The Interior Design Business
The Interior Design Business
Wildwood
Awkward Clients and How to Manage Them With James Roberts and Simon Mayhew
1 hour 1 minutes Posted Oct 31, 2025 at 3:00 pm.
Intro to the Interior Design Business
An awkward Client
Three of the Designers
Getting Off On The Right Foot With Your Clients
How To Lead a Design Team With Age
How To Win A Friend's Over
Are there any client categories that you avoid?
On Working With An Angry Partner
How to manage a big project's budget
The importance of access to the client
How to Talk Budget With the Client
Budgeting in the UK
Projects' length and timings
The Challenges of Leading a Project
The Importance of a Fee Proposal
Interior Design: Natural Mat
A Good Team For Tougher Clients
The Big Picture
Structural engineers: Quality of design and cost
"It's like a funeral..."
How To Read 2-D Plans
How to Deal with Difficult Contractors
The On-Site Blame Game
"When to say enough is enough?"
What Do You Do When a Client Threatens to Sue You?
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Show notes
It has often been said that interior design would be a great job if it wasn’t for the clients.
They can be unappreciative, indecisive, and unreasonable even when their project is on track and bellicose, belligerent, and litigious when things go wrong. In fact, the designer-client relationship which often begins as a love affair can sometimes end tragically in the bitterest of divorces.
But is there really such a thing an awkward client, or are any problems just down to poor communications? What can make a good client turn bad? And how can designers effectively manage this most important and sensitive of relationships? Jeff and Susie are joined by  Simon Mayhew from Txtured and James Roberts from James Roberts Interiors to answer these and other questions in front of a live audience of designers at the Design Central North West event at Capesthorne Hall in Cheshire.
 
Thanks to our series partners Naturalmat for their support.