Ask Rebecca: Interior Design Project Management, Client Red Flags & More

In this very first Ask Rebecca episode, I’m answering your questions—live and unscripted! This short but packed Q&A format is a brand-new way for me to connect with you and share real, actionable advice based on what’s happening in the interior design world right now.

From how to stay organized on-site to what to say when clients want to use their own trade discounts (or opt out of your implementation phase), I’m sharing honest insights, tools I actually use in my business, and the mindset that’s helped me stay profitable and in control.

Whether you’re wondering if site binders are outdated (spoiler: they’re not), how to gracefully say no to a client, or what to do when you order the wrong amount of wallpaper (yes, it happens!), this episode has you covered.

If you’ve got your own question you’d like answered on an upcoming episode, send an email to: [email protected].

episode highlights

1. How do designers stay organized on job sites?

2. What do you do when a client wants to skip your implementation phase?

3. How should you respond when a client wants to use someone else’s trade discount?

4. Should you eat the cost of ordering the wrong amount of wallpaper?

Episode Resources

• Podcast Episode 287: The Fastest 2-Month Design Business Transformation You’ll Ever Hear with Melissa McDonald

• Grab Rebecca’s Free Discovery Call Script

Read the Full Transcript ⬇️

00:00:19:05 – 00:00:39:03
Rebecca Hay
Hey, hey, hey, it’s Rebecca. And you are listening to Resilient by Design. Today is a completely different type of episode. It is a shorty. It’s called ask Rebecca. And we’re going to do this new series where I’m going to show up and answer your questions live, so you can submit your questions to me. Send me a DM on Instagram, send us an email.

00:00:39:03 – 00:00:57:14
Rebecca Hay
Hello, I’m Rebecca Hickam, and, submit the question that way, and I will be here to answer your questions. I can answer them live. And if you guys are finding you love this, we may even get a few of you on and I can do a little hot seat coaching in real time. So today’s our very first one.

00:00:57:16 – 00:01:21:19
Rebecca Hay
And we sent out an email to two people on our list. I’m not gonna lie, I don’t remember how many people we sent the email to. If you didn’t get the email and you’re like, what? Don’t worry, we’ll do it again. And if you’re not getting my emails, this could be a bigger problem. So make sure that you find me whether went to promos or spam and, like, put me back in the inbox because we got some really exciting things coming up this fall.

00:01:21:21 – 00:01:38:15
Rebecca Hay
And I would hate for you to miss it because we are shaking it up, like in a big way over here. I just feel like I feel so inspired. I feel like I have new ideas all the time, and we’ve got a great team and we’re implementing them, and I think you guys are going to really love how we’re shifting things to support you better.

00:01:38:15 – 00:01:59:05
Rebecca Hay
And one of those ways is here in the podcast with Just Ask Rebecca. Maybe we’ll come up with like a catchy tune like delete the do do I don’t know. Okay, so I have three questions that came in and I’m going to answer them today here. Sometimes the questions are anonymous, sometimes they’re not. So don’t worry if you don’t feel like me saying your name.

00:01:59:05 – 00:02:20:02
Rebecca Hay
But if you would love to hear your name on live podcast, we would love to shine a spotlight on you. Okay, so the first question today is from Stephanie Dweck. So Stephanie asks, what do designers use to keep jobs organized? Is it a binder that they like to take to site? Are all files on an iPad or laptop in a folder?

00:02:20:04 – 00:02:42:24
Rebecca Hay
If so, what program? I think you’ve mentioned Google Docs. Then I guess the laptop goes everywhere with you or something else I don’t know of. Okay, this is a great question, Stephanie. This is something that I was like constantly struggling with in the early years. I was like, how do you stay organized? Right. So here’s what I’ve done and here’s what I’ve seen designers do very successfully.

00:02:43:04 – 00:03:00:04
Rebecca Hay
And something that I teach inside power of process, actually. And we just had a massive win. One of our poppers. Who was it? It was it was Melissa. Melissa McDonnell of Mel Mack Design actually did a podcast episode with her on this. It was such a good episode. Go back and listen to it. I don’t know the number, but it was so, so good.

