Interior Design Brief: Template, Example and Checklist
Turn your ideas into a brief a designer can use. Define activities, priorities, budget, scope, and approvals with a copyable template and an example.
A useful starting point
A useful brief explains who uses the space, what must improve, what stays, and how decisions will be made. Record the budget, timing, scope, priorities, and approvals; keep the document updated as the project develops.
An interior design brief is a written account of what a space needs to achieve, who will use it, what is included in the project, and which limits matter. It turns a collection of preferences into decisions a designer can test.
You do not need to solve the design before writing the brief. You need to explain the problem clearly enough that a proposed solution can be judged against it. Use the template and example below to prepare for a first conversation or improve an existing project document.
What an interior design brief should contain
The British Institute of Interior Design's briefing guidance treats the brief as a developing document that clarifies a project's extent, constraints, and intended outcomes. A client may begin with notes or a conversation; a written version provides something both sides can confirm.
Organize your own brief around six questions:
- Who uses the space, and what happens there?
- What should improve, and what already works?
- Which rooms, services, and purchases are included?
- What spending and timing boundaries apply?
- Which existing conditions limit the options?
- Who approves decisions, and how will changes be recorded?
Keep practical outcomes near the beginning. “A calm, contemporary room” is a preference. “A place for two adults to work without leaving equipment on the dining table overnight” is a problem someone can design around.
Begin with people, routines, and priorities
Describe an ordinary weekday and a typical weekend. Include working from home, visitors, children, pets, storage, and access needs when they affect the space. Describe the relevant requirement without including private personal information the project does not need.
List what must remain: a comfortable chair, inherited furniture, artwork, an existing floor, or a view. Record actual dimensions and condition. “Keep the bookcase” is more useful when the designer knows its size and which door must open beside it.
Split requests into essential, desirable, and optional. Choose three outcomes that matter most if the scope has to reduce. This gives the designer a way to evaluate trade-offs rather than treating every wish as equally urgent.
Define the services and deliverables
Interior design can include advice, space planning, product selection, technical drawings, procurement, and implementation support. Do not assume that every practice offers every service. The BIID guide to working with an interior designer emphasizes discussing the practice's scope and capabilities.
| Project area | What to clarify in your brief |
|---|---|
| Space planning | Which rooms and layout options will be studied? |
| Drawings | Are these concept drawings or information suitable for a later technical stage? |
| Furniture and finishes | Who specifies products, checks samples, and confirms dimensions? |
| Purchasing | Who orders, receives deliveries, checks damage, and manages returns? |
| Work on site | Who coordinates trades and obtains specialist advice? |
| Completion | What information and handover support will be provided? |
A brief records requirements. The appointment or other project agreement must establish the actual services and responsibilities. Ask for clarification before treating a mood board, shopping list, or sketch as a promise of a complete renovation service.
Separate the overall budget from the design fee
Write what your spending range includes: professional fees, surveys, furniture, finishes, delivery, installation, taxes where relevant, and an allowance for uncertainty agreed with the team. Identify exclusions and who can authorize extra spending.
The BIID discussion of project pricing explains that fees can be structured in different ways. Discuss the chosen method and what counts as additional work; do not copy a percentage or fee from an unrelated project.
For each comparison, use the same scope. A furniture-only proposal cannot be fairly compared with a proposal that includes technical coordination and site visits. RIBA's guidance on setting out fees similarly links clear services, programme, and costs.
Add constraints and explain your references
Include available plans, photographs, ceiling heights, service positions, ownership or building-management restrictions, and any known need for approvals. Label uncertain information. A marketing floor plan is not the same as a verified measured survey.
Use the floor plan reading guide to identify what a drawing does and does not establish. Structural, electrical, fire, or building alterations may need qualified specialists and local approvals.
Choose a small set of visual references and annotate the reason for each. Explain “concealed storage,” “warm timber,” or “a separate reading corner.” Add dislikes too. Images from Konj projects are a starting point for a conversation, not evidence that the same detail will suit your building.
A copyable interior design brief template
This is Konj's practical working template. Adapt it to the project rather than treating it as a contract.
| Heading | What to write |
|---|---|
| Project and rooms | Address or general location, property type, and included spaces |
| Main goal | One sentence explaining the result you want |
| Users and activities | Normal occupancy, daily routines, and occasional uses |
| Must keep | Existing items, features, and dimensions |
| Priorities | Three essential outcomes, then desirable and optional items |
| Scope | Services requested and explicit exclusions |
| Budget boundaries | Included cost categories and who approves changes |
| Timing | Desired sequence, fixed events, and flexible dates |
| Constraints | Known restrictions, available surveys, and unresolved questions |
| References | A few annotated images and relevant dislikes |
| Decisions | Main contact, approval method, and revision date |
Before sharing it, check whether a person unfamiliar with your home could understand both the goal and the main limits.
Example: a living room that also supports home working
Consider a hypothetical household with two adults who work from home several days a week. Their initial request is “more storage and a nicer living room.”
A useful brief could say: “Keep the existing sofa and allow seating for four during occasional visits. Provide a place to store two laptops and work papers each evening. Keep the route to the balcony clear. Include layout options, lighting recommendations, and a furniture shortlist; building alterations and purchasing are outside the initial scope.”
The next questions become specific: do both people work at once, where are power points, how large is the existing sofa, and how will the room change between work and evening use? Our small living room layout guide helps test those choices.
Review and maintain the brief
Date each agreed version and keep a short decision log. If a new requirement changes scope, budget, or timing, identify the effect and agree the next step. A clear revision prevents the team from unknowingly working to different assumptions.
At the first review, ask the designer to repeat the main goal and explain what information is missing. That conversation is a better test of the brief than the number of images attached to it.
Interior design brief FAQs
How long should a brief be?
Long enough to explain the priorities, scope, limits, and decisions. A concise document with useful measurements and references is more helpful than many pages of unranked preferences.
Is a mood board a design brief?
It can support the visual direction, but it does not define activities, responsibilities, budget boundaries, or approvals. Add those in writing.
Can the brief change after design begins?
Yes. Record the change, who agreed it, and its possible effect on services, cost, and programme before assuming it is included.
