Interior design projects are intricate, even if you’re only working on a single room.
An interior designer has to keep track of things like budget, when a contractor can start a build, what day the furniture is arriving, and so much more. It’s a lot to manage.
The good news: with the right project management software, it doesn’t have to be.
What does the design process look like?
Generally, the interior design process has a linear path from beginning to end, which means it lends itself well to the Waterfall project management method.
There are six phases to an interior design project:
- The first phase is programming. The designer meets with the client to determine the project scope and budget, as well as the client’s preferences and other necessary information.
- Phase two is concept development. At this point, the designer begins to consider how their design can achieve both the aesthetic and functional requirements for the space.
- Schematic design comes next. This is an initial visual creation of the design that is given to the client for approval.
- Design development is step four. The designer works with the client, vendors, and contractors to finalize the details of the design so that all resources are available and the project comes in at budget and on time.
- Fifth is construction documentation. This is the step where the designer and/or contractors gather permits and document the actual construction of the project.
- Finally, there is the construction administration. This phase includes overseeing any contractor work, as well as ultimately staging the room with the finalized items.
How do you manage an interior design project?
Managing a single project may not be too difficult, but as you take on more clients, you’ll need to codify a process and find tools that work for you. Here are some tips:
- Open lines of communication with your clients and vendors. Make sure to check in with all parties regularly.
- Set clear goals for your firm, vendors, and clients, so that everyone knows what to expect and what is expected of them.
- Set milestone dates for the design phase as well as implementation. Make sure that your client is available when you need them.
- Incentivize your contractors to complete their builds on time.
- Utilize the software available to you to organize the projects, perform the above tasks, and more. There is a lot of software for interior designers, including design software where they can build out their vision digitally, accounting software to bill and track money, and project management software.
What is interior design project management software?
Interior design project management can serve the gamut of use cases, from single-person operations to corporate firms. It can also be used by highly specialized designers, like window treatment designers.
Basically, if you have a project with even a mildly complex timeline, a variety of plates in the air, etc., interior design project management software is for you.
Interior design project management software solves three common problems:
- It centralizes your project details, schedules, and even communications. Unlike paper planners or Excel sheets, this central location is easily accessible and up-to-date to anyone you choose to give access to anywhere in the world. Project management software even allows the project manager to see at a glance how all their ongoing projects are moving along.
- It makes it easy to assign duties to team members and monitor upcoming deadlines. Often the software can even ping you and your team members when something is about to become overdue.
- You can create a detailed timeline of exactly how the project will go. This makes it easy to organize contractors and tell your client what days things will be happening.
By solving these problems, interior design project management software saves time and money. For instance, Falkbuilt Ltd. was able to complete more than 50 large-scale projects in a single year, as well as saving $40k/month on human actions, just by implementing project management software.
Key interior design project management software features
Interior design project management software possesses certain features that are unique to interior design project management, as well as others that get used across all projects.
Project view
Project view is integral to all product management software. Generally, the two types of project views are Kanban boards and Gantt charts. Gantt charts map Waterfall method projects, so they’re generally the more useful project view to interior designers.
That said, a good interior design project management software will provide customizable workflow templates. These templates let you map out your project, without worrying about methodology.
Client Portal
PM software built for interior design can have a client portal that gives your client access to their project details and timelines, as well as the ability to communicate and collaborate with you within the software itself.
Room boards
Interior design is extremely visual. A unique feature of interior design project management software is generally a mood board feature, where the designer and client can gather up inspirational images of furniture, paint colors, etc. Some software now allows the designer to purchase orders from their mood board with vendor marketplace integration.
Create and store tearsheets
Tearsheets contain all the information about a purchased order or product. They can be used as proof for a client that the designer bought an item, but they can also be used to create a library of previously-used items for the designer to reference later.
Communication tools
Project management software makes it easy to communicate with your client and vendors about the project within the software itself. If you prefer to communicate through other platforms, your software should integrate with them to keep all the project notes centralized.
Master interior design project management with monday.com
There are a lot of project management software tools on the market for you to choose from, but the best one is monday.com. (Ok, we may be biased.)
Why monday.com? It has a user-friendly, intuitive Work Operating System that makes it easy for interior designers to build custom workflows, create transparency, and drive creative collaboration. Everything can be customized to fit your exact needs so you don’t have to sacrifice function or ease-of-use.
Get started – Sign up for monday.com.
