Unveiling the Budget: How Transparency Transforms Interior Design Projects

This episode of iDesign Lab focuses on the necessity and benefits of discussing budgets in the interior design process. By fostering transparent conversations about financial limits, clients empower designers to create tailored, satisfying solutions that align with their vision and resources.

• Importance of discussing budgets openly 
• Clients need to gauge their spending capabilities 
• The designer's role in tailoring projects based on budget 
• Transparency fosters better collaboration and results 
• Real-world scenarios highlight budgeting dynamics 
• The “2-Out-of-3 Rule” for quality, speed, and cost 
• Encouragement for clients to communicate their financial boundaries
-For more infomation: https://twinteriors.com/

Learn more at:
https://twinteriors.com/podcast/

https://scottwoolley.com

Chapters

• 0:00 Podcast Open
• 1:07 Unveiling the Budget
• 8:12 Balancing Quality, Price, and Timing

Transcript

Voice Over: 0:00

The following podcast iDesign Lab is an SW Group production in association with Five Star and TW Interiors. This is iDesign Lab, a podcast where creativity and curiosity meet style and design. Curator of interiors, furnishings and lifestyles. Hosted by Tiffany Woolley, an interior designer and a style enthusiast, along with her serial entrepreneur husband Scott, idesign Lab is your ultimate design podcast where we explore the rich and vibrant world of design and its constant evolution in style and trends, everything in between, to better help you style your life, through advice from trendsetters, designers, influencers, innovators, fabricators and manufacturers, as well as personal stories that inspire, motivate and excite. So, whether you're listening to iDesign Lab during your commute or in a cozy nook in your home or office, grab a coffee or a chardonnay and join us on this elevated, informative and lively journey into the world of all things design.

Tiffany Woolley: 1:07

Welcome to today's iDesign Lab tidbit. We are talking budget, budgets, budgets, making peace with your budget and prioritizing how money is spent and having a game plan for that.

Scott Woolley: 1:24

Or having a budget period.

Tiffany Woolley: 1:26

Yeah. Well having a budget and trying to stay in budget.

Scott Woolley: 1:30

The biggest thing that I see in the interior design world is people are opposed or seem shy or don't want to expose or tell us what their budget is.

Tiffany Woolley: 1:42

It's true and I was told at one point whoever says numbers first loses. So, I try to never give the numbers first. I want information from my clients.

Scott Woolley: 1:54

But when it comes to interior design, you can't really give a client budget. How do you do that, right, you?

Tiffany Woolley: 2:00

need a gauge, and you need a gauge for a budget because that kind of dictates what vendors you work within. So I like to often tell my clients that I need a parameter to stay in and then I want them to be comfortable with that number and then somewhat let go, and those tend to be the happiest clients in the end.

Scott Woolley: 2:23

Correct.

Tiffany Woolley: 2:23

Those are the people who are the most satisfied, because every I gets dotted and every T gets crossed, because we're able to have this gauge and then you can determine where you want to splurge and then you'll save. So when you're doing a budget, like I said, it's great to have that number and again, have the client make peace with that number, and it's great to have that number per project.

Scott Woolley: 2:51

Well, it's really a client. They're not going to know what their budget is to, let's say, do the house or redo the house or redo a living room but they're going to have an understanding of how much they want to spend.

Scott Woolley: 3:04

Right, they're going to have a gauge of $300 a square foot to $3,000 a square foot, but it might not be based on square foot, it might just be I have $50,000 to do my living room. Well, that's all I want to spend. And most people, like you just said, are opposed to saying $50,000 because they feel like they're negotiating against themselves that, okay, I have $50,000 to spend and they think, well, now they're going to spend every single penny of that $50,000. What they're not realizing is, by explaining that that's my budget, the interior decorator is then able to, like you just said, pick the proper manufacturers and suppliers to put together a design that will complete the room.