00:03:00:10 – 00:03:19:04
Rebecca Hay
Where she talks about her transformation and her business in the early years, like very quickly. And by the way, by early years, I mean like this year. And she shared Inside Pop in our Facebook group, we were a private Facebook group. And when you remember when you’re a popper and she shared like a picture that her client took of her on site with her binder and the contractor there because she said it blew his mind.

00:03:19:04 – 00:03:47:24
Rebecca Hay
He was so grateful to be working with a designer who was so organized. So the binder. Yes, I always create a site binder. It may sound archaic if you’re somebody who’s like super digital, but the problem is, is like, wow, in this interior design industry, as many of you know, we are dealing with some archaic individuals. We’re dealing with some trades that let’s be honest, some of the trades that we work with still use a fax machine.

00:03:48:01 – 00:04:08:02
Rebecca Hay
And some of you are probably like, what’s that? I know, that’s what I mean. So I think it’s important to still have paper, especially because these are trades who are like on site all day, working with their hands or not checking their emails. They a lot of contractors don’t even have someone to do the admin for them. And so they’re the ones stuck doing it at nighttime.

00:04:08:04 – 00:04:29:06
Rebecca Hay
The best way to do it is to create a site binder. And when you have a binder on site, the important thing about that is that it has all the information your trades will need, which would be floor plans, specifications, maybe any renderings or mood boards just to give them the visual feel of the space and elevations, reflected ceiling plans.

00:04:29:06 – 00:04:52:09
Rebecca Hay
Anything that the project requires is in this binder. The trick with this binder, though, is it’s not a one and done, unfortunately, because as we know, things are constantly moving, shaken, you know, on site things are changing. And so it’s it’s going to change, things are going to change. And you will need to update drawings and put them in the binder.

00:04:52:11 – 00:05:09:18
Rebecca Hay
So what we have always followed is like a sort of a two fold system. One is we have a paper binder that we print. It’s like literally a physical hard binder we put on site with a big sign on it that says do not leave. What does it say? Something like, do not take from site like this is not for you.

00:05:09:18 – 00:05:33:16
Rebecca Hay
For the contractor to take home. You could make them a duplicate if you want, but this is to be on site so that anyone who comes your electrician, the carpet installer, you name it, they can find the binder and they know where everything goes. And this way, if you especially as you start to grow your team super hand if you want to send someone else like a project manager or a junior senior designer to site, they will have that and they will probably be the ones that are updating it as well.

00:05:33:18 – 00:05:53:05
Rebecca Hay
And then the second fold, I don’t know, two fold, is that even the term I should use? I don’t know. The second area is digital. So we use Google Docs. So you’re right. Stephanie, I have mentioned that a lot. I think Google Workspace is a phenomenal resource. You can get started for free. Doesn’t cost anything. They now have like AI tools built in.

00:05:53:07 – 00:06:10:10
Rebecca Hay
I have yet to try those. So that’s on my summer to do list. But Gemini is supposed to be amazing because like all my docs, all of my information is in there. So imagine I tool can just like pull from them. I don’t have to like download and upload into ChatGPT I don’t know, I digress, I’m very excited about that.

00:06:10:10 – 00:06:29:21
Rebecca Hay
If anyone has tips on Gemini, let me know. But we have everything in the Google file. I think it’s important to have digital, but then also the hard paper printed copy. And the trick is just coming up with naming conventions so that you’re keeping those files organized and that’s something that will take some time to sort of figure out what works best for you.

00:06:29:21 – 00:06:50:00
Rebecca Hay
And you might change and iterate over the years, but keep it organized the way it would be in the binder. This is a tip. If you’re multitasking, come back to me here. Keep it organized online the way it is in the binder so that you have like those tabs would be folders. This is like just a quick insider tip.

00:06:50:02 – 00:07:17:18
Rebecca Hay
And make sure that anything that’s out of date gets moved to an archived folder, but also renamed. So this is the trick. I’m getting a little into the weeds here. This is something that I share, like in my inner inner circle, in my mastermind groups, in the because it’s a lot of detail, but essentially if you are going to if I, if, let’s say a PDF of a floor plan is outdated because you’ve changed something in it, which is going to happen, right?

00:07:17:20 – 00:07:34:21
Rebecca Hay
You need to move it out of that folder, get it out of the way. But if you don’t rename it, what will happen is if you go into Google Docs and you’ve probably experienced this, if you already use it, you start typing in like, I don’t know, project, laneway floor plan and all of the ones will pop up.

