Speaking at last year’s KBSA Conference, architect and TV presenter George Clarke called on the KBB industry to unite over charging for their design services. His argument was that if retailers aren’t already doing it then they’re undervaluing the time, skill and creativity involved in the whole design process.

“As an architect, I charge for everything,” he told attendees, continuing: “I can see why it’s tricky for kitchen and bathroom designers, because you’re providing a product and the design is part of that. But it’s not right that people walk off with your work and then go to someone else…”

As a solution, Clarke raised a decent point: KBB retailers need to use some joined-up thinking and either all agree to charge for design, or all agree not to (which, let’s be honest, is never going to happen in a million years), to help set a standard expectation for clients.

So although the debate about whether you should or shouldn’t charge for design has raged on seemingly since the dawn of the KBB industry itself, if people like Clarke insist retailers should do it, that presents a new question: what’s the most ideal way to charge for your design work?

To find out, we pitched the question to our pool of expert retailers, and although everyone apparently has their own tried and tested methods, in the end, it seems most people fall into just one of a few camps…

Model one // Flat fees

Of all of the models that our contributors mentioned, charging clients a flat fee per design or room seems like arguably the most straightforward route.

For example, Luke Niblett, owner at Luxe Kitchen Designs, says he generally charges a fee of £300, although that does sometimes fluctuate higher or lower depending on the job. 

“The majority of clients are fine once we explain that we spend a lot of time, effort and resources putting client designs together,” he explains. “We charge for our designs not to make money but more as a test to see if a client is right for our company or not. The ones that do object do not see the value that we offer as designers and they are more suited to going to a larger retailer.”

Martina Landhed says InStil Design uses a similar process, although her bathroom design fees start from £325 and then continue to scale depending on the specifics of the project or space.

For example, after a complimentary design brief meeting and payment of an engagement fee, InStil charges slightly extra for a “non-standard bathroom” at £365, and this increases further to £550 if the design is created by Landhed herself, as the studio’s creative design director.

On paper, this sounds quite similar to the sliding fee scale that professions like solicitors use for their consultancy fees, where more senior partners sometimes charge a higher premium for their work because of their tenure and expertise. 

“Our core clients understand and value both our time and expertise. They come to us for a high level of service, product knowledge, and a smooth, stress-free process, which is reflected in our full-service offering,” Landhed says.

“Occasionally, some clients question the engagement fee, particularly if they have encountered ‘free design’ elsewhere. In those cases, they are often not our target clientele. That said, in certain situations (a couple of projects per year), such as smaller-value bathroom projects or referral clients, we may agree in advance to offset the engagement fee against the final balance.”

Meanwhile, Unique Solutions’ MD Mark Newman says he doesn’t technically charge for design, but that a cost of £650 is built-in to  every project, and the studio only creates a CAD design if it knows the job is going to go ahead anyway.

Model two // Taking deposits

However, If charging a flat rate for design work is perhaps the simplest way to charge for design, then judging by our contributors’ comments, then taking a refundable deposit for that work appears to be the most common model.

When asked about their method, the team at The Bathroom Studio in Goring said they charge a slightly more modest £149 per room, which is then completely refundable against orders over £2,500. 

“It comes nowhere near covering our costs, so we use it only to help sieve out tyre-kickers and difficult customers, and almost all our customers are happy with that process,” they said, adding, “Very occasionally people have strong objections, which goes to prove the difficult customer sieve works as intended.”

Similarly, Carly Hamilton says that her studio, Cranleigh Bathrooms, offers a free design that can be viewed in store, but charges £250 per room if clients want a copy. Handily, this can be redeemened against orders over £3000, effectively also making it a depsosit.

Like The Bathroom Studio, Hamilton says: “We have found that by having an initial cost to our service, this helps the client understand that we are valuable and there are costs involved with our service. This also helps eliminate the clients that are just wanting a free design service with little intention of actually buying from us.”

Meanwhile, Julian Stammers from J.S. Designs offers a free initial consultation meeting to clients, but then takes a deposit between £500 and £1500 if the client would like to see detailed plans. 

“If the client is dealing with builders and the plan and estimate are acceptable but they can’t finalise dimensions and their builder is requiring a more detailed dimensioned and annotated plans with electrical and plumbing requirements, then we say that we will take 5% deposit refundable on placing order,” Stammers explains.

“We don’t ever give out plans unless the client has paid minimum of £500 and sometimes this is where you see the true colours of your client. Those who are uncomfortable with that are the ones you know that basically like what you have come up with but don’t want to pay the price and think its their right to have the plans, especially when the ‘Sheds’ give them away free of charge.”

