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PODCAST

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior Designers | Interior Design Business Pocast

Laura Thornton, Interior Designer

Welcome to The Business of Beautiful Spaces, the podcast where interior design matters! As Interior Designers, we understand the power of creating beautiful and functional spaces that not only look good, but also enhance our daily lives. Join us on this journey as we explore the ins and outs of the interior design industry and dive into the business side of things. From one interior designer to another, we"ll share our experiences, insights, and lessons learned as we strive to create spaces that not

business entrepreneurship

All Episodes

29:55

REPLAY - Let's Talk About Presenting your Interior...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/10/05

Send us Fan Mail Oldie but a goodie! Year after year, this is one of our top episodes. LAST CALL: Enrollment for The Profit Academy for Interior Designers closes September 30 at 11:59 PM EST. If you’re ready to understand your numbers, price with confidence, protect your profit, and build a stronger, more sustainable design business, now is the time to join us. Learn more and choose your level at theprofitacademyforinteriordesigners.com before the doors close. Be sure to follow along on...

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17:55

190. Let's Talk About your Last 50 Working Days of 2026

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/09/28

Send us Fan Mail Everyone tells you there are a hundred days left in the year. There are eighty eight, and only forty nine of them are working days that can still change anything. That is not a scare tactic. Forty nine is a number you can plan around. A hundred is a number you can hide behind. In this episode Laura walks through the three numbers to pull before you plan another thing, and why the gap between what you have collected and what you thought you had collected is always bigger than ...

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35:03

189. Let's Talk About Being Booked But Broke (...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/09/21

Send us Fan Mail Being fully booked can look like success from the outside, but a packed calendar does not automatically mean you are running a profitable interior design business. In this episode, Laura explores why so many talented designers find themselves constantly working, managing demanding projects and serving clients, yet still feeling anxious about cash flow and wondering where the money has gone. Laura compares two very different paths. One designer prices by instinct, absorbs scop...

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22:58

188. Let’s Talk About Profitable on Paper, Broke in...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/09/14

Send us Fan Mail You had your best month on record in July. Six weeks later you were awake at two in the morning wondering whether payroll would clear, and nothing went wrong in between. That is not a sign you are bad with money. It is a sign you have been reading the wrong number. In this episode Laura explains why profit and cash are two entirely different figures, why the interior design business creates a wider gap between them than almost any other industry, and what to do about it. She ...

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27:12

187. Let's Talk About What Successful Designers do...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/09/07

Send us Fan Mail From the outside, a successful design firm looks like beautiful projects, polished photography and a full calendar. But those are the visible results. What you don't see is the structure behind them, and that's what this episode is about. I'm going behind the scenes to share what successful interior designers actually do differently: they take the business seriously, invest in themselves and the company, build real professional relationships, create clear processes, review th...

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21:12

186. Let's Talk About Mistakes that Cost me the Most...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/08/31

Send us Fan Mail The mistakes that cost me the most money in my business were never the loud ones. Not the sofa that wouldn't fit through the door or the wrong paint colour on the wall. The expensive mistakes were the quiet ones, sitting in the business month after month, draining money and energy while I was too busy to notice. In this episode I'm sharing the five that cost me the most: scaling without a clear plan, ignoring recurring monthly expenses, hiring the wrong person or the wrong ro...

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27:17

185. Let's Talk About Why Revenue is NOT the Number...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/08/24

Send us Fan Mail Revenue Is Not the Number That Matters Most in Your Business "I built a six-figure business." "We had a half-million-dollar year." Revenue milestones sound exciting, but here's the truth: you would never judge a room by its square footage alone, and you shouldn't judge a business by its revenue. It tells you the size, and nothing about whether it works. In this episode, Laura walks through one running example, a design firm generating $500,000 in revenue and keeping just $30,...

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33:38

184. Let's Talk About Why Most Designers Never Hit 7...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/08/17

Send us Fan Mail Most talented interior designers never reach seven figures in annual revenue, and it has nothing to do with creativity or hard work. In most cases, they're already working too hard. The real issue is that the business was never structured to grow to that level. But before chasing the milestone, there's a more important question: is seven figures even your goal? In this episode, Laura starts with an honest look at what a million-dollar design firm really requires, including th...

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24:59

183. Let’s Talk About What to Say When a Client Says...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/08/10

Send us Fan Mail "You're too expensive." Almost every interior designer has heard it, and even when you know your pricing is fair, those three words can send you straight into explaining, defending, and discounting. In this episode, Laura walks you through exactly what to do when a potential client pushes back on your fees. You'll learn why "too expensive" does not automatically mean your price is wrong, how to uncover what the client actually means, and how to respond with confidence while p...

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33:34

182. Let’s Talk About proposal to procurement, where...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/08/03

Send us Fan Mail How much of your week is spent designing, and how much is spent writing emails, preparing proposals, chasing vendors, and updating spreadsheets? In this episode, Laura shares 10 practical ways interior designers can use AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude to take repetitive, administrative work off their plate, from the first client inquiry all the way through procurement. This is not about replacing your creativity, your judgment, or your client relationships. It's about gett...

