Website DEsign for Interior Designers
Over 1100 Simple Luxury Websites designed Since 2010
Semi Custom Websites - Starting at $1950
Justin Page Wood grew up in Southern California and designed his first website for an Architect in California in 2005 while studying Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona. He then started designing websites full-time for design firms after graduating with his BArch in 2010. Since then, our design team has designed over 1100 websites for interior designers, architects, and custom home builders all across the United States & Canada.
1
The Website Design Process
Simple Luxury Website Design
We focus on simple, elegant website design because it associates your brand with the top luxury brands in the world such as Louis Vuitton, J. Crew, or the Ritz-Carlton that also use simplicity and luxury in their design.
Since 2010, I have spoken with hundreds of business owners about why their website is important to their business. In most cases, your website is all about establishing credibility and creating the perception of luxury with existing clients and their referrals.
Your website sets the tone for your firm — it becomes the ultimate perception and greatest visual statement of your brand. The website has become the modern-day equivalent of being published in a magazine like Architectural Digest, or having your work printed in a large coffee table book.
An website does not need to be complex or include a lot of information. In fact, the more simple and clear your website is, the more likely it will impress clients.
THE 4 steps for designing your website
Phase 1 | PREPARING FOR YOUR WEBSITE
This is where we will ensure we understand exactly what you’re looking for, and get any initial logo designs or photos from you. We can do additional phone calls with you to make sure we completely understand what you’re wanting to achieve during this phase.
Phase 2 | Concept Designs & Website Build
This is where we will design several website design concepts based on your ideas. Once you have approved a concept we will create an initial build of your website so you can see how the concept design will work with each page.
Phase 3 | Design Refinements
Even after concepts and building out your website, there are always design details, revisions and edits needed to make sure you love your new website. And then we will review your website via email, over the phone, or other interactive tools to make sure we get every detail beautifully designed.
Phase 4 | Website Launch, Training & Support
Once you’re ready, we will help launch your website by connecting your domain name and email to your new website, creating custom training videos for you to learn how to edit your website, and be available for support even after the launch at any time you need help, have questions, or want to expand upon your website.
HOW LONG does THE website PROCESS TAKE?
While you’re on the waitlist to kick-off your new project, we will begin Phase 1 which includes collecting your photos, logos, text and any initial ideas you have. Once we officially kick-off your project, we’ll begin the remaining phases which typically takes 1 to 6 months on average, to complete depending mostly on how many photos and projects you’d like to have on the launch day of your website.
Show Your absolute best photography
We always recommend that your website is the best-of-the-best representation of your work. You want to put the design aesthetic and quality in front of your clientele that is most important for them to see. Remove the projects that are note the best representation of your brand and keep only what put your firm in the best possible light. This especially goes for the home page of your website which is the very first impression clients will get of your firm.
THE 5 BEST WEBSITE PAGEs for interior designers
Since we’ve designed over one thousand websites, the 5 most important pages to include on your website are the Home, Portfolio, Services, About, and Contact pages - in that exact order. These are the pages your clients are definitely going to look at. Other pages are less important, and are less likely to be viewed by clients.
Other Optional Website Pages To Include
The 5 Primary Pages of your website are the most important to include for Home, Portfolio, Services, About & Contact. Other pages you may want to include are a Press or Awards page. You can also add a Careers page for hiring new employees, or a Client Questionnaire or Calendar so they can schedule a time to speak with you.
What is a Project Gallery & How many photos should I show?
This is one of the most common questions we get. A project gallery is typically a collection of about 5 to 20 photos on a page organized by Client Project or by Room Type. For instance, you may want to show 20 photos from the Smith Residence, 15 photos from the Jones Residence, and 12 photos from the Brown Residence - which would be 3 different project galleries in total. Or, you could have 4 different Project Galleries for Kitchen, Bath, Bedrooms & Living Rooms.
Here is an example of a website with just 1 project gallery: garacompany.com
And here is an example of a website with 8 project galleries: eastdesignhouse.com
ADDING & REMOVING PROJECTS OVER TIME
Each website we design is created so new projects can be added to your website, and older projects can be removed. Most of our clients prefer help to continually add projects or update their website. The cost to add new projects or pages is $120 each.
How to Send Photos Of YoUr Work
We will set up a Google Drive account for you to add your photos to. We recommend organizing your photos by Project into separate folders and numbering each photo in the order you would like them to appear. If you prefer you can also use Dropbox.com, Box.com, or another photo sharing program.
Will it be easy to edit the website on my own?
We only use the most simple and up-to-date website technology available. The platform we use for all of our clients is called Squarespace, which has by far gotten the highest satisfaction rating from our clients since starting in 2010. Once your new website is done, our design team will record custom training videos for you and your team to refer to.
However, if any design you request requires custom code, we will let you know before starting. Custom coding is very difficult to edit, so we always recommend going with a more simple option for your website so that you can easily edit on your own.
Can I get help with my website once it is finished?
Once your website is launched, we are always available to help add new projects or make changes to your website. The cost is $120 per page or project and you can reach us any time by email for help.
Logo Design
The most powerful luxury brand names and logos are simple typeface logo designs that people can easily read. Only a few brands are so common that consumers can see their icons and know the brand, such as Apple and Starbucks. But these companies are worth billions of dollars and are very rare.
Many luxury brands are known instead by a simple, clear name with an easy-to-read font, such as Louis Vuitton, Banana Republic, Williams Sonoma, J. Crew, and so many other luxury brands.
Because of this, I highly recommend that you use inspiration from luxury-focused companies, instead of common retail or consumer brands so that your firm can be visually associated with luxury as soon as a high-end client sees your website.
The most compelling brands - especially when it comes to luxury, hospitality, or service brands - are simple, clean, and elegant. And they all have a similar look and feel.
