What about us?
Designing for wellbeing, but not always experiencing it - burnout in the interior design industry.
Hello,
I sense we’re all keen to arrive at the long Easter weekend and down tools for a while. Whilst reading emails may not be top of your list nefore the bank holiday, I hope you’ll make time to read this. It feels important.
In we go…
What about us?
I’m deep into research for my book at the moment. I’m even working with a psychologist and researcher to make sure it’s grounded in fact.
I’m really interested in how interior designers can run calm, profitable businesses. Basically, how do we look after ourselves amongst all the busy-ness of running a business - whilst still making it work financially and, most importantly, not burning out?
Burnout is understood as an imbalance between what work demands from you and what you have available to give. This idea comes from Arnold Bakker and Evangelia Demerouti’s Job Demands–Resources model (2007). When workload, client pressure, and decision-making demands consistently outweigh time, energy, systems, and support, burnout becomes inevitable.
Feminist approaches to burnout emphasise that it is not simply an individual issue, but often the result of structural pressures, invisible labour, and social conditioning, particularly for women balancing multiple roles and expectations.
The irony
This is the bit I’m struggling with. Whilst interior designers are increasingly designing for well being, for sustainability, for inclusivity - prioritising spaces that are a retreat and a haven…
…there’s no soft landing place for us.
It’s not just an individual struggle, it’s part of a gap in a profession that hasn’t made space for the needs of its practitioners, especially those working individually.
There’s plenty of information out there on what an interior designer does (for spaces, for people, for wellbeing) but much less on the people doing the work (the designers themselves). The day-to-day reality, the pressure, the decision-making, the emotional load… it’s just not well captured in the research.
Where is the voice of the creative and their own well-being? Where is the support system?
The main problems
Here is what I see as the main issues (there are others, but I think these are at the root):
Interior designers are trained to design beautifully, but rarely taught how to lead projects, manage clients, and hold authority throughout the process. If you don’t lead, you get pulled around by clients.
Designers may believe that success requires constant hustle and overwork, and so operate from a place of chaos rather than calm.
Businesses often aren’t profitable (no matter how great they look on the outside) as designers spend money, time and energy, on marketing or business activities without understanding what works.
And importantly, these challenges don’t exist in isolation. They’re shaped by a mix of how designers are trained, how businesses are run, and how the profession itself is positioned and perceived. Which means burnout isn’t just about doing too much, it’s about operating in an environment that makes everything harder than it needs to be.
It shows up in very real ways:
– weaker authority → clients push boundaries
– inconsistent pricing → undercharging → overwork
– unclear role definition → emotional labour + decision fatigue
– no shared standards → everyone reinventing the wheel → exhaustion
Recognition and positioning
One contributing factor to the issues we experience, in the UK at least, is that there is no formal accreditation or practitioner registration. No set of principles or guidelines interior designers must adhere to.
Without clear recognition or shared standards, designers are often left to define their role, value and boundaries from scratch on every project.
And it’s not just that a certificate or formal recognition would help us feel more respected and professional. It goes deeper than that.
Many established designers quietly struggle with confidence, workload and isolation. I’ve seen it first hand.
The way the profession has been historically - and continues to be - framed doesn’t help. It’s a luxury, exclusive, a nice to have if you’ve got the money, but not essential.
And this is where it all connects. How do you (as an interior designer) stand confidently behind your prices, the value you bring, the expertise you offer, your importance - if the mind-set is that what you do is just a non-essential add-on?
It’s a tough gig. Having to go into every job convincing a client (and other trades and professionals) that you are a key part of the team. The work that interior designers do has long been minimised and misunderstood.
It’s one of the things that leads to burnout, overwhelm and undercharging.
What’s next?
My personal approach, and one that underpins all of my coaching and consultancy work, is my CALM framework. It prevents against burn-out whilst guiding interior designers to a profitable business.
I’m covering a lot of this in my book. Like I say, deep in research and writing right now.
When I work with interior designers, I see again and again that burnout doesn’t come from one place.
Some of it is individual (boundaries, business models, how we choose to work) and some of it is structural (the way the industry is perceived, the lack of recognition, the norms we’re operating within).
What I’d love is some original insight. If you’re an interior designer who has experienced, or feels close to burnout - or has felt held back by how our industry is perceived - I’d love to hear from you (and I hope you’re ok).
Your story may be used in the book and will definitely inform my on-going work. If this is you, please get in touch.
LISA LOVES
Are you going to Clerkenwell Design week in May and did you know they have an app for 2026? Head here for more info. it’s going to be very handy to have in your pocket.
The app will hold: your badge, brand listings, an interactive map, suggested journeys and curated trails! I don’t know about you but I always get a little bit lost and somehow miss things - the app is sure to help with that!
As always, thanks for being here and reading. Have a very happy (so tempted to say ‘hoppy’) Easter.
Best,
