Design Curious | Interior Design Career and Business Podcast

Most interior designers come into this career because they love design. They love creating beautiful spaces, developing a strong design vision, and dreaming up what’s possible for a home. But what many designers don’t realize—until they’re already in it—is that great design alone is not enough to create successful residential projects or happy clients.

I see this all the time with newer designers and even experienced creatives who feel overwhelmed, underpaid, or constantly putting out fires. They know how to design, but the execution feels stressful. Projects run long. Budgets get blurry. Contractors feel intimidated. Install days feel chaotic. And suddenly, the career you thought would feel creative and fulfilling starts to feel exhausting.

In this episode, I’m breaking down the practical business and project skills interior designers must develop to execute with confidence residential design projects. These are the skills that separate hobbyists from professionals. When you strengthen these areas—project management, pricing strategy, contractor relationships, construction literacy, installation logistics, and leadership—you don’t just survive projects. You lead them with clarity, confidence, and profitability.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
✔️ Why project management separates hobbyists from professionals
✔️ How to build trust with contractors and trades
✔️ Pricing strategies that protect profitability
✔️ Construction literacy every residential designer needs
✔️ How to run smooth, stress-free installations

Read the Blog >>> 6 Business & Project Skills Designers Need to Execute
NEXT STEPS:
🎯 Join My Design Mentor and start building a design career with clarity, confidence, and support, 👉https://rwarddesign.com/my-design-mentor⁠ 

Check out our Designer's Playlist!
*️ Start Your Interior Design Journey
*️ From Newbie to Confident Designer
*️ Switching Gears to Interior Design

Grab your freebies:
📌 Your Roadmap to a Career in Interior Design
🎨 3 Things I Wish I had known when I Started my Career

Connect With Me:
📧 Email: [email protected]
🔆 Instagram: @rwarddesign
🌎 Website at rwarddesign.com

Thanks for listening! I hope this helps you discover if interior design is the career for you. See you next week...

Timestamps
0:00 Introduction: Why Execution Skills Matter More
3:08 Project Management and Software Tools
5:42 Building Strong Contractor and Trade Relationships
9:17 Pricing Strategy to Protect Profitability
13:26 Construction Literacy and Site Vocabulary
15:51 Managing Installations and Client Expectations
18:32 Leadership Skills Through Project Execution

What if the fear holding you back isn’t failure—but the thought of never trying at all?

In this episode, I sit down with Elliot James, founder of a multi–award-winning international interior architecture studio, to talk honestly about what it takes to build a creative career that spans countries, cultures, and markets. Elliot didn’t follow a traditional path. He didn’t wait until everything felt “safe.” Instead, he followed his curiosity, his ambition, and his passion for design—sometimes with nothing more than a laptop, a website, and a willingness to knock on doors.

If you’re an interior designer (or aspiring designer) who dreams of bigger projects, international opportunities, or breaking into luxury residential, hospitality design, wellness-focused environments, or commercial projects—but you’re afraid of getting it wrong—this conversation is for you. We talk about persistence, risk-taking, networking, word-of-mouth referrals, and how adapting to different cultures can open doors you never knew existed.

This episode is a reminder that creative careers aren’t built by waiting. They’re built by moving forward—one bold decision at a time.

Featured Guest
Elliot James is the founder of Elliott James Interiors, a multi–award-winning international interior architecture studio specializing in luxury residential projects, hospitality design, and wellness-focused environments. With studios in Singapore, Dubai, and London, Elliot’s work blends bespoke furniture design, thoughtful client experience, and cultural adaptability to create spaces that function as true sanctuaries.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
✳️ How to follow passion without fearing creative failure
✳️ Building an international interior design career strategically
✳️ Networking strategies that lead to word-of-mouth referrals
✳️ Taking smart risks to grow your design business
✳️ Adapting to cultures in luxury and hospitality markets

Read the Blog >>> 5 Lessons on Building an International Design Career
NEXT STEPS:
🎯 Join My Design Mentor and start building a design career with clarity, confidence, and support, 👉https://rwarddesign.com/my-design-mentor⁠ 

