Basics:
Decorist connects interior designers with clients, who want fixed-rate room make-overs
Expected pay: $149 – $249 per room design
Husl$core: $$$
Commissions & fees: 50%
Where: Nationwide (remote)
Requirements: College degree, experience, ability to use design software preferred
Decorist review:
Decorist used to connect interior designers with clients, who paid a flat fee for an online room design. But the site suddenly went out of business in late 2022, offering to refund clients who had already paid for designs.
For designers looking for work, you can see how the site ran below. Or, better, skip to the “recommendations” section, where you’ll see the surviving online interior decorating sites. The good news is the surviving sites are the better options.
While Decorist did provide some work, designers consistently griped that the site’s flat fee structure meant that only the most lucky and efficient designers were able to make a living wage here.
How it worked
Specifically, designers got half of the fees that clients paid — usually $299 to $599 per room. There was also reference to “incentive rewards.” But it was unclear what the incentive rewards were or how they were determined. But they may have been based on whether clients purchase items that designers put on their shopping list. Designers were paid once a month.
Decorist review
The problem is that you didn’t get paid more if a project took an excessive amount of time. You’d get a flat fee. And, for that fee you created two concept boards, a final room design, a detailed floor plan, set-up instructions, and a personalized shopping list. And the shopping list had to be made up of Decorist-approved vendors.
That’s a lot of work for a few hundred dollars. And, if a client wasn’t wild about a design, you’d need to revise it. And there was no limit to how many times you could have to revise a design for an unhappy client.
Hourly pay
Given that you’re paid per package, not per hour, you have to be facile to make a reasonable wage here. A starting-level designer would need to compete the job in less than 10 hours to earn $15 an hour, for instance.
Glassdoor estimates that the average designer earns somewhere between $16 and $21 per hour. But poor pay is the most common complaint by interior designers who work with the site.
Recommendations:
You can find well-paid design projects at Creatively and Decorilla.
Or, if you want to work independently, you can offer design packages through Fiverr. Fiverr has freelancers create work “packages,” setting their own rates and determining what’s included in the package. You simply pay a fee to the site when your work packages sell.
What their users say (from Glassdoor:)
“Tons of work, for embarrassingly low pay.”
“Always able to get projects, multiple ways to make additional money. But the project flat fee paid out is not worth the time spent.”
“If the client consistently rates things at 3 or below stars, you get to do endless revisions that take hours, even if that client is an utter dunce and doesn’t know how to use their words. Decorist always sides with the clients because you gotta get that money!! Just not money for the designer.”
Low pay
“The pay for the hours involved is very, very low. It may be worth the flexible schedule though for those who like or travel or have to work from home. But you can’t rely on this job for consistent income.”
I work full-time for a very well known architecture firm that has high expectations for productivity, so I am used to pumping out work fast. Decorist’s pay is not even reasonable for the fastest workers, and the designs delivered suffer as a result. Also – don’t expect any of your projects to be photographed to build your portfolio.
Pathetic pay and the bonuses are a total joke. Also, they have limited vendors to work with, which is a challenge for the designer and the client, as your design choices are limited. Yet they push and push sales, not quality design.
Might be great for a side gig but it’s not worth it if it’s something you’d want to do full-time.
Updated 8/19/2024
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