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Working for myself – in this industry – was the only way I had the potential to surpass the very real cap on my salary working for someone else. Do you mean that your salary works out to $56 per hour? As mentioned elsewhere, designers do not get paid for every hour they are working.
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Collaborative work is encouraged, but please credit all authors and highlight your specific contribution. Similarly, academic, professional, and personal work are all welcome, but please differentiate these distinct types of work. I am not an interior designer, but I do work in a creative field and I was shocked at how elitist some of these comments are. It’s fascinating to see how people openly value science/tech jobs more highly than creative ones, and how that lines up with traditional masculine and feminine roles. But, designers, you want to remain competitive with your rates. Your knowledge and resources are uniquely valuable (project-undertakers, be wary of hoping your contractor will moonlight as your designer. That can be an expensive mistake!).
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When I worked for another designer who paid for all the things I needed to do my job I was paid $40/hr (which IMO was VERY high for the position) and my position was lead designer, with a degree and 10 years experience. I think it needs to be recognized that the numbers given in the post were for people running their own business. $75/hr (Or $95 or $125) for an employee is what is being charged to the client but is NOT what that employee is taking home.
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I doubt many people do make enough money to clear that hurdle. We use Harvest for logging hours and expenses, and Google Sheets or Airtable for a lot of project management and orders. Harvest was the most common time tracking and invoicing software reported by our small sample, with Ivy following, and Fohlio for purchasing. Spreadsheet-nerds will be happy to know those are still a popular-player, too.
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But I promise that if you just give this post a chance you might find something interesting/healthy. Pretend for the duration of this post that you’re thinking about hiring an interior designer for a space in your home. I’m going to cover what you could expect in terms of cost and time when working with a designer. But wait, are you an interior designer yourself, or thinking about becoming one?
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Yes, I’m very aware of the difference between the hourly rate charged by a self-employed person vs. the take-home pay of a salaried employee. And as a former business owner, I’m also very aware of the additional costs of running a business and having employees. Still, I was amazed at the rate that designers are charging.
I have several friends who own their own residential design businesses. Each has their own model of how she runs her business. In spite of the fact that it is very expensive to hire a full-service designer, designers are not getting rich off their fees!
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We have an unusual model here at EHD because the blog and partnerships are the bulk of our business, not residential clients (we can’t do everything). When I did have clients I charged $200/hour for me (when I remembered to bill thus the real problem – and now I’m realizing that I wasn’t charging enough), and I think for a senior designer like Ginny was at the time $150, and $100 for a junior designer. Now we have what we call a ‘friends and family rate” which is $75/hour for my design team’s time which we charge simply to cover overhead costs (like payroll, office space, insurance, 401K, etc., for the EHD designers on the project). I don’t charge my time because these truly are my friends or family and I don’t like to charge them for me but I simply can’t lose money and go out of pocket for the time spent from my design team.
We’re counting on you to join the conversation down in the comments with your own perspectives. You can do a few google searches and find that interior designers average a take home pay of 50-60k a year USD …owning their own businesses or paying someone. This isn’t an industry with stock options, job security, maternity leave or vacation time.
Many, many people commenting are missing the difference between billed hourly rate and take home pay which are two different things entirely . Luann Niagara just had a great podcast with a guest, first name Kim, about if one is charging enough as a freelancer. Using real numbers they worked backwards with the goal of paying oneself $75,000. For the sake of easy math they assumed working full time every week, 12 mo/yr (ie no vacation) one needs to charge $172/hr.
I believe I paid $1300 for 10 hours of her time. It was up to me how I used her time, which I liked. She was a great sounding board and voice of reason, and scouted particular items, letting me know where she found them and then I purchased them directly myself. Maria and Anilop, indeed, freelance is a gamble at times and there are so many waves to ride that salaried employees don’t have to be concerned about. And when economies crash, design and other housing-based industries are quick to suffer.
It’s a tricky tightrope to balance on, as you don’t want to be SO expensive you aren’t able to secure work, but not so low that you aren’t able to make a living. At the lower-end of the scale, you may actually lose work. Potential clients might wonder why you’re “so cheap” and assume you’re not a professional or lack experience. As with anything, there’s something to be said for not taking the cheapest option. The answers to this question were a bit more varied.
I’m not a designer, but I agree that people seem to underestimate or undervalue the kind of professional expertise needed to do this job. Love reading all this- and yes, you should’ve been charging more!! It’s the gaps in time and availability you pay for to have the support you need when you need it. So, now let’s turn to our anonymous special guests and get some REAL answers.
Design and creative work is EXTREMELY important and improves quality of life, but I think it reasonable to have some sense of perspective. Many of the Phds who have mentioned their pay have spent their entire 20’s studying and earning minimum wage, before they then earn $40 an hour, and their contributions will be of huge benefit to society. Both jobs are meaningful but this is not a winning comparison. I am neither a professional creative or scientist. Why is being a designer any less valuable than being a psychologist or a tech engineer? There’s a lot involved in designing a space including things like obtaining permits or abiding by state building codes for example.
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