There are a few ways to charge for interior design services. 

1. FLAT RATE.  An interior designer quotes a specific fee and includes a detailed list of services and the time frames that these services are covered. When a client has a project that exceeds a $50,000 budget, I prefer to use this fee structure because both sides win.  The client doesn’t feel like they are in the dark regarding never ending design costs and my team knows exactly what is expected and how much time they need to work on a project.

2. COMMISSION.  Most Los Angeles Interior Designers that I know charge 30-35% commission on items that they purchase for clients when they use this method. I’m not a fan of doing things this way because it can put designers and clients on opposite sides of the table.  For instance, if two items are comparable and one costs more, a designer will make more money buying the more expensive item. It leaves room for doubt by the client as to why the selections are being made.  A designer can also suffer when a client purchases an item without the assistance of the designer in order to save the commission.

3. HOURLY RATE.  The most simple of all ways to pay an interior, this rate structure works best for smaller projects with limited amount of time required for completion.  Rates can run from $50 per hour for a student to $1,500 per hour.  I like to use this structure when my clients only need a little bit of my time.  I charge $500 per hour.

4. SQUARE FOOTAGE. This fee structure takes into account the amount of square feet that will be covered on a project.  For example a 10,000 square foot property with 6,000 square feet of exterior space that is being billed at $6 per square foot, would have an interior design fee of $96,000.  This is generally the structure that interior designers use when they work on hospitality  and commercial projects.

5. PERCENTAGE.  A percentage interior design fee takes into account the total budget that the client will spend, including things like: construction, materials and furnishings.  This fee structure is multiplied by a percentage to calculate the interior designer’s fee. 

6. BARTER. If you have a service or item that an interior designer wants, they may be willing to trade with you.  For example, a spa owner who is interested in the interior design of their shop may give their products and services to the interior designer in exchange for interior design services.   

7.  COMBINATION.  Any combination of the previous  five fee structures can be used to come up with a combination fee structure.  Interior Designers and clients can get very creative  and specific in the fee structure by combining rates.

Other things to take into consideration are the status of the designer.  Do they have decades of experience? Are they professionally trained, licensed, accredited?  Have they been published?  Do they have a body of work that reflects a client’s particular needs -style and type of project? Are they in demand and able to charge a premium?

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 Last Week at the Metropolitan Builder’s Association Expo, I revealed the latest and greatest for 2012- 2103 interior design trends.

1.  Man Cave moves from the basement and dominates the entire home.

We’re seeing a James Bond sophistication with plenty of menswear inspired fabrics and accessories. The spaces are filled with over-scaled, comfortable furniture upholstered in English styled, cigar leathers.

2. Personalization of a homeowner’s own style is seen in natural curiosities (found objects like bones, animal skins, drift woods), monograms and chalkboard paint.  These elements allow a space to reflect the personality, history and daily experiences of its homeowner.

3. Indoor Outdoor continues to thrive.  Front yard,edible and roof top gardens are popping up all over urbanity.  The line between indoor and outdoor continues to blur with live wall planters and interior planters that occupy entire rooms.

4.  Nostalgia via old time transportation(railway, air and ocean liner) reigns supreme in today’s interior.   As times have been tough for the last few years, people recall “the good ole days”, when American industry was at it’s zenith. 

5.  Jewelry expressed in precious metals (gold, silver), gemstones and jewel tones are being used on every space imaginable from fabric to furniture to accessories to wall cover to murals.  This trend is the glamorous Yin to the Man Cave’s Yang.

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“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that house and the murder.  I poured through hundreds of pages of police testimony, actual newspaper articles from the period and etc.  It’s obvious to me what happened in that house and it’s the exact opposite of what everyone was led to believe.  Theodore was gay and Lucy was his “beard” of sorts, as all three of them met at the little gas station that her dad owned and Theo worked at changing tires.  They were all close friends before the marriage and that’s how the gas station guy came under employ at Greystone as the valet.  Ned Doheny was a total daddy’s boy, hence the house and his life given to him on a silver platter. He did everything he could to appease dear old pops including marrying, having children and ultimately getting into big trouble for delivering a whopping check with Theo to bribe a top official for dads budding oil businesses.  They ALL got caught in the middle of scandal, so Ned Doheny concocted this plan to send Theo to an insane asylum just for the duration of the trial, to occur days later.  That was a popular thing to do at the time and it would have been one less witness.  Well, poor Theo was off cavorting with every gay in town including Ramon Navarro (who was also tragically murdered) and Theo was not down with this plan at all.  I can only imagine a big big fight ensued and Theo probably made threats of revealing the true nature of the relationship to Doheny Senior or who knows.  Whatever… it was it sent Daddy’s boy who had been loaded up on liquor for days due to the impending trial into a tailspin.  My thought is Ned Doheny went nuts because he couldn’t deal with the disappointment to his father of botched bribery, homosexuality and more than likely a general dislike of himself an. So it comes to a head.

It all went down in that downstairs bedroom. The one with the elaborate green tiled bathroom that Theo chose himself because he was paying all the contractors at the time.  Kaufman didn’t design that bathroom, Theo did. 

Ned shot Theo who had a cigarette in his hand from a distance and he went down.  Then Ned shot himself at close range, hence the contact wound and bloody face.  Theo could not have done it because he had a long distance contact wound.  Lucy and the Doctor entered the room and Ned Doheny was still alive probably uttering forgive me.  They wiped the gun clean of prints of put it under Theo’s body because of the shame it would cause a devout Catholic family to have someone commit suicide and the fact that they had already set Theo up to be crazy. 

