The Interior Designer's Guide to Pricing, Estimating, and Budgeting

This second edition is updated throughout and includes additional material on time management and numerous interviews with leading designers. Empowered by the step-by-step guidance in this book, interior designers will be able to establish prices and budgets that make their clients happy and their businesses profitable. Written by a designer and veteran expert on pricing, estimating, and budgeting systems, the book provides practical guidelines on how to value the cost of designing commercial or residential interiors, from the designer's creative input to the pricing of decorating products and procedures.

The book shows how to determine a profitable and fair hourly rate, balance the client's budget with his or her wishes and needs, negotiate prices with suppliers and contractors, write realistic estimates and clear proposals, manage budgets for projects of all sizes and types, and position the firm's brand in relation to its practices. Interviews with experienced interior designers, case studies, and sidebars highlight professional pitfalls and how to master them, from daily crisis management and self-organization to finding the perfect office manager.

Theo Stephan Williams is the founder of Real Art Design Group, Inc., an award-winning, full-service graphic firm whose international client-base includes Universal Studios Hollywood, the Walt Disney Company, and Mead Corporation. The author of The Streetwise Guide to Freelance Graphic Design and Illustration and of Creative Utopia: 12 Ways To Realize Total Creativity, she has taught many college courses in design theory. Having founded an organic ranch and specialty food company with her husband Joel, her career has transcended to interior design, creating original patterns that are being manufactured into carpets and other textiles in Nepal. She and her family live in California.