What an interior designer website needs: pages, words and photos

An interior designer's website needs strong photos, but photos alone do not get the call. A prospective client also wants to know what kind of projects you take, where you work, roughly how you charge and what working with you is like. The core pages are home, portfolio, services, about, a process or "how we work" page, and an inquiry form that tells you whether a project is a fit before the first meeting.

What prospective clients check first

People looking for a designer are usually planning a real spend: a whole-house refresh, a kitchen remodel, furnishing a new build. Before contacting you, they look for:

• Taste. Does your work look like something they would want to live in?
• Scope. Do you do one room or whole homes? New construction or furnishing only?
• Location. Do you work in their area, or remotely?
• Cost signals. Are you within reach? Many do not know how designers charge at all.
• Personality. Would they enjoy having you in their home for months?

A site that only shows beautiful rooms answers the first question and leaves the rest open. That is when people stop and move on.

The core pages

Home

The opening line should say what you do, for whom and where: "Interior design for family homes in Westchester and Fairfield counties, from single rooms to full renovations." Then one or two of your best photos, three short lines about your services, and a button: "Start a project" or "Book a consultation".

Portfolio

Your best projects, each with several photos and a short story. How to organize it and what to write under each project is in interior designer websites: portfolio and process.

Services

The ways people can work with you: full-service design, a single-room package, a paid consultation, e-design, color and finish selection, help during a renovation. For each, a short description of what the client gets and what they do themselves.

About

Your photo, your background, how you got into design and what you care about in a home. Mention your training, any certification your state recognizes and professional memberships, but lead with you. Clients hire a person they trust with their house.

If you have a small team, introduce them with a photo and a line each.

Process

A step-by-step outline of how a project goes, from first call to final install. Even a short version reassures clients who have never hired a designer.

Contact or Start a project

An inquiry form that asks the questions you would ask in the first call. More on that below.

Photos you can and cannot use

Photos carry most of the weight, so they deserve care:

• Use professional photos of finished projects where you can. A photographer who shoots interiors knows how to light a room and keep lines straight. One good shoot of three projects is worth more than dozens of phone pictures.
• Phone photos can work for process shots: samples on a table, a site visit, a sketch, a mood board on your desk.
• Check who owns the photos. If a photographer took them, your agreement says how you may use them. If a builder or architect shared photos of a joint project, ask before using them and credit them.
• Ask clients for permission to publish their home, and never show the outside of the house, the street, house numbers, family photos or anything that identifies them.
• Do not use photos you did not design. Pinterest images and other designers' rooms, even "for inspiration", look like your work to a visitor and can cause real trouble.

If you have few finished projects yet, show what you have honestly: a single room done well, renderings clearly labeled as renderings, your own home. Using your own photos instead of stock photos has more on making real photos work.

Words that work for a designer

Design writing often slips into vague words like "curated", "timeless" and "elevated spaces". Every designer uses them, so they tell a client nothing. Replace them with specifics:

• Instead of "timeless design": "We choose pieces that will still work when your kids leave for college."
• Instead of "curated spaces": "We mix what you already love with new pieces, so the house still feels like yours."
• Instead of "luxury living": name the actual work, such as custom cabinetry, plaster walls or vintage lighting.

Short captions under photos help too: the room, the problem, what changed. "Narrow galley kitchen opened to the dining room; new lighting plan and walnut shelving."

What to leave out

• Huge, slow photo galleries on the home page. Pick your best few.
• Mood board images you did not make.
• A page of every vendor and showroom you have used; one line about your trade relationships is enough.
• A newsletter pop-up before the visitor has seen any work.
• Dozens of style labels. Two or three words about your style is plenty.

The inquiry path

A good inquiry form saves you hours of calls with poor-fit projects. Keep it short but useful:

• Name, email, phone
• Project location (town)
• Type of project: one room, several rooms, whole home, new build, renovation
• Rooms involved
• Timeline: when they hope to start and finish
• A rough budget range, as a dropdown, with a note that it helps you suggest the right service
• How they found you
• One open box: "Tell us about your home and what you would like to change"

Say what happens next: "We reply within two business days and set up a short call." If you charge for the first consultation, say so on the form.

Put a phone number in the footer and on the contact page. Some clients, often older ones, would rather call than fill in a form.

What to do this week

• Rewrite your home page opening to say what you do, for whom and where.
• Pick the three projects you are proudest of and check you have permission to show each one.
• Add a services page with what the client gets in each option.
• Add timeline and budget range to your inquiry form.

If your portfolio is strong but your current site is slow or hard to update, you can see your site rebuilt first and compare it with what you have now.