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20:42

181. Let's Talk About How Much You Are Paying Yourself.

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/07/27

Send us Fan Mail How much are you actually paying yourself? Not what your business generated last quarter. Not what you transferred after one good project. What are you consistently paying yourself, every two weeks or every month? If you're waiting to see what's left over, this episode is for you. Laura breaks down why your compensation has to be a planned, budgeted line item in your business, not an afterthought. Because hope is not a compensation strategy, and you deserve a business that pa...

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28:05

180. Let's Talk About The Importance of Business...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/07/20

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Business of Beautiful Spaces, Laura Thornton explores the value of business coaching and the two paths entrepreneurs can take: figuring everything out alone through years of trial and error, or learning from someone who can help them move forward with greater clarity and confidence. She explains why the skills and people that helped you reach your first $100,000 in sales may not be the same ones you need at $250,000, $500,000, or one million dollars and...

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16:12

179: Let’s Talk About Why Your Feed Is Beautiful But...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/07/13

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Business of Beautiful Spaces, Laura dives into a challenge many interior designers face: having a beautiful Instagram feed that attracts likes and compliments, but not actual inquiries. She explains why a stunning portfolio alone is not enough to convert followers into clients, and how designers can shift their content from simply showing pretty rooms to communicating value, expertise, process, and trust. Laura shares practical ways designers can make t...

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45:57

178 - Let's talk about Natural Stone in Your Designs

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/07/06

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Business of Beautiful Spaces, Laura welcomes Massimo Ferrera, Account Manager and Stone Master at Cava Surfaces, to demystify the process of incorporating natural stone into interior design projects. With over 27 years of experience in marble sourcing, stone selection, and fabrication, Massimo shares practical guidance for designers who want to feel more confident specifying stone, working with fabricators, and guiding clients through the selection proc...

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52:54

177. Let's Talk About Getting Out of Your Own Way...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/06/29

Send us Fan Mail Today on The Business of Beautiful Spaces, I’m sitting down with Kate Dickson, Principal Designer and Creative Director of The Dickson Design Group, an award-winning studio known for creating warm, elegant homes that are as functional as they are beautiful. Kate and her team specialize in renovating older homes, and if you’ve ever wondered how to take a space that needs a lot of love and turn it into something bright, fresh, refined, and truly liveable, you are going to love ...

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21:22

176. Let's Talk About Pipeline Detox: Stop Saying Yes...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/06/22

Send us Fan Mail n this episode, Laura walks you through a “pipeline detox” to help you stop saying yes to almost ideal leads that quietly drain your calendar, energy, and profit. If you feel busy but not truly productive, this is your reset. You’ll learn how to sort every inquiry into three simple categories, Green, Yellow, or Red, so you can quickly spot which leads are aligned, which ones could work with boundaries, and which ones are a hard no because they are misaligned, unrealistic, dis...

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19:03

175. Let's Talk About Why a Lead Tracker Is a...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/06/15

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Laura breaks down why a lead tracker is a non-negotiable tool for interior designers who want more consistent revenue and a calmer, more predictable pipeline. A lead tracker gives you visibility and control, so you stop relying on your inbox, DMs, and memory to manage inquiries. It also gives you grace, because when you can see the full timeline of a lead, you stop taking silence personally and start responding like a CEO with a clear follow-up system. Laura ...

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38:05

174. Let's Talk Q&A Roundup for Interior Designers

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/06/08

Send us Fan Mail Today’s episode is a Q&A grab bag, packed with the best questions that have come in so far this year. These are the real issues designers are navigating right now, and while some of the questions are too specific to stretch into a full deep dive episode on their own, together they create a powerful, practical conversation. This is the episode to listen to if you want clear direction, language you can use with clients, and smart business moves you can implement this week t...

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28:19

173. Let's Talk About AI for Designers: The 5 Tasks...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/06/01

Send us Fan Mail If AI feels like one more thing on your already full plate, this episode makes it simple and practical. You’ll learn how to use AI like a smart assistant to save time, protect profit, and create more consistent client communication, without sacrificing your design standards or your brand. What you’ll learn How to use AI to streamline the repetitive parts of your business while keeping your expertise and voice in control.Five tasks worth automating this quarter, plus three are...

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25:03

172 - Let's Talk About the Lifetime Value of a Client...

The Business of Beautiful Spaces Podcast for Interior... ·

2026/05/25

Send us Fan Mail The Profit Academy for Interior Designers Doors are Now Open, sign up here: https://www.theprofitacademyforinteriordesigners.com/ In this episode of The Business of Beautiful Spaces, Laura Thornton breaks down one of the most powerful numbers in your interior design business: Client Lifetime Value (LTV). Instead of judging a client by a single project, LTV helps you understand what a client is truly worth over time through repeat work and referrals. Laura walks you through ...

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191 results

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