04/15/2026
The best interior designers won’t impress you with their 50+ portfolios.
Most homeowners don't realize this until it's too late.
After 45+ years of working with Clients, Builders and Architects on many and various projects - This is how I approach my clients:
A good interior designer does the work of a therapist.
Most clients walk in thinking they know what they want. A modern kitchen. A calm bedroom. Something that "feels luxurious."
But when you sit with them long enough, you realize they don't actually know.
They know the words. Not the meaning behind them.
A good designer's job is to ask the right questions and bring the client to a place of clarity.
• Clarity about how they live.
• Clarity about what they're really after.
• Clarity about what their home needs to do for them every day for the next 10 years.
A great designer will help you visualize a home (and a life) that you’d love to build for yourself and your family.
The design comes after that. The conversation is the real work.
Once you understand this, the way you evaluate a designer changes completely.
You stop looking at their portfolio.
You start watching how they think.
Here are 5 green flags I'd look for if I were hiring a designer today:
1. You leave the conversation feeling clearer, not more confused.
If you walk out of a design meeting more certain about what you want than when you walked in, that's the signal.
2. They push back on you. With reasoning.
If you say something and they immediately agree, that's a red flag. If they disagree and explain why, that's a designer with conviction. You want someone who'll protect you from your own bad ideas.
3. They ask questions you haven't thought of.
About your daily routines. About how you actually use your kitchen at 7am. About who visits, how often, and where they sit. About your long-term plans for the house. The questions tell you how deeply they're thinking.
4. They talk about what your home will look like in 5 years.
Not just day one. Aging. Maintenance. How the materials will hold up. How your needs might shift. A good designer is designing for a decade, not for a photoshoot.
5. They sound like they're guiding you, not selling to you.
This is the test underneath all the others. After every meeting, ask yourself one question: was this person trying to win me over, or was this person trying to understand me?
Most homeowners spend hours scrolling through Instagram portfolios before hiring a designer.
I'd tell them to spend that time in one good conversation instead.
Because the portfolio shows you what a designer has done.
The conversation shows you how they think.
And how they think is what's going to live in your home for the next 20 years.
