We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Laura Krey. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Laura below.

Laura, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

he Interior Design Industry is the Wild West of both profitability and charging models. Designer fee structures are as varied as the number of stars in the sky. (Well, almost as varied.) I have heard many stories of both over-charging and undercharging business practices. Part of this melee is the caused by the lack of professional standards and licenses in the industry. Are we “wannabe architects” or “pillow-fluffers”? We’re interior designers who can renovate an interior and tie a project together with art and accessories. It’s easy to hang up a shingle and announce you’re in the design business, but the value a designer brings to a project, via expertise and creativity, tends to be the basis for formulating a fee structure.

The challenge can be getting the client to understand the value a designer brings to a project, for every phase of the project. Value must be communicated and then compensated for accordingly. Interior designers tend to price projects either via a flat fee, hourly rate, markup on products and/or a combination of the three. The hourly model has its challenges as it can be hard for clients to understand that all this takes time, a TON of time. Hourly projections can be difficult to make at a project outset, particularly if a designer has not vetted a client properly. However, under-predicting hourly projections can backfire for a designer as well. Black holes of designer billing only make for unhappy clients, not profitable projects.

Flat fees are tough for the same reason. All projects follow a similar design process model, but too often, even the most well-planned projects can have unexpected delays or indecisive clients. How is a designer covered for this?

Finally, I find that the markup is the most challenging way toward profitably, but other designers swear by this component of our business. Simply put, interior designers have relationships with furniture, fixture and accessory vendors who offer the industry “trade pricing” and discounts. The designer then specifies and resells these pieces to clients at a smaller markup than full retail on design projects. The designer then pockets the large or small difference between these two price points. To me, designers become glorified salespeople, or worse, are seen as pushing clients toward more expensive pieces for the designer profit.

I started my career at a commercial architecture firm, where our fees were all project-based fees. We were paid for our ideas and project execution, not for marking up and re-selling of goods. I prefer to be paid for my creativity, expertise and ability to transform a space, not for the particular goods I use to create my vision.

Additionally, the world of markups and discounts is also in flux, partially due to the Internet, DTC (Direct to Consumer) lines and simply smaller discounts given to the trade. There are some pieces that I love that I’m given a ten percent discount on, which is almost nothing. Should I stop specifying these items, that may be perfect for a client, because my discount is terrible? I cannot bear to leave them out of project specs.

A designer, therefore, must be both creative and smart about charging practices to support a profitable business that also provides clients with an exceptional project experience that they also view as invaluable.

Laura, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I established Laura Krey Design in 2008, roughly six years after I had moved to New York City to work in a contemporary art gallery. After receiving my MA in art history from George Washington University and completing an internship at the Hirshhorn Museum, I thought I could easily tackle the New York art world. I was mistaken. Feeling very much like a fish out of water, I longed to create my own art again. I have a minor in studio art and spent a semester while working on my undergraduate degree living and creating in Florence, Italy. I loved the process of design and felt I could earn a living while being creative. At the risk of becoming a forever student, I enrolled part-time at the New York School of Interior Design.

While studying, I interned at Tom Scheerer Inc., and then moved on to get a full-time job at Loffredo Brooks Architects and then Kathleen Walsh Interiors. I was working on a few freelance projects when my husband and I had a revelatory moment where we both realized I could go out on my own. It’s an incredibly monumental and humbling experience to assign your name to an enterprise, albeit a small one. I still love it. I still love the design process and feeling as though I’m making a difference in clients’ lives. My firm and I help to take what feels like an overwhelming renovation and turn it into a delightful design process-each space that we work on becomes a seamless mix of sustainability, functionality and whimsical beauty.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

There’s a decent side hustle/industry involving helping educate interior designers on how to run a design business. Most of us tend to excel creatively whereas the the business side of things has to be cobbled together. I wish I had signed up for business of design courses early on when I was forming my firm.

Also, I think it would be wonderful if there was a millwork/furniture design boot camp. In my head, I envision that an artisan would want to host and teach designers how to make a small stool or piece of furniture, starting from a sustainably felled tree.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Health, wellness and sustainability for both our clients and our planet are incredibly important elements of my business and design process. The fashion industry has frequently been singled out as a bad actor and polluter, but it’s only time before interior designers are facing scrutiny. Our planet can not sustain our current level of consumption, yet I work in an industry that encourages the “new.” I am continually searching for ways to minimize my design impact, while also thinking about how my clients can live healthier lives in their spaces.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.laurakreydesign.com
• Instagram: @laura_krey_design

Image Credits
Kimberly M. Wang Photographer + Director @eardogfoto Emily Denny @emilydennyphoto Adam Friedberg @adamfriedbergphoto Dora Somosi @dorasomosiphotography