21 questions to ask an interior designer before you sign anything
The questions to ask an interior designer before signing — on process, money, variations, supervision, and what happens when something goes wrong.
In short
- The most useful questions are about failure: what went wrong on the last project, and what changed afterwards.
- Ask who is personally running your project — at many firms it is not the person you are meeting.
- Get the variation procedure in writing before signing, not after the first change.
- A designer who answers awkward questions plainly is telling you how the whole project will feel.
Bring this list to a first meeting. You will not get through all of it, and that is fine — the point is to notice how the answers are given, not just what they contain.
About the studio
1. How long have you been operating under this company name? Renovation businesses that dissolve and re-register are a known pattern. Cross-check against the SSM record.
2. Are you registered with LAM or a member of MIID? Not mandatory for all interior work, but it gives you a professional body to escalate to.
3. Who will personally run my project, and can I meet them? At many studios the person selling is not the person drawing or supervising. This is the single most predictive question in the list.
4. How many projects will be running at the same time as mine? There is no correct number, but you want a considered answer rather than a reassuring one.
5. Can I visit a completed project that is two or more years old? New photography hides nothing because there is nothing yet to hide. Two-year-old joinery in Penang humidity tells the truth. More on why in choosing an interior designer.
About money
6. How is your fee calculated, and what does it include? Percentage, flat rate per square foot, or bundled. Get it in writing with the scope attached.
7. What is not included in the fee? Usually authority submissions, structural engineering, 3D animation, and additional design rounds beyond an agreed number.
8. How many revision rounds are included before extra charges apply? Two to three is typical. Unlimited revisions are never truly unlimited.
9. Do you take commission from suppliers or contractors? Many do. It is not automatically wrong — it becomes wrong when it is undisclosed and steers your specification. Ask for it to be declared in the contract.
10. What is the payment schedule, and what triggers each payment? Milestones tied to completed and inspected work. Never a calendar.
11. What is your contingency recommendation for a property like mine? A designer who says none is needed has not renovated an old building. See interior design costs in Penang.
12. How are variations priced and approved? The answer you want: written variation order, priced before work proceeds, signed by you.
About the design process
13. What happens in the first four weeks? You should hear survey, brief, concept, cost plan — in that order.
14. Will I see a cost plan before or after the 3D renders? Before is a good sign. Renders first is a sales sequence, and it makes budget conversations emotional rather than analytical.
15. What will you actually hand over as drawings? Ask for a list: floor plans, reflected ceiling and lighting layouts, electrical points, elevations, joinery details at 1:20, and finishes schedule. "Renders" is not a drawing set.
16. How do you specify materials for Penang humidity? Listen for marine plywood, aluminium carcasses in wet areas, solid timber over veneer near water, and stainless grade 316 near the coast. Vagueness here is expensive later. Detail in materials for Malaysian humidity.
17. Do I own the drawings at the end? Clarify licence and ownership. It matters if you later change contractor.
About the build
18. Who supervises site, and how often? Fortnightly is a reasonable minimum for residential. Weekly photographs cost the studio nothing and are worth a great deal to an absent owner.
19. What happens if the programme slips? No honest designer promises a date will never move. You want to hear how you will be told, how early, and what the recovery plan looks like.
20. What is the defects liability period, and what does it cover? Six months minimum. Ask whether it covers workmanship only, or materials too.
21. Tell me about a project that went wrong, and what you changed afterwards. The single best question here. Everyone has one. A studio that cannot name one is either inexperienced or not being straight with you — and the answer to the second half of the question tells you whether they learn.
What to do with the answers
Write them down during the meeting, not after. Then compare across studios on process and money, not on the visuals — because the visuals will always favour whoever spent most on rendering.
If you would like to run this list past us, bring it to an estimate appointment. We would rather answer twenty-one questions now than discover in month five that we were both imagining different projects.
Frequently asked questions
What should I ask an interior designer before hiring them?
Cover four areas: who will personally run the project, how the fee and payment milestones work, what drawings you will actually receive, and how variations are priced and approved. Then ask about a project that went wrong and what changed afterwards — the answer reveals more than any portfolio.
Do interior designers take commission from suppliers in Malaysia?
Many do, typically 5–20% from furniture, stone and appliance suppliers. It is common practice and not inherently improper, but it should be disclosed in writing. Undisclosed commission is a conflict of interest because it can steer your specification toward whoever pays best.
How many design revisions should be included in the fee?
Two to three rounds at each stage — concept, design development, and detail — is standard in Malaysia. Beyond that, additional rounds are usually charged hourly. Confirm the number in the contract, because "unlimited revisions" is never genuinely unlimited.
What drawings should an interior designer provide?
A complete residential set includes measured floor plans, furniture layout, reflected ceiling and lighting plan, electrical and switching layout, wall elevations, joinery details at 1:20, and a finishes and fittings schedule. 3D visuals are a communication tool, not a substitute for any of these.