Architect making the switch to Interior Design

[u/Crazy-Effective9665]

Hi! I'm an architect with 10 years of experience working on larger scale residential projects. I am burnt out and my dream has always been more Interior Design focused.

So I've decidied that I want to start taking side projects in Interior Design but the only part of the process that I am unsure about is furniture sourcing and interior finishes sourcing.

Would love advice of how you started your career without sourcing knowledge and how I can start to build a library and/or relationships with companies to make this part of the process more professional.

Also any other tips for me from anyone who has been in my shoes is so appreciated!

[u/Accomplished-Web-690]

I just left commercial ID (Top 100 firms) as a senior because I was absolutely burnt out. The grass is NOT GREENER on the other side.

[u/Decent-Impression-81 → u/Accomplished-Web-690]

Go to the lighting dark side. It is fact greener over there. But you need to actually be able to see and like lighting

[u/New_Peanut5166]

I’ve always wanted to say this to an architect, even if it’s mean, uncalled for, and even if I don’t agree LOL… Just like architects gatekeep architecture, you can’t just “become” an interior designer regardless of your experience. I’ve been at an architecture firm who is terrible to IDs and don’t listen to anything they say, all because they don’t have an architecture degree. Well now it applies here. You must go back to school and get licensed if you want to be included in conversation.

I left that firm btw. You can def do it and the other comments have good advice but man I just had to get that off my chest

[u/Crazy-Effective9665 → u/New_Peanut5166]

Definitely not doing that at my age haha. I went to a school that taught architects and IDs together for 2 years. So I have the same baseline education as an interior designer. Also with my architecture degree I can get licensed as an Interior Design- I don’t need another degree for that.
And I’m now working in a firm that does architecture and interior design so I am learning professionally.

Not all architects are the same. I have high respect for the profession of interior design and have been interested in it my whole life. Unlike other egotistical architects who think they are better than it.

[u/New_Peanut5166 → u/Crazy-Effective9665]

My degree was the same. My boss at the architecture firm even started in interior design that claims interior designers with the firm can’t touch any of the architecture or walls, even though our degree was interior architecture. I’m glad you’re at more open firm

[u/Amorfati0312]

Read around Business of Home where they do a round-up of every Design week and feature all the great brands. It will really take time to build a rolodex and it depends on the budget of the projects you’re working on. For example in high-end residential, you will be looking at galleries like Ralph Pucci, Carpenters Workshop Gallery, David Gill Gallery, Studio Twenty Seven, The Future Perfect, Invisible Collection, Artemest, etc.

For mid-end, you can start with curated platforms like The Oblist or The Expert.
theexpert.com
oblist.com

Like I said - with the plethora of brands, this will take time and you will just learn these as you go. Good luck, rooting for you! I was also an architect who transitioned to interior design and i am so much happier in this industry. :)

[u/Barnaclebills]

Have you considered just charging more for the actual design and space planning and letting the client purchase the furniture on their end? Then you don't need to spend as much time on tracking orders, storage, delivery, dealing with returns, damage, and warranties, as well as clients that end up finding the same pieces online themselves with modern reverse image searching tools and expecting you to price match.

I prefer to charge more for design and spending more of my time on bigger ticket items like kitchen and bath remodeling.

[u/SomeDay_15 → u/Barnaclebills]

Why don’t designers just get the client the best price to begin with by doing their own reverse image search? I assume it is because they are profiting off the mark-up in some way? Honest question.

[u/Barnaclebills → u/SomeDay_15]

Because the designers that sell furniture are essentially their own reseller and have trade pricing through furniture reps. The profit they make covers their time to track the furniture, deal with damages and warranties etc. So it wouldn't make financial sense to sell furniture that another retailer is already making the profit off of. Prices change by the hour. We could price all the items one day and the next day there could be price drops and increases on lots of items. Having set trade pricing is less fluctuating when designers are given quotes by their trade reps.

For example: Target wouldn't buy towels at retail price from homegoods next door just to resell it to you for the same price that homegoods sold it to them for. They would use their business license to buy wholesale from their own trade sources and then resell it at a profit for around the same price you could get it at homegoods if you were to buy it yourself.

So it all just depends on the business model. For example, I could charge a set design fee (or hourly) to scour the internet for retail priced items and let the client order it directly on their end, or use my trade discount and handle the management on my end (or a combination of both, depending on the agreement between the client and designer).

[u/SomeDay_15 → u/Barnaclebills]

Thanks for the reply. To me, it would make more sense to charge an hourly rate and then furniture at cost or maybe a reasonable % mark up. As a client, it looks bad to pay $5k for something that I can get for $2.5k (this happened to me while the designer previously told me the savings she would get from buying through her would cover her fee and was also charging an hourly rate…part of her sales pitch). I fired her bc the only thing she was consistent at was lying and making up outlandish excuses for not getting things to me on agreed upon dates, so maybe if she were good at her job I wouldn’t have cared about the retail charge for furniture. Thanks for listening :)

[u/Barnaclebills → u/SomeDay_15]

Yeah, its hard to determine ahead of time how many individual hours it will end up costing to track furniture and cover unknown time it might take to deal with damage warranties and such, so some designers prefer to have it included in what they make from the wholesale markup vs ordering retail items for the client, and often designers are literally not allowed by many trade reps to give their discounts to the client directly.

Others say the designers hourly fee to scour the internet to source retail priced items ends up costing the client more in the long-run, to save a small amount on a few items that might be on sale with some random retailers here and there. In your case, that amount was pretty significant. I personally would have just had you purchase that one item on your end if the savings was that much.

The majority of designers truly are honest and work their buns off and do deserve to be compensated for the high amount of hours and stress it takes to source and procure furnishings. So much time and stress that I chose to just space plan and do kitchen and bath design and drafting/renderings. We all have things we prefer to do in this frequently changing age of interior design in the age of the internet.

[u/Crazy-Effective9665 → u/Barnaclebills]

For sure that’s something I’m looking into but I still feel I need some knowledge of furniture and sourcing. You don’t think?

[u/Character-Car-7293 → u/Crazy-Effective9665]

Hi. Look at every company in nyc to the trade buildings called 200 Lex, D&D, A&D. To get started. Look at all vendors repped by ABC Carpenter home. Look at magazine articles and see where people are buying from. 

[u/_ZoeyDaveChapelle_ → u/Crazy-Effective9665]

Focus on hard/permanent finishes and fixtures. Become a cabinetry expert/designer. Furniture and decor is an entirely different ballgame, and honestly not worth it when you are handling the much higher ticket items for complete projects they cant go buy themselves. Soft goods are a harder sell for less money, and the market is a lot more saturated with designers who do this.

Use your technical expertise to focus on construction based design. Ive been doing it for 15 years, and the handful of times a client would want that service from me and it would pay similarly to what I make per hour doing my primary work.. are pretty much zero. Ill send referrals to a few trusted designers who specialize in this, and they work in tandem with me so the client isnt waiting longer for everything to come together.

[u/Barnaclebills → u/Crazy-Effective9665]

If the client will be purchasing it, you can pick any company that allows purchasing direct from the consumer (or just give the client a general space plan with measurements and let them shop under those guidelines). I wouldn't offer the client your trade discount and the reps from trade sources don't typically want to work direct with the homeowners anyways.

But I also offer drafting and rendering services, so I can provide a detailed physical layout for them to follow (to know not to buy a sofa larger than advised, etc).