Check out our Designer's Playlist!
*️ Start Your Interior Design Journey
*️ From Newbie to Confident Designer
*️ Switching Gears to Interior Design

Grab your freebies:
📌 Your Roadmap to a Career in Interior Design
🎨 3 Things I Wish I had known when I Started my Career

Connect With Me:
📧 Email: [email protected]
🔆 Instagram: @rwarddesign
🌎 Website at rwarddesign.com

Thanks for listening! I hope this helps you discover if interior design is the career for you. See you next week...
Timestamps
0:00 Introduction and Guest Bio
2:05 Elliot’s Creative Background and Early Influences
4:44 Transitioning From Furniture Design to Interior Architecture
6:30 Building the Design Business in Singapore
11:33 Expansion to Dubai and International Markets
13:09 Adapting to Different Cultures and Business Styles
14:18 Wellness, Luxury, and the Future of Residential Design
20:28 Advice for Aspiring Designers

Have you ever been standing in front of a client, mid-conversation, and suddenly realized you should know the answer—but you don’t feel confident saying it out loud yet? Maybe it’s a color choice, a furniture size, or how to fix an awkward layout. These moments can shake your confidence as an interior designer, especially when you know you have the creative instinct but haven’t fully honed the practical skills yet.

In this episode, I’m continuing our design skills series by focusing on the practical skills that actually make your work smoother, your designs stronger, and your client relationships more trusting. These are the skills that allow you to think on your feet, explain your decisions clearly, and create designs that not only look beautiful, but function beautifully too.

I’m walking you through the core skills every residential interior designer needs to master, including color theory, space planning, furniture selection, traffic flow, composition, proportion and balance, and lighting plans. More importantly, I’m sharing how to practice these skills intentionally, so they become second nature. When these foundations are solid, you stop second-guessing yourself—and your clients start trusting you more deeply.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
✔️ How to practice practical design skills daily
✔️ Why color undertones affect client satisfaction
✔️ How space planning improves traffic flow
✔️ Furniture selection using proportion and balance
✔️ Building client trust through confident design decisions

Read the Blog >>> 5 Practical Interior Design Skills for Every Client Project
NEXT STEPS:
🎯 Join My Design Mentor and start building a design career with clarity, confidence, and support, 👉https://rwarddesign.com/my-design-mentor⁠ 

Check out our Designer's Playlist!
*️ Start Your Interior Design Journey
*️ From Newbie to Confident Designer
*️ Switching Gears to Interior Design

Grab your freebies:
📌 Your Roadmap to a Career in Interior Design
🎨 3 Things I Wish I had known when I Started my Career

Connect With Me:
📧 Email: [email protected]
🔆 Instagram: @rwarddesign
🌎 Website at rwarddesign.com

Thanks for listening! I hope this helps you discover if interior design is the career for you. See you next week...

Timestamps
0:00 Introduction: Why Practical Skills Matter After Design School
2:41 Color Theory and Understanding Undertones
6:20 Building a Designer's Eye
9:20 Space Planning and Traffic Flow
12:01 Focal Points, Composition, and Lighting Plans
15:00 How to Practice and Sharpen Practical Skills

As interior designers, we spend so much time thinking about how a home looks, but what if the real question we should be asking is how a home feels?

If you’ve ever walked into a space that was beautiful on paper but somehow felt off, heavy, or uninspiring, this episode is for you.

I sit down with feng shui expert Amanda Gibby Peters to explore how interior designers can intentionally work with energy, layout, and environmental cues to create homes that genuinely support their clients’ lives. We talk about why clutter isn’t just visual noise, how bedrooms quietly reveal how someone values themselves, and why the front door might be the most overlooked design opportunity in a home.

If you’ve been curious about incorporating feng shui into your interior design process, but worried it would feel too “woo,” too rigid, or too disconnected from modern design, Amanda breaks it down in a way that feels practical, intuitive, and deeply aligned with how designers already think. This episode will help you design spaces that don’t just function well, but feel grounded, supportive, and truly reflective of the people who live there.

