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Interior designers – Do you really need lawyers to do your contract?
It happens to almost every designer at some point — you start out armed with creative passion, some good instincts, and a contract copy‑and‑pasted from somewhere that “should do the job.” It’s only later, when a client changes their mind or a supplier vanishes, that you discover your most elegant floor plan can’t fix a legal mess.
There’s an old quote from designer Albert Hadley that says, “The essence of interior design will always be about people and how they live.” If your contract doesn’t understand how you work and how your clients live, it’s not protecting either of you. Let’s workshop this with some not uncommon scenarios.
Take “Charlotte,” for instance. A client she adored wanted a quick kitchen facelift — easy job, minimal paperwork. Weeks later, one builder delay turned into three, and her client demanded compensation. Her contract didn’t define what counted as a delay or who was responsible for supplier timing.
Or “Naomi,” whose client decided to change fabric selections after final orders were placed. With no variation clause, she spent hours re‑ordering and re‑installing at her own cost.
Then there’s “Leo,” who sources one‑of‑a‑kind vintage pieces. When a rare sideboard arrived warped, the client blamed him entirely. He had no legal clause to protect him, nowhere that said antique purchases are at the client’s risk. It turned into weeks of frustration that one paragraph of clear legal wording could have prevented.
So, yes. It’s easy to see how these things happen.
Interior design contracts are tricky because procurement itself is tricky. There’s no single way to do it — some designers buy and resell, others act as an agent, and some just introduce suppliers. Each option has a different legal consequence for who owns the goods, who takes on financial risk, and who’s responsible when things go wrong.
Contracts vs Terms & Conditions?
In interior design, your Contract (or Client Agreement) sets out the overall relationship — the who, what and how long – it describes who’s involved, what’s being done, and how long the project will run.
Your Terms and Conditions are the fine print that travels with each quote or proposal. They’re where the real detail lives: payments, timelines, sourcing responsibilities, variations, intellectual property, risk, warranties, and cancellations.
The contract defines the big picture; the terms protect you project by project.
Design businesses aren’t one‑size‑fits‑all — and your legal documents shouldn’t be either. Maybe you craft minimalist homes, or specialise in vintage revivals. Maybe you design retail fit‑outs, café chains, boutique shopfronts, high‑end homes, hotel interiors, or coastal rentals. Whatever your niche, your terms should reflect that.
At Sharon Givoni Consulting, we help tailor legally sound, plain‑language terms because, as Billy Baldwin once said, “Be faithful to your own taste, because nothing you really like is ever out of style.” The same goes for your contracts — they should reflect your brand and your way of working, not someone else’s.
Please note the above article is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice.
Please email us info@iplegal.com.au if you need legal advice about your brand or another legal matter in this area generally.