The Boundary That Will Save You Countless Headaches

Can I save you from one of the biggest purchasing mistakes I see designers make?

It starts innocently enough. A client falls in love with a light fixture from Restoration Hardware or some bar stools from Pottery Barn and says, “I’d really like to buy these myself.”

Now, if it’s one little piece in the middle of a whole room that you’re purchasing, that’s usually fine. Let them have that bit of fun. Everybody’s happy.

But where everything starts to unravel is hybrid purchasing.

Please Don’t Let Your Client Shop Your Design

Oh my goodness, I’ve seen this one too many times.

You create a beautiful design, and then your client starts shopping it. They send you links. They find something that’s “almost the same.” They ask if this one will work because it’s a little less expensive. Before long, you’re spending hours reviewing products you never specified, explaining why they won’t work, and somehow your client is running the project instead of you.

It just doesn’t work. It simply doesn’t.

The same thing happens with custom pieces. A designer creates a beautiful custom design, hands over the drawings, and someone else starts making decisions. A measurement changes. A cabinet gets built differently. A sink doesn’t fit. Books don’t fit on the shelves. And even though none of it was your decision, guess who gets the blame?

You do.

That’s why this isn’t about being difficult. It’s about protecting your client from expensive mistakes and protecting yourself from problems you never created.

Lead the Process With Confidence

Here’s what I’ve learned after many years of doing this: decide how you’re going to work before the project begins.

Tell your clients, confidently, that you handle the purchasing. If someone truly loves shopping and wants to purchase everything themselves, that’s perfectly okay too. Then your job is to create a complete design and specification package, hand it over, and let them take it from there.

What doesn’t work is trying to do both.

And if you’re purchasing retail products for your client, remember this: you’re not charging for the product. You’re charging for the work. Someone has to order it, track it, receive it, inspect it, coordinate delivery, and make sure everything arrives exactly where it belongs. That’s a real service, and it deserves to be paid.

I know it’s tempting to bend the rules because you want to make your clients happy. Every designer feels that way. But the happiest projects I’ve ever seen are the ones where the designer leads with clear boundaries from the very beginning.

Your clients don’t need you to say yes to everything. They need you to guide them. And when you do, they’ll trust you more, your projects will run more smoothly, and you’ll enjoy the work so much more.

You can listen to the full podcast episode here.

Until then, design something beautiful… and get paid what you’re worth.

With love,

Terri