Interior designer website: portfolio, process and better enquiries

What should an interior designer’s website include?

An interior designer’s website should help a potential client answer three questions: do I love this designer’s work, do they do projects like mine, and how does working with them work? Everything on the site should support one of those answers.

Designers who work in both residential and commercial interiors should separate them clearly. A condo owner and a restaurant group want to see different work and ask different questions.

How should interior design projects be presented online?

Present each project as a short case study with its own page, not just a gallery of pretty rooms. Clients want to see how you think: what the brief was, what made it difficult and how you solved it.

1. Title and summary: the type of space, the location and the scope, for example “Two-bedroom condo, Sathorn, full renovation”.
2. Lead image: the single photo that best captures the finished space.
3. The brief: what the client needed and any constraints, such as budget, layout or timing.
4. The approach: key design decisions, materials and colour palette, in a few short paragraphs.
5. Before and plans, where you have them, to show the scale of the change.
6. Full gallery of professional photographs, wide shots first, then details.
7. Credits and words from the client: photographer, architect or contractor, and a short quote used with permission.

Six to ten projects shown this way are more persuasive than forty thumbnails. If you work closely with architects, our architecture firm website guide covers how practices present larger projects.

How can an image-heavy design website stay fast?

An image-heavy website stays fast by serving each photo at the right size, in a modern format, and loading images only as they are needed. Designers rightly want full-screen photography, but uploading straight-from-camera files can make pages painfully slow on a phone.

• Export images at sensible dimensions and let the site serve smaller versions to phones.
• Use modern formats such as WebP or AVIF, which keep quality at much smaller file sizes.
• Lazy-load gallery images further down the page so the first screen appears quickly.
• Avoid heavy sliders and autoplay video on the home page unless they are carefully optimised.
• Aim for Google’s “good” Core Web Vitals, including a largest contentful paint within 2.5 seconds.

Every image also needs descriptive alt text, such as “Living room with oak panelling and a green velvet sofa”, which helps visually impaired visitors and tells search engines what the photo shows. Our website speed guide explains the technical side.

How should an interior designer explain fees and process?

Explain how you charge, even if you don’t publish exact figures, and set out the stages of a project so clients know what they are signing up for. Uncertainty about cost is one of the main reasons people hesitate to contact a designer.

Designers charge in different ways, and each is easy to describe on the site:

• Fixed design fee, agreed after the first consultation and based on scope.
• Percentage of the project budget, common for larger renovations.
• Hourly or daily rates, often used for consultations and styling.
• Paid initial consultation, sometimes credited against the full project.

If you only take on projects above a certain size, say so, for example “Our full-service projects usually start from” followed by your own figure. Then outline the process: discovery, concept, design development, procurement, installation and handover, with roughly how long each takes for a typical project. Clients who read this arrive at the first meeting better prepared, and the ones who are not a fit tend to rule themselves out.

How do you get better enquiries from an interior design website?

You get better enquiries by asking a few qualifying questions on the enquiry form, so you can tell quickly whether a project is right for you. A form with only name, email and message produces a lot of conversations that end at the budget question.

• Type of property: condo, house, villa, restaurant, office, hotel.
• Location and approximate size.
• Scope: full renovation, furnishing and styling, single room or consultation only.
• Budget band, using ranges you set.
• Ideal start date and any fixed deadline.
• How they found you, and a space to share photos or plans.

Keep the form short enough to finish on a phone, explain why you ask about budget and say when you will reply. A clear, short form with honest questions earns better enquiries than a long one that feels like a test.

How do clients find interior designers on Google and AI assistants?

Clients search for a type of space, a style and a location: “interior designer for condo Bangkok”, “restaurant interior design firm”, “Japandi interior designer”, and they ask AI assistants to suggest designers who match. Many also browse Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration before they search.

Project pages titled with the space type and location, a services page that names what you design, and a complete Google Business Profile give search engines and assistants the facts they need. Pin your project photos to Pinterest with links back to each project page, so inspiration turns into visits. Our guide to getting recommended by ChatGPT explains how AI assistants choose which businesses to mention.

Avoid the mistakes that hide good work: a portfolio that is only a grid of unlabelled images, project names that are just client surnames, no location anywhere on the site, and an Instagram feed standing in for a portfolio.

Who builds websites for interior designers, and what does it cost?

Interior design websites are built by web design agencies and freelancers; the right one treats your photography with care and still builds a fast, well-structured site that brings enquiries. PJW Partners has built 50+ websites, including design-led sites for premium brands, in English and Thai, for clients worldwide. You can see examples on our work page.

At PJW Partners, custom websites start from $1,500 USD and most launch in 3 to 6 weeks. A studio with a large portfolio, several languages or custom project filters receives a tailored quote. Our website cost guide explains what affects the price. When you are ready, tell us about your studio and we’ll reply within one business day.

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