As an interior designer with a staff of recent college graduates (with interior design degrees), one of the biggest business challenges I have faced is a team that is not proficient on how to price and calculate for complex residential design elements, such as window treatments.

Now, I realize designing and pricing window treatments is an entire business on its own, but we do need to know the basics of how to accurately estimate and price for design elements such as tile, draperies, bedding and carpet. 

That is why is I was really excited when Anita at Red Chair Market had a drawing to win a copy of Diana Allison’s book “Estimating & Costing for Interior Designers”.

I was even more excited when I won the drawing- yeah!  I now have my very own copy to share with my team.  A big thank you to Anita for offering the book as a prize, and to Diana Allison for providing it.

I asked Diana to give me some background on how the book came about.  She is a practicing Interior Designer who used to teach a “Budgeting & Estimating” course at a local college.  Once she realized the dearth of sources available for ‘creative’ types to develop their ‘math’ skills in a practical and easy way, she decided to create her own workbook for others to use.

If you run a sizable practice, you know how important this topic is.  You can ask your workroom or contractor for estimates, but honestly, they don’t always get it right.  What if instead of relying on others to tell us what we need, we were capable of figuring it out on our own? 

I am thrilled with this book and have defined one of my business goals for 2015 as developing a creative team who are ‘experts’ at what we do.  This book is going to help us on our way!  I can’t wait to start using the worksheets.

Now is the time to put a copy on your Christmas wish list.  If not, buy it for yourself and consider it an investment in your education and your business.  If you missed the link above, you can buy a copy here.  I hope it helps you to be more knowledgeable, a better business person and in better control of your expenses when it comes to material estimates!