Featured Guest:
Amanda Gibby Peters is the founder of Simply Shui, a modern, mission-driven approach to feng shui that helps people design spaces that support their highest potential. With a master’s degree in professional communication and over two decades of experience, Amanda is known for making feng shui practical, intuitive, and accessible. She is the author of Simply Shui for Every Day and the host of the top-ranked podcast House Therapy.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
✳️ Why feng shui is not about rules, superstition, or “fixing” bad energy
✳️ How interior designers can use feng shui as a filter for prioritizing design decisions
✳️ The three most influential spaces designers should focus on first
✳️ How bedroom design reveals self-worth and impacts daily energy
✳️ Why furniture placement, light, and flow matter more than décor trends
✳️ How to collaborate with clients’ goals using environmental metaphors
✳️ Simple feng shui principles designers can apply immediately in client projects

Read the Blog >>> Modern Feng Shui for Interior Designers
NEXT STEPS:
🎯 Join My Design Mentor and start building a design career with clarity, confidence, and support, 👉https://rwarddesign.com/my-design-mentor⁠ 

Check out our Designer's Playlist!
*️ Start Your Interior Design Journey
*️ From Newbie to Confident Designer
*️ Switching Gears to Interior Design

Grab your freebies:
📌 Your Roadmap to a Career in Interior Design
🎨 3 Things I Wish I had known when I Started my Career

Connect With Me:
📧 Email: [email protected]
🔆 Instagram: @rwarddesign
🌎 Website at rwarddesign.com

Thanks for listening! I hope this helps you discover if interior design is the career for you. See you next week...
Timestamps
0:00 Introduction and Guest Bio
2:50 Amanda’s Skeptical Path Into Feng Shui
8:36 Feng Shui in Design Projects
11:47 Practical Feng Shui Tips for Designers
21:03 Balancing Energy in Client Spaces
26:39 Common Feng Shui Misconceptions
29:48 The Role of Feng Shui in Modern Design
32:24 Amanda's Resources and Offerings

If you’ve ever wondered why design school didn’t quite prepare you for the real world of interior design, you’re not imagining it. I hear this all the time—from designers who invested years (and money) into a degree, and from those who skipped school altogether and worry they’re already behind.

The truth is, many of the skills required to run a successful interior design business are not taught in the classroom.

In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on what actually matters once you leave school and step into real client work. These are the foundational skills that determine whether your business thrives or struggles. And no, they’re not about picking the perfect sofa or designing custom furniture—although those matter too.

My promise is simple: I want to help you identify the other skills you need to develop—skills that design school often overlooks—so you can create a strong foundation, run a profitable interior design business, and enjoy a sustainable, fulfilling career doing what you love.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
✔️ Why business skills are non-negotiable for residential interior designers
✔️ How understanding pricing, margins, and markup protects your profitability
✔️ What it really means to create a luxury client experience
✔️ How technology, AI, and systems can support (not replace) your creativity
✔️ Why branding and storytelling matter more than graphic design alone
✔️ How leadership and decision-making shape client trust and confidence
✔️ The personal skills that help designers manage time, overwhelm, and growth

Read the Blog >>> 6 Skills Interior Designers Need That Design School Doesn’t Teach
NEXT STEPS:
🎯 Join My Design Mentor and start developing the skills that truly set you apart. 👉https://rwarddesign.com/my-design-mentor⁠ 

Check out our Designer's Playlist!
*️ Start Your Interior Design Journey
*️ From Newbie to Confident Designer
*️ Switching Gears to Interior Design

Grab your freebies:
📌 Your Roadmap to a Career in Interior Design
🎨 3 Things I Wish I had known when I Started my Career

Connect With Me:
📧 Email: [email protected]
🔆 Instagram: @rwarddesign
🌎 Website at rwarddesign.com

Thanks for listening! I hope this helps you discover if interior design is the career for you. See you next week...

Timestamps
0:00 – Introduction
2:54 – Skill #1: Business Skills for Interior Designers
5:10 – Skill #2: Client Experience and Service
6:45 – Skill #3: Technology, AI Literacy, and Systems
9:24 – Skill #4: Marketing, Branding, and Visibility
11:38 – Skill #5: Leadership and Decision Making
13:20 – Skill #6: Personal Skills for Success