Copywriting
For the text on your website, we have a questionnaire we will send you to collect your ideas and feedback on what the text should say for your website. Our design team will then make design copywriting edits and refinements to the text for your Home, About, Services & Contact pages.
CUSTOMIZING YOUR WEBSITE FOR computers, tablets & iphones
A crucial part of elevating your brand with your website is to ensure that it looks perfect on every single device. Although most websites get 75% of their views on a desktop or laptop, 20% will still view on a mobile, and 5% on a tablet. No matter what view people look on, it is important that each view is fully customized, and this requires every view using a certain level of custom coding to get to that level of perfection.
Our entire team will work to ensure that your website will be fully customized to look good on an iPhone, iPad, and MacBook computers, as well as other phone and tablet devices so that your website is beautiful on all screen sizes and computer types.
ADDING AN INSTAGRAM FEED & social media icons
We can add your Instagram Feed or a link to your Instagram account through the website. Typically, we recommend select 6 to 8 of your favorite Instagram photos to showcase on your website, so that the design integrates seamlessly with the rest of your website, rather than a live feed of Instagram which can sometimes ruin the aesthetic of your website.
2
Website Hosting
Moving to a new platform
Many of our clients have an older website or hosting platform like WordPress that has no longer become easy to use. The two most stable platforms right now are Wix and Squarespace. We use Squarespace because they have the most up-to-date tools and for years have prioritized high-quality photography for visual businesses like photographers, weddings, architecture & interior design. Our design team will help with all the logistics in moving over to a new website hosting platform if you are not currently on Squarespace.
WHEN TO USE A TEMPORARY SPLASH PAGE
For all of our clients, we provide a complimentary 1-page splash website. This is ideal if you do not currently have a website up online or want to hide your current website from the public with something new. All we need is your logo, at least 1 photo, and your contact information, and we'll create a one-page temporary website for you as soon as possible, after we receive the above listed information from you.
USING THE IMAGES & TEXT FROM YOUR OLD WEBSITE
Our design team will do as much as possible to take content from your current website and use it for your new or upgraded website. And we will do as much of the work as possible for you. However, if you have higher resolution images available on your computer, in Dropbox, Google Drive, or another file storage system, that will usually give better results. Some older platforms like WordPress or Wix compress images to have a grainy or blurry look. So it’s best to add the original, high-resolution images.
Usually, there are only three items needed: 1) The login to your Domain Name company. Most businesses have GoDaddy or something similar. 2) The login to your old website hosting company or platform, such as Network Solutions, GoDaddy, Wix, WordPress, etc. 3) In rare instances, we may need the login to your Email account in case we need to make any modifications. We understand that your email is important to keep safe, so we can always find a work around or avoid touching your email at all costs. It is very important to keep your Email untouched as much as possible, so we will access your Email accounts only if it is 100% necessary.
HOW TO HANDLE YOUR DOMAIN NAME, Email & website hosting
As much as possible, we will help take care of all the technical website details for you with ensuring your domain name, website hosting, and emails connect together and work properly. For your new website, you will keep the domain name that you already have for your current website if you already have one.
The domain name is like the “Address” of your website. Instead of a home address like 123 Main Street, New York, the address of your website is www.yourcompanyname.com - The most common domain company is GoDaddy.com.
The second part of your website is the Website Hosting, which is like the physical structure of your Home. While a home contains all of the structure, rooms, furniture, and decor, the Website Hosting contains all of the photos, text, and other graphics all in one place.
The third and final piece is your Email Address, which is like the Mailbox of your home.
The Physical Address, Home Structure & Mailbox are all connected, but they are all 3 distinct things. Just like the Domain Name, Website Hosting & Email are all connected but three separate parts.
For your website all we are changing is the Home or Website Hosting. Your Domain Name (Address) and Email stay the same and get connected to your new Website Hosting. We take care of all this connection for you.
If you need new email addresses set up, we recommend hiring a local IT firm that can help you set up email addresses in person to sync with your computers, laptops, tablets, and phones - which is very difficult to do remotely.
Ongoing Costs for a New Website
The newest website platforms require an on-going website cost of $36 per month. This helps to ensure you website is up and running as smoothly as possible, with as few ongoing issues as possible. There is also a roughly $20 per year domain name cost which goes towards your domain name such as www.yourcompanyhere.com. For email addresses, we recommend hiring a local IT expert that can help set up or change your email addresses for you and your team on all of your devices.
KEEPING YOUR OLD WEBSITE DOMAIN NAME & EMAIL ADDRESSES
This is a common question most business owners have. Let’s say your existing website is www.designfirm.com and you want to move to a new website or upgrade your existing website. On your new website, you can still keep your old domain name as well as your company email addresses. The only thing that will change is your website hosting, which includes the files, logos, images and text on your website. We will move the website hosting to your new website at Squarespace, but keep your current custom Domain Name and custom Email Addresses exactly as it is now.
If you already have a squarespace Account
We use the latest Squarespace technology for all new websites which will help your website last even longer with fewer problems down the road. If you already have a Squarespace account, we set up a 2nd account for the new website while your old website stays live. Once the new site goes live, we will help you get a refund for the old website and move everything to the new website. You may also get a temporary landing page website if you prefer to have a “Coming Soon” website while the new one is being designed.
What if I recently renewed my old website hosting & domain name?
Most companies will give you a refund if the payment was within the last 30 days. However, our website design process typically takes 1 to 6 months so we recommend you keep your old website hosting up during the website design process and then cancel your old website hosting later. It depends on the timing of your old website hosting, but sometimes we can create a “Coming Soon” website for you to get your old website taken down while we work on the new website. We can do our best to customize the design and launch process that works best for you.
