Scaling Your Interior Design Business to Seven Figures

Let’s cut through the polite whispers and talk truth: interior design is one of the most financially rewarding and creatively fulfilling careers you can pursue. But only if you stop playing small.

If you’re a principal designer with revenues of $300K and feeling stuck, or dreaming of $750K to $1M in sales and unsure how to cross the gap, this post is your wake-up call. Because here’s the reality: you can absolutely earn multiple six and seven figures in design. I’ve done it. I coach designers who do it. And if you’re willing to shift your mindset and strategy, you can do it too.

Most Interior Designers Have A Limited 6-Figure Mindset

Not long ago, two designers from different corners of the country came to me, both stuck at $300K in sales. One had been there for five years, the other for ten. And my heart broke.

Not because $300K isn’t good money, but because they were capable of so much more.

They’d both hit a plateau, then convinced themselves it was “enough.” That’s not success. That’s settling.

Another designer shared that her goal was $75K in revenue for the year. That’s not a goal. That’s a limiting belief in disguise. And if that’s your revenue, your take home is maybe $25K, you deserve more, a lot more. 

If you don’t believe you can earn more, you won’t. But if you step out of the story that design is a side hustle or creative indulgence, and step into the truth that design is a business with serious earning potential, everything changes.

Interior Designers Can Scale To Six Figures Quickly

I coached a designer in Florida who had spent eight years working for another firm. We took her from zero to $1.5 million in just 18 months. No burnout. No client poaching. Just smart positioning at the top of the market and focused execution.

Then there’s the designer from Colorado I worked with, who was a financial industry veteran turned full-time designer. Within her first week of coaching, she landed a $250K project that she expanded to $400K. Why? Because she knew business, and she was coachable.

They didn’t succeed because they were lucky. They succeeded because they stopped thinking small.

So let me ask: What would happen if you stopped playing to your comfort zone?

Changes To Scale Your Interior Design Income

My own story proves this. I worked for firms including Architects South and Ethan Allen early in my career, earning barely $25K – $50K with draw-against-commission structures. I didn’t start at the top. I started in the bullpen, just like everyone else.

But the moment I launched my own firm, I doubled my revenue every year. Not by taking on every client or burning myself out. In fact, when I stopped saying yes to everyone and focused on top-tier clients, my workload halved and my revenue doubled again.

This isn’t theory. This is reality for designers who are willing to:

• Say no to clients who drain your energy
  
• Set bold revenue goals that stretch your comfort zone
  
• Hire support instead of doing it all yourself
  
• Shift their pricing, positioning, and mindset
  

Take Focused Actions To Scale to Seven Figures

Designers plateau when they cling to busy work instead of strategic growth. They treat slow seasons like setbacks instead of the prime opportunity to refine systems, revamp marketing, and elevate client attraction strategies.

If you’re still telling yourself that creatives don’t make money, that design is too saturated, or that your degree (or lack of one) limits your potential, you’re carrying someone else’s belief.

Release it. It’s not yours.

Credentials Don’t Create Wealth, Clarity Does

Whether you’re formally trained or self-taught, design success isn’t determined by your degree. It’s shaped by your decisions, your ambition, and your talent. 

The designers making real money today aren’t the ones obsessed with learning every software tool or doing everything in-house. They’re the ones focused on what they do best, creative vision, and delegating the rest.

You don’t need to master CAD, Revit, or Chief Architect unless it fuels your genius. If it doesn’t, let it go.

Profit comes from focus, not from juggling every task. High-earning designers stay in their zone of genius and build support systems around them.

When You Make It Fun, You Make It Work

Burnout isn’t the price of success. Passion is the fuel for it.

If you’re grinding through your business without joy, it’s time to make a change. I once dreaded Instagram, until I turned it into a creative game using color waves from my Pinterest boards. The shift? It became fun, and I became magnetic.

Fun isn’t a luxury. It’s a strategy. Clients feel it. Prospects are drawn to it. Your energy sells.

What Seven Figure Success Requires In Three Words

1. Passion. You’ve got to love what you do. It fuels your creativity and sustains you through the challenges.
2. Persistence. There will be roadblocks. There will be slow times. Persistence is what carries you through. 
3. Ambition. This is your willingness to think bigger, to aim higher, and to refuse to stay stuck where you are.

If you have all three, there’s no reason you can’t scale to $500K, $1M, or more.

You didn’t become a designer to be average. You stepped in because you’re passionate, talented, and ready to create. Now it’s time to profit from that.Ready to dismantle your plateau and double your revenue with half the effort? Let’s talk.