Website for interior designers: a portfolio that sells the process

en 2026-09-29 7 min read

An interior designer's site with project case pages, a page on how you work and an enquiry form that qualifies new projects needs step 03, a business website at EUR 1.500 to 3.500, built in 3 to 6 weeks. A designer starting out can begin at step 01 at EUR 600 to 900 or step 02 at EUR 900 to 1.500, while a client login for drawings and approvals, paid consultations or a product shop make it step 04 at EUR 3.500 to 7.500.

Why finished rooms are not enough

A finished room shows taste. It does not show a prospective client what hiring you is like: how you listen, how you handle a budget, what happens when a contractor runs late or a sofa is out of stock. A gallery of beautiful rooms leaves every one of those questions unanswered.

Any competing designer can show finished rooms. How you got there is yours alone, and it is what the site should sell.

What the site needs to carry

Project pages that tell the story

Treat each project as a case, not an album. Start with the brief and the constraints: the space, the household or business, what had to stay, and a budget bracket if the client agrees. Show the work in between, such as plans, sketches, moodboards and material samples, then the result, with before photos where you have them. Take before photos at the first visit of every new project, because nobody can take them later.

A process page with real stages

Set out your stages as you actually run them, for example intake, concept, design development, drawings, procurement and delivery on site. For each one, say what the client receives, what they decide and what it asks of them. If a stage can be bought on its own, such as a concept only, say so.

How you charge

You do not need a fee list. You can still explain how fees are set, whether a first meeting is charged and what size of project you take on. Leave cost out entirely and every reader has to ask, and some may ask another designer instead.

Separate routes for separate clients

A homeowner renovating a flat and a restaurant owner fitting out a dining room are different readers with different budgets, deadlines and decision makers. If you work for both, give each an entry point and a selection of projects of its own.

An enquiry form that qualifies

Ask for the type of space, the location, the stage the project is at, such as just bought or ready to start, and a budget bracket. You can then reply properly to the projects that fit and decline the rest without a meeting.

Privacy in private homes

Photos of a home can show where someone lives. Leave out addresses and views that identify the street, and get the owner's permission in writing before a project goes online.

What moves the quote

• The project template. A CMS collection where each project holds a brief, stages, images and a result is the core of step 03. The richer that format, the more design work it takes.
• The site's own design. A business that sells design is judged on its own site too. Custom design versus a template compares the two routes.
• Client groups. Residential and commercial sections add pages and a way to filter projects.
• Accounts or money. A client login to share drawings, product lists and approvals, consultations paid at booking, or a shop for furniture and accessories is step 04. Building a client portal covers what a login involves.

Which step fits which studio

The full ladder is on the packages page. For an interior designer it maps like this.

Process and timeline

1. Scoping. Which projects get full case pages, which client groups get their own route and what the enquiry form asks. A fixed quote follows.
2. Content. Photos, plans and sketches, project text, the process description and client permissions. This is the part that waits on you, so ask clients for permission early.
3. Design. The project template, page order and the path from a project to an enquiry, treated as one job under design and engineering.
4. Build. Templates, the CMS collection, filters and forms.
5. Testing. Every page and form tried on phone and desktop, with images checked for sharpness.
6. Launch and handover. You get CMS access to add projects yourself.

Step 01 runs 1 to 2 weeks, step 02 runs 2 to 3 weeks, step 03 runs 3 to 6 weeks and step 04 runs 6 to 12 weeks. Where yours lands depends on when the photos, text and permissions arrive.

Ownership, care and search

You own the code, the repository and the database. We can host the site too, and that is agreed per project. Care at EUR 100 to 300 per month covers updates, monitoring, backups and small fixes, not a redesign or new features.

SEO foundation is a one-off EUR 450 to 750 for Search Console, analytics, indexation, technical hygiene, titles, internal links and a 3 to 6 month plan. SEO growth at EUR 500 to 800 per month carries that plan out, including service and location pages, which earn their place if clients look for an interior designer by city.

When to spend less

If your work comes through architects, contractors and past clients, the site is where a referred client checks you. Step 01 or step 02, with a few projects told properly and an enquiry form, does that job. More pages will not warm a referral.

Spend less, too, if your work is not photographed. A step 03 site built around case pages and launched with phone pictures argues against you. Put the money into photographing your best finished projects first; stock photos versus real photography explains why borrowed images will not do.

And do not buy a client login because it sounds professional. If drawings and approvals already run well by email and a shared folder, a step 04 portal only moves them somewhere else.

Questions about an interior design website

How many projects should the portfolio show?

Enough to cover each kind of work you want more of, and nothing you would not want to do again. A few projects told as full cases say more about how you work than a long gallery. You can add the rest later in the CMS.

What if a client does not want their home online?

Then describe the project in words, with the brief, the constraints and your approach, and no photos. Where a client agrees to photos but not to being identified, leave out names, addresses and anything that shows the street.

Can clients book and pay for a design consultation online?

Booking a consultation is step 03. Taking payment at the moment of booking is step 04 at EUR 3.500 to 7.500. If first meetings are not charged or you invoice afterwards, you do not need it.

Who adds new projects?

You do, in the CMS, by filling in the brief, the stages and the photos. The template handles the layout.

Send us the projects you are proudest of and how you run a job, and we will scope the site and quote a fixed price. Start here.