about what you create — it’s about showing why it matters.

When you can explain the reasoning behind your creative choices, you shift the dynamic.
You’re not hoping they’ll agree — you’re making them feel why it works.

And the moment a client sees that your ideas are part of a system — not just about what looks good — you stop being a “nice to have.” You become an essential.

This is what shortens revisions, prevents endless back-and-forths, and earns your work more respect.

Affluent clients feel first. Trust second. Buy third.

Your best clients don’t choose with logic. They choose with instinct.

They read your tone. Your confidence. Your subtext.
They don’t just scan your portfolio — they scan your energy.

And yes, they notice. They always notice.

According to Jeffrey Shaw, affluent buyers have built their lives on good judgment. They can smell misalignment.

If your message is inconsistent, apologetic, or overly polished, it doesn’t feel premium. It feels fragile.

Real trust is built when your presence and your process are in sync.

Five practical shifts to attract higher-level interior design clientsInterior designer client saying yes after clear and confident intake conversation

  • Refine your intake. Stop asking what they like. Start asking what they need to feel.
  • Clean up your message. Speak about the outcome, not just the objects.
  • Make your philosophy visible. Even if it turns some people away. Especially then.
  • Protect your pricing. No discounts. Just clarity.
  • Back your boundaries. The right people won’t push them. They’ll be relieved by them.

Ready for interior design clients who see your value before the first meeting?

Take a look at WOOD, our foundation program for interior designers ready to attract aligned clients and work from a place of strength. Trust me, WOOD will bring back lightness, clarity, and joy into your interior design studio.

About the author
Sven van Buuren (1980) is an interior architect and the founder of the Beyond Interior Design Club and the Beyond Interior Design LinkedIn Group (245,000+ members). With a clear eye, calm energy, and sharp thinking, he helps interior designers make stronger choices — in business, in positioning, and in life.Sven lives what he preaches. He shaped his own freedom with a studio for high-end residential design, the Beyond Club, and a lifestyle that lets him continuously travel the world.Driven by quiet optimism and fierce loyalty, he keeps asking: What does it take to build a studio that truly fits the way you want to live?
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