Tiffany Woolley: 3:49

Right. The goal is final completion and to make sure you get all the components that are needed. Whether it be a bathroom remodel or whether it be a complete new home. Soup to nuts, there needs to be a number that you're comfortable with and again make peace with, so that we can do what we do best.

Scott Woolley: 4:10

Well, it's like pretty much almost everything that people buy. You're going to go buy a new home. They got a price number that they have in mind of what they want to spend for the house. You go buy a new car, or even have a new car customized and designed for you. You know what you're going to want to spend. You go buy a new car, or you even have a new car customized and designed for you. You know what you're going to want to spend. You go get a new suit made. The person knows that I'm not going to spend more than $1,500 for a new suit. So what we're trying to talk about in this episode is that people, really, if you want to get the most out of your interior designer, you really need to focus on in that initial meeting what you're willing to spend. You're comfortable.

Tiffany Woolley: 4:53

And I say that too because the more information, knowledge is power. You know, I had a project at one point where I had no idea what they wanted to spend. But I kind of start to gauge on. You know what's the cost of the house, what's resale in the area, you know how do they look and dress and try to, you know, visualize from the information I do have at my disposal, which is obviously what I see and and I try to gauge from there.

Tiffany Woolley: 5:23

And sometimes clients don't know really what they want to spend or how much things are going to cost. But at the same time you don't want to short change yourself. So if you want to push the envelope and you say okay, I mean I'm giving me a number from a room you know, go to a high end number if you are comfortable spending more, because you're going to open up a whole new can of worms as far as what vendors you know we would be looking into for your project. So you really need to make your decision. You know, are you in that coach bracket or are you in the Chanel bracket? You got to really determine where you are and be comfortable communicating that.

Scott Woolley: 6:11

And I think we're talking about the vast majority of clients or consumers that are out there, because there is that small percentage I'll say that doesn't have a budget, because they don't even want to think about what the budget is. They just want it done right because they have the money and whatever it's going to cost. I mean, I think back of doing television commercials with, you know, with clients that are corporations and companies in most cases, and or an ad agency, and talking to them about budget. And then I've had clients where they don't want to hear about the budget, present something to me that's going to be the best thing for my brand and they're willing to spend whatever is presented to them.

Tiffany Woolley: 6:54

But they need to be comfortable communicating. That, and I guess that would be the best tidbit of today is really to be comfortable with some form of number, whether it be the lack of a number or the need of staying tight to a number Correct. The information should be transparent and the client, the end user, should be completely confident and comfortable giving you that information for the most successful end game.

Scott Woolley: 7:23

Correct.

Tiffany Woolley: 7:25

So that's the day.

Scott Woolley: 7:27

It's a good conversation about budget that people you know it's probably the biggest thing to talk to clients, customers about. It's the biggest thing I think that people have a hard time wanting to talk about, on how much they want to spend, because I think that the, like I said, the average person you know needs to be on a budget or needs to somewhat control what they are going to spend, and those are the individuals that really need to think about that. You know anyone who's thinking about using an interior decorator, because your interior decorator or interior designer will be able to do a lot more and accomplish a lot more and actually a quicker amount of time with those numbers. And then there are the clients that don't really want to hear about what a budget is, because they just want it done absolutely beautiful, and budget's not really the concern.

Tiffany Woolley: 8:23

And with that comes you know the expectation of timing and everything. There's like a funny quote around that you can have it really well made. Or let's say, you can have quality, you can have a good price point and you can have a good time frame, but you don't get all three, you only can pick two. So if you want it really well made and you want a good price, you're going to wait.

Scott Woolley: 8:51

Correct.

Tiffany Woolley: 8:52

And if you want to not wait and you want good quality, you're going to pay. So you get to pick two.

Scott Woolley: 9:02

So that's our little banter for today, and we'd love to hear back from anyone whose thoughts on our conversation today are pertaining to budget.

Voice Over: 9:12

Feel free, drop us a note iDesign Labs podcast is an SW Group production in association with the Five Star and TW Interiors. To learn more about iDesign Lab or TW Interiors, please visit twinteriorscom.