00:07:34:23 – 00:07:54:11
Rebecca Hay
And so if you’re trying to use the search button, the search bar as your shortcut, which is great and amazing. And that’s why Google’s so wonderful. One of the many reasons it’s going to give you all of them and you’ll be like, oh my God, which one is it you’re looking at? Put you can figure out your own naming conventions, but I always will put archived at the beginning of the entire file name so I know.

00:07:54:11 – 00:08:17:17
Rebecca Hay
Nope, that’s not the one I’m looking for. I digress, so keep a site binder that has your floor plans. It has maybe even the scope of work. If you think it’s relevant. It has all of your specifications. It has elevations, RCP, plumbing, you name it, like furniture, layout, whatever is relevant to the project. Maybe it’s, a millwork package could be in there.

00:08:17:19 – 00:08:36:13
Rebecca Hay
Whatever works, keep it in that physical binder. But if anything changes, make sure you get it to say you updated internally in your office, and then you don’t just email it to the contractor, you can email it to him, but then make sure someone from your team prints it in. The next time you go to site, you take it and you replace it in the binder, or you can leave the original one.

00:08:36:15 – 00:09:00:00
Rebecca Hay
These are like best practices. I don’t know, I’m going real deep on this. I love this stuff. And then the the old one just put a like a red marker through it and say like out of date or something so that people don’t think they’re crazy. Actually, I do recommend you keep it there because it’s like, otherwise you go and you’re like, wait a minute, I’m am I crazy or was the toilet supposed to be on the left like the I don’t know, the plumber could like, I don’t know, anything can happen.

00:09:00:00 – 00:09:17:05
Rebecca Hay
It could be something simple like the sconce light. They wired it and then you come in and you, like, you do a quick bait and switch on that when you’re like and you’re like, oh no, this site was always supposed to be 36in above the ground. And the and the electrician is like, what the what? Like I’m pretty sure,

00:09:17:07 – 00:09:34:06
Rebecca Hay
Anyways, Stephanie, I hope that helps you. That is the best way that I have found to keep everybody organized. Not just you, but your team and your trades are an extension of your team. It’s not for the client necessarily. It’s in their house, but it is for the trades to use. This is like something that needs to be used.

00:09:34:08 – 00:09:51:04
Rebecca Hay
And the trick is to always make sure people know where it is and always tell them to refer to the binder, because how many times have contractors called you be like, hey, is the green paint for the for the study? Or is that for the bedroom? Instead of you being like, oh, one second, let me just pull it up.

00:09:51:06 – 00:10:10:02
Rebecca Hay
No, that’s your job as the designer to say it’s in the site binder. Do you have it with, you know, can you find it in the site binder? I don’t want to say anything off the cuff that could be wrong and make a mistake. Best if you follow the site binder. If you keep it’s like a child. You keep redirecting them back to look at the site binder.

00:10:10:02 – 00:10:28:02
Rebecca Hay
It’s going to be really annoying. For the first few times, you’re going to be like, oh my God, seriously, can you just stop calling me? Or because they just want answers like fast, right? That’s what I recommend. Okay, Stephanie, I hope I was like really long winded there. I hope that answers your question. I do not bring my laptop everywhere with me.

00:10:28:02 – 00:10:46:16
Rebecca Hay
No, I do not. The site binder is there. I’ll print what’s needed and I can use my phone if I need to look things up. My senior designer would always bring her iPad. I think iPads are a little bit easier. Less cumbersome because then she could quickly pull up a file or something on the iPad. I think that probably would be handy.

00:10:46:18 – 00:11:06:01
Rebecca Hay
But binder. Absolutely. Okay, next question. I hope that helps. Stephanie. Let me know. Send us some of your time on Instagram. And anyone else who’s like, whoa, that was a lot. Or they want to hear more about that, send me a follow up question. We’ll answer right here. Okay. Next question is anonymous. And this is the question.

00:11:06:03 – 00:11:26:24
Rebecca Hay
I have a consultation coming up with the decorating only client who wants to pay my design fee but wants to save money by doing the implementation phase herself. My preference is to handle all the ordering and installation so I can create the full reveal experience and get the photos. How do you navigate this with clients when reviewing your process and pricing for each phase in the discovery call?

