The process
Six steps, and none of them involve me in your hallway.
How a project runs from the first questionnaire to the day the last box arrives.
Start your projectWhat online interior design is.
Online interior design — also called virtual design or e-design — is a full design service delivered remotely. You supply the room: its dimensions, its photographs, and how you live in it. I supply everything else: the layout, the palette, the materials, the sourcing, and realistic views of the finished space, so you can see the room before you spend anything on it.
The difference from a traditional studio is not the quality of the design, it is the execution. Nobody drives to your house, so there are no site-visit hours to bill, and you order the furniture yourself, on your own schedule. That is what makes it cost a fraction of full-service design — and why the studio can work with a room in any city rather than only in Chicago.
Start to finish
How a project runs.
About two weeks of design work, either side of a ten-minute questionnaire and a half-hour call.
The questionnaire
Every project starts with the client questionnaire. It takes about ten minutes and asks about the room, how you actually use it, your budget, what you want to keep, and the directions you are drawn to.
If you cannot articulate your style yet, that is genuinely fine — send images you like or a Pinterest board and we work it out together.
A 30-minute design call
Submitting the questionnaire opens my calendar, and you pick a time. We talk through the room, what is not working, and where the budget is best spent. The call is virtual, like everything else — you never need to be in the same city, or the same time zone.
Measurements and photos
Before design work begins I need the room’s dimensions and photographs. You can send these with the questionnaire or afterwards, but they have to arrive before the project starts.
No floor plan? The Floor Plan & Room Photo Guide (PDF) walks you through measuring a room and shooting it properly, with a phone.
Design development
This is the part you do not see. Layout and circulation, palette, materials and texture, lighting, and the sourcing of every piece — developed together rather than in sequence, because a rug that works only until the sofa changes is not really a decision.
It usually takes about two weeks. If you need it faster, ask — it depends on scope and what else is in the studio.
The reveal, and your revisions
You receive scaled layouts, the design direction, and high-end visualizations of the finished room — The Cinematic Room adds a slow-pan motion walkthrough, a sensory styling plan and a soundtrack composed for your space.
Then you tell me what is not right. Revisions are built into both packages, and if the result is not landing, we keep adjusting until it does.
You bring it home
The shopping list arrives with quantities, purchase instructions and direct links, plus styling notes for putting the room together. You order at your own pace and to your own budget — shop around, swap something for a piece you love more, none of it is locked.
If something sells out within 30 days of receiving your list, I will find you an alternative.
Who does what
The design is mine. The execution is yours.
That trade is the whole model, and it is worth being clear about before you start rather than after.
The studio handles
- Measuring what your photos and dimensions describe into a scaled plan
- Layout, palette, materials, lighting and styling decisions
- Sourcing every piece and pricing it against your budget
- Visualizations of the finished room
- A shopping list with links, quantities and instructions
You handle
- Measuring the room and sending photos
- Placing the orders, on your own timeline
- Receiving and assembling deliveries
- Hiring any trades the room needs
Contractor referrals are the one thing I cannot help with — I do not know your local trades well enough to vouch for them. The FAQ covers what to look for.
Step one
Tell me about your room.
The questionnaire takes about ten minutes, and the calendar opens as soon as it is done.