Both bodies were entered practically next to each other in a non-Catholic cemetery and the case was hushed up with money.  There’s the story. ”

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This week’s question comes from Joyce Anthony.  I encourage all of you to offer your feedback for Joyce in the comments section below. 

In the creative process, we all learn from each other.

She writes, “I love the black red and white in this photo and was curious if you could tell me what the wall color is? I am doing this theme for my dining room/kitchen and am having a hard time figuring out what to paint the wall to match yet not be boring white or crazy red! Thanks so much! Joyce Anthony”

I am a big fan of white walls like the room I designed in the above photo.   I find them clean and not boring at all.  They work especially well when there is a lot of accent color and texture in the space. 

What are your thoughts? I’m sure Joyce would love to know.

Thanks,

Lori

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Hope to see you there!!

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Now, as much as I’m an advocate for having an edible garden, yields are sometimes lacking and the weekly produce run to Trader Joes or the farmer’s market is still a reality.  It was fortituous when a stranger with a daisy in her hair showed up, knocking at my door last night.  She was from CSA.  Although there have been a few robberies in my upscale neighborhood lately and my very good, but very paranoid friend was over for dinner and was vehemently opposed to talking to the unannounced stranger, I opened the door, invited her in, signed up immediately and sent her on her way with a jar of my now famous, homemade fig jam.

I am all for the CSA warriors in their crusade against corporate greed and the systematic poisoning of our population via chemical laden, unseasonable, non-nutritious ”fruits and vegetables” shipped from thousands of miles away and picked at the height of not ripeness. 

Anyone who knows me, knows I grew up without much.  When we did buy fresh produce, it was always what was in season, only because it was abundant and therefore, cheap.  But there’s something to eating what is in season and nature has a funny way of giving us exactly what we need, when we need it.  The CSA works the same way.  You get a weekly or bi-weekly package with seasonal, local and fresh surprises.  Because they send what is abundant in their field, it’s affordable.  I thrown down $60 plus a week for organic fruits and veggies at Trader Joes or farmer’s markets. CSA is half that.   

My first shippment comes next week.  I can’t wait to see what I’ll get. Bring on the turnips and kale (good thing they come with suggested receipes). I’ve got a sense of adventure and one hot husband who can cook in the kitchen too!

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I always loved the smell, the feel, the metal tube and the fact that it came from France.  ( Doesn’t everything French seem more luxurious?) It’s also non-toxic made of mostly shea butter and almond, lavender and coconut extracts. But I just learned that since 2006 L’Occitane has been working hard at doing good in Burkina Faso,  providing literacy and micro-credit programs to foster economic development for the women of this African country. 

A new limited edition collection with packaging inspired by traditional African graphics, celebrating regional tribes, is an homage to the women who grow the ultranourishing shea butter- the heart of the L’Occitane lines. 

Twenty dollars for a tube of hand cream that supports women (who just want to support themselves)  is a pretty inexpensive luxury in today’s economy.  That combined with pair of Tom’s shoes could give real meaning to “giving”  this coming holiday season.

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When your daily drive includes views of the Hollywood sign, when the guy sweating next to you in yoga class is David Duchovny, when your client dresses Angelina Jolie, when you are surrounded by film crews, set designers, writers and producers at every turn… you realize you simply can not escape the glow of the silver screen.  It forces the Los Angeles designer to create and compete with multi-million dollar productions and events that mesmorize the entire world.   Everything is magnified in High Def, and the Los Angeles interior designer constantly responds by inventing new ways to impress.  And if you want to rise to the top of the pack in Los Angeles, you must add acting to your list of design services.  

It’s exciting to watch winners Martyn Lawrence-Bullard and Kelly Wearstler transform from mere interior designers to bonafide celebrities.  And I can’t wait to do the same!

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ELLENBOROUGH PARK HOTEL

ELLENBOROUGH PARK DINING ROOM

RANGE ROVING AROUND THE COUNTRY

  We stayed in fabulous Ellenborough Park in Cheltenham Spa and drove the sheep dotted, rolling green, hilly terrain in a Vouge Edition Land Rover, visiting charming villages, castles and palaces.  Breakfast served on freshly pressed linen, china by the Queen’s designer and formal attention from Sandro, our Italian maitre d, began each day.  It could not have been more pleasant.  But I noticed I was most impressed by the simple things, like yogurt served in ceramic jars and water in glass bottles instead of plastic.  And the bald, old, tire swing in the front “yard” overlooking the manor and the Cheltenham Horse Track, brought immense joy to husband, daughter and me.

TIRE SWING AT ELLENBOROUGH PARK

LA FERMIERE YOGURT IN CERAMIC JARS

Visiting stone clad, charming villages and cities with their fine cathedrals,  manors, historical treasures, castles, palaces and more palaces was, of course, delightful, even surreal. But it was the little things like the candy shop displays, glimpses of a dragon or two and the way the sun glowed against the buildings, warming us at the end of a chilly day that  felt like slices of heaven cake.

BLENHEIM PALACE

GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL

CLIVEDEN

FANCY SWEETS

WHAT A DISPLAY

WHIMISICAL DRAGONS

THE SUN ON THE GLORIOUS CRESCENT IN BATH 

So the lesson is, at home or away, look out for the small things that make you smile.  They are the truest luxuries in your life.  Of course if you have the miles or can afford it, going first class doesn’t suck either!

VIRGIN UPPER CLASS- FULL RECLINE BABY!

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