00:11:27:01 – 00:11:52:10
Rebecca Hay
Whoa! This is a whopper of a question. Okay, so first of all, for anyone who’s wondering what she’s talking about, this is something I teach. And I’ve her process, I’ve structured my whole design services into three phases. So we have our design phase three. We have our consultation and onboarding phase. Then we have our design phase. And then we have what I call implementation, which other people might call project management.

00:11:52:11 – 00:12:17:13
Rebecca Hay
So that’s what she’s referring to. So I guess my question would be right back at this anonymous person is you have to decide what do you want? You have two choices in this situation. If you, as you’ve said here, your preference is to handle all the ordering, then that should be a non-negotiable. And they should know that before you go to the consultation.

00:12:17:15 – 00:12:40:13
Rebecca Hay
So especially if it’s a decorating only, I find decorating is even harder to for you not to execute the implementation, right? Because especially if you’re sourcing like fabrics from wholesale and vendor trade only resources. And so what does that mean? You’re going to have to specify from Crate and Barrel or from retail sources. So you need to get clear on what you want to offer.

00:12:40:13 – 00:12:58:22
Rebecca Hay
But that needs to be a conversation that’s had in the discovery call. And if you guys are listening and you’re like, what is that? Go grab it. It’s a freebie. It’s a free resource that I have on my website. It’s called go to Rebecca A.com forward slash discovery like the channel. And I give you my script. It’s a script.

00:12:58:22 – 00:13:21:18
Rebecca Hay
It’s a play by play, step by step checklist of how to run that initial client intake call when they first inquire about your services. I call it a discovery call. I share everything there. Go get the script. It’s free, so in that call, though, you need to talk about your process because you set your query. Your question is how do you navigate this of clients when reviewing your process and pricing for each phase in the discovery call?

00:13:21:24 – 00:13:42:17
Rebecca Hay
So in the discovery call, I would say something like, at our firm we offer full service design, which means, you know, we are designing and selecting everything right down to, to the pillows on the sofa and the details and the accessories are in the shelves. And what we do is we what we, we deliver the design over three phases.

00:13:42:17 – 00:13:57:06
Rebecca Hay
We are full service, so our clients hire us to do the whole kit and caboodle from start to finish. We start with a consultation and that’s where we get to know each other in our scope of work, blah blah blah. And then it moves into the design phase. So that’s where we tackle all the design decisions.

00:13:57:12 – 00:14:19:09
Rebecca Hay
We we consolidate our ideas, we create a budget that gets approved by you, and then we move forward with making all of the detailed selections. We work from wholesale wholesale vendors. We really pride ourselves in working with Canadian and custom furniture makers. So it’s not something you’re going to see at your neighbor’s house, like you’re getting a one of a kind design.

00:14:19:15 – 00:14:35:19
Rebecca Hay
And then from there, once that is signed off on, we proceed with placing all of the orders overseeing any of the trades. It could be a drapery installation, it could be tile installation, it could be a full blown run out. Depends on the project, obviously. And then we see it right through to the end. We have a reveal date for the most exciting part of the project or the clients walk in.

00:14:35:19 – 00:14:57:22
Rebecca Hay
We surprise them. It’s like HGTV, blah blah blah. I paint that picture. This is how we work. And so to answer this question, I would talk about and then we could talk about how you could talk about how you calculate your fees, that this is a very robust question. We’re talking about everything here. But I would make sure you paint the picture of like, here’s what you’re going to get.

00:14:57:24 – 00:15:19:07
Rebecca Hay
And then if she wants to save money by doing the implementation phase herself, you have back to my two questions. You can decide do you want to do that or not? In the early years, I still did that even though I wanted to do a full service. If a client said, you know, I’m, I’m just want to handle that part myself, I would say, absolutely.

00:15:19:07 – 00:15:36:21
Rebecca Hay
That’s not a problem in this situation, however, it will look a little bit different. So when we are doing, the design, will ensure that we select from retail only sources, places that you, you know, that operate with the public, where you can go and purchase the products yourself, will give you the shopping list, and then you can go and execute it.

00:15:36:21 – 00:15:57:21
Rebecca Hay
And then we will not be involved in the implementation. You could do that or you could say, unfortunately, that’s not how we work. We only work on projects where we tackle the implementation. It’s up to you. It’s you’re in control and you can make that choice. Okay. Great question. Let’s take a sip of water and we’ll move on to question numero Tlass.

00:15:57:23 – 00:16:24:10
Rebecca Hay
Okay. Question number three is also anonymous. And here we are after sharing the product list and invoice, my client wants to use their architect to use their trade discount to purchase some of the items. How do I stop this? Also, I ordered a wallpaper for a room. Oh that’s okay, that’s a separate question. So this is a this is a really good question.

00:16:24:10 – 00:16:49:08
Rebecca Hay
After sharing the product list, an invoice, my client wants to use their architect and so they can get the trade discount. So this is a great question because this is a question that we can all relate to. I have been in a situation where not necessarily an architect, I will first say first red flag is why is the architect buying furniture that is bizarre and weird and not typical?

00:16:49:10 – 00:17:18:05
Rebecca Hay
They’re obviously a good friend, but you have to decide. Do you share your discounts with clients? This is something that I feel very passionate about. I teach about this inside module five in Power of Process. Module four and five is where I really dive into why I don’t believe you should share discounts, why it’s important because you’re leaving money on the table, and why it’s important for you to include that as a revenue stream for profit in your business.

00:17:18:07 – 00:17:38:15
Rebecca Hay
But you could be in this situation where, like, you thought that they were fine with that. And here we go. Here we go. This is your design and we’re going to move forward. So a couple things that I would say. First of all, have you shared your sources with this client. Because if you’ve shared where you’re purchasing from it’s going to be a lot easier for them to shop you if you’re watching on YouTube.

00:17:38:15 – 00:18:02:18
Rebecca Hay
I’m like air quotes shop you. And that case, it’s going to be a little bit hard to backpedal. So my first tip is do not share the sources of where you have selected your furniture or items from. And then if they do say we want, you know, to get the discount. So so my you know my friend like we hear this all the time.

00:18:02:22 – 00:18:34:14
Rebecca Hay
Oh my buddy owns a lighting store or oh my sister works at Crate and Barrel or right. Like this would have been helpful information to know in the discovery call. Let’s be clear because then you could you could change your scope. So you want to make sure you’re ironing out and get it. Asking all these questions in that initial call, I feel like this episode is like an ad for discovery calls didn’t intended to be, but you see how important it is to communicate early with your clients so that you can set expectations.

00:18:34:16 – 00:18:51:04
Rebecca Hay
So go get that script, rebecca.com/discovery if you don’t already have it. And if you already have it, are you asking all the questions every time you have a call? Is there anything that’s not on that script that you think, oh, shoot, I need to add because like, let’s be honest, I don’t have all the answers. Your experience is going to teach you a lot.

00:18:51:06 – 00:19:21:06
Rebecca Hay
So what I would suggest to you again, you have to you have two options. One, you can say, yeah sure. No problem. Go ahead I’ll remove those from my scope and you can purchase them. However, if you do that, just to be clear, I am not, responsible for following up on the order, coordinating the delivery time with anyone on site, ensuring the product is not damaged if it is damaged.

00:19:21:06 – 00:19:40:13
Rebecca Hay
I am not the person calling to get, you know, to get a replacement. And just so you know, this happens very frequently, especially since the pandemic. I always paint these like horror stories for my clients so that they’re like, oh God, I don’t want to deal with that. You just do it. Or you could say, no, it’s easier to say no if it’s already in your contract.

00:19:40:13 – 00:20:02:15
Rebecca Hay
So that would be something I would consider, like, are you looking through your contract? And, and really looking to make sure that there’s wording in there that supports you purchasing all of the products. And so you have the right to say, no, I’m sorry, that’s not going to work. You’ve hired us. It’s harder. You don’t have as many legs to stand on.

00:20:02:15 – 00:20:24:24
Rebecca Hay
If you haven’t talked about it early in your discovery, call in your consultation. If it’s not in your contract, because if it is there, then you can easily say no. We we, the way we work is we handle all of the purchase, purchasing and here’s why. Rather than give them the reasons, we manage the back and forth, if it’s backordered we’re dealing with that, we actually have everything sent to a receiver, maybe.

00:20:24:24 – 00:20:50:07
Rebecca Hay
And so we’re coordinating the delivery. If there’s damage, we take care of that, blah, blah, blah, blah. It is okay to say no, that that profit margin or those those discounts are actually, part of what helps us deliver such incredible service to our clients because there’s a lot of time that you don’t see behind the scenes that is taken on placing, following up and managing all of these orders.

00:20:50:07 – 00:21:16:09
Rebecca Hay
So I would probably start with saying delivering, sorry, explaining. Here’s the value of what. Here’s why we place all of the orders for our clients. Here’s the service level that we will give you. And then if they still push back, you can talk about how you know that is a part of your business model, is that you are able to resell products no different than a store, right?

00:21:16:09 – 00:21:43:15
Rebecca Hay
That has, different services like that is just part of your business model. And so I think it’s okay. You are the business owner, but it is better if you have these conversations early so you don’t get stuck in a really uncomfortable place. Whew. Okay. And then there was one bonus question from this particular person. So I’ll throw it in as question number four, which was about ordering wallpaper and ordering the wrong quantity.

00:21:43:17 – 00:22:05:11
Rebecca Hay
This designer said they ordered wallpaper for a room that had bulkheads and it was three inches short. Do I eat the cost to move on or any other tips? And so what my advice to you would be is, unfortunately, it is your responsibility. Since you are the one place in the order to ensure that you’re ordering the right quantity, that is not the client’s fault.

00:22:05:13 – 00:22:25:07
Rebecca Hay
And so you cannot pass that, you cannot pass that expense or cost onto the client, but you can lean on your trays if you have if you work with really good suppliers, you could say, listen, I totally messed up. I don’t know how it happened. Like, can you give me a discount? I need to order more or I need to reorder it.

00:22:25:13 – 00:22:48:04
Rebecca Hay
And most of the time, suppliers will meet you where you’re at because you’re their repeat client and they want more business from you. So they might say, listen, I’ll give it to a cost or I’ll give it to 50% off or something like that. And then my next tip for anyone who ever picks, specifies, selects whatever term you want to use, procures wallpaper for clients.

00:22:48:06 – 00:23:13:18
Rebecca Hay
Do not be the one estimating the quantity. I never estimate the quantity for wallpaper. I always rely on my in-store seller. The person who is doing the measure is the person who installs. Same goes for drapery. I would never order fabric for drapery until I’ve had someone come and measure the windows, and the person who measured the windows has to be the person installing, because we don’t want this.

00:23:13:20 – 00:23:32:07
Rebecca Hay
If you’re on YouTube, I’m pointing fingers. No, it was no me. No, no, it was him. Oh no. They they did the wrong measure. You ordered the wrong. It’s not my fault. It’s not getting installed properly. We’ve been there. We’ve all been there. So make sure that your wallpaper installer is the one who’s giving you the quantities based on that wallpaper.

00:23:32:07 – 00:23:56:15
Rebecca Hay
The repeat, the width, the roll, the length, the whole nine yards. They need to tell you. Maybe it’s nine yards. Is it by the yard? See, there’s so many wallpaper I hate. I love it, but I would never calculate it because it’s so confusing. Okay. And one time I can just tell you one quick story. I was so nervous because we for some reason, we couldn’t get the installer to quote it.

00:23:56:17 – 00:24:18:05
Rebecca Hay
This is like years ago. We couldn’t get the Stoller to figure out. I don’t know why we didn’t have an installer. It was like the builder’s installer. It was like this messy thing. So I just ordered like twice the amount of wallpaper. Unfortunately, it wasn’t expensive that we would need. And sometimes you can return like unopened rolls because I was like, I am not getting stuck in this situation again because I can tell you designer who asked this question, I’ve been there.

00:24:18:07 – 00:24:38:24
Rebecca Hay
All right. I hope you guys enjoyed the very first episode of Just Ask Rebecca. If you liked this, please share it with a friend. This podcast can grow when we share with others who can benefit from it. So please do that and let us know right in. What is your question? Send us an email or just send me a DM on Instagram.

00:24:39:01 – 00:24:46:07
Rebecca Hay
We’re going to get something more formal set up. We’re just kind of throwing it out there. See if you guys enjoy these episodes. So let me know if you liked it and I’ll see you soon.