However, Brian Wright, from Innovation KB, says his studio doesn’t charge for design plans, but if somebody really wants a plan, he charges £1000. Assuming they do decide to go ahead with the project, this is also redeemable against the order. When asked how often clients pay that £1000 fee only to take the order elsewhere, Wright’s answer is fortunately simple and direct: “It’s never happened.”

One retailer (who asked not to be named here) has only recently begun charging for design after discussing how best to approach the model for a long time. This particular retailer has decided to charge £250 for a single room, and £500 for multi-room designs, and again this is essentially a deposit that gets refundable against any purchases.

“In truth, if someone objects to paying for your professional services then they are seeing the whole project as a commodity and that isn’t really our customer base, so it’s a useful filter in the sales process,” they said, bringing up a familiar theme at this point.

Discussing why this particular moment was the ideal time to start charging for design, that retailer explained: “We have discussed for a really long time the issue that arises from ‘free’ design services. They are not really free, they are an overhead rather than direct cost to the business.

Therefore all customers are paying for both their and non-customers’ design time – which isn’t fair on the customers that are proceeding. Competitors have an unfair advantage and can copy a design and then undercut the price because they have not suffered the design cost and do not require any expertise.”

Furthermore, “If its free, some customers don’t value the design and expertise required,” they concluded.

Model three // Detailed design fees

However, whilst asking retailers about charging for design, it quickly emerged that there are a few other options than simply charging on a one-off basis or taking a deposit. Another prominent model (which is a bit similar to how Julian Stammers operates) involves offering a “free” basic design, which can then be filled out with more details when a client agrees to go ahead.

Essentially, this gives prospective clients the reassurance of an early draft of their new kitchen or bathroom, but still protects the studio as the plans aren’t measured or detailed enough for a different studio to complete the work instead.

Acknowledging that this means he doesn’t technically charge for design, Andy Slaven  from ELS Bathrooms says: “The first plans sent out are basic with no sizes or information. They then come back into the showroom to go over design, choose door colours and styles. We then do a quote and if  they’re happy to proceed, a more detailed design gets produced for them.”

Discussing why, Slaven explained: “I would say quite a few clients take your design and go elsewhere for quotes. That’s one of the main reasons when doing any first quote after survey that there are no descriptions of product sizes or things like that. If they’re happy with your ballpark figure quote, they then get a more detailed quote. It’s served me well for 11 years.”

Another retailer using a similar model is Studio 35 in York, with Rob Thorpe adding: “Charging for design was discussed internally for a long time but never implemented as nobody else charged and we wanted to ensure we were considered for as many projects as possible. The final straw was when a particular client went through 14 revisions to his design before telling us he wasn’t proceeding due to the price…

“After that point we made the decision to offer the first design free which still allows our team an opportunity to impress a client with our design service and provide a detailed quote, so they have an idea of potential project costs. Then, we charge a one off £300 which is deductible from any future order. 

“This works really well for us and ensures we are never going beyond the initial design without getting some form of commitment,” Thorpe explains. “This has saved us many hours and given us confidence that time spent on multiple options is well spent.”

View from the other side

Despite most of our retail contributors saying they either currently charged for design (or at least would like to), a few studio owners still say it’s not a model they’re interested in.

Pointing out the elephant in the room, Julie Stevens, from Hale & Murray says: “When you have the likes of Wren and Howdens giving out plans for free, I don’t think you can charge.” 

She also acknowledged that her studio has tried charging for design in the past, but it tended to result in clients going elsewhere.

Gary Walmsley, managing director at Designer Walls & More, also agrees, but adds that this issue has more to do with a showroom’s location (as well as it neighbours) than anything else. 

“A large market town, such as Bolton, is surrounded by large sheds, hybrid plumbers merchants, and many others who can create drawings. Hybrid plumbers merchants typically have access to most brands and they discount heavily, and they have the ear of a lot of plumbers and fitters…

“I opted out of charging for design for financial sanity,” he concludes. “Yes, I believe design work should be chargable – after all, it’s a service – but its purely geographical in my mind as to where you could charge.”

Finally, Tina Riley, managing director at Modern Homes, says a lot of her business comes from repeat customers, and admits to feeling slightly uncomfortable charging loyal, returning clients.

And considering that a major reason people say they charge for design in the first place is to establish a barrier of trust, she does actually make quite a valid point.

Mentioning how most of her clients are existing friends of the studio, Riley says: “We have either done their kitchen numerous years ago, or have done their bathrooms so they are back for more work. We would have to have some sort of two tier system which would be hard to accommodate, so I really don’t think its right to charge an existing client.”

Furthermore, Riley says: “By making sure that when we get to the design stage of the process with a new potential client we have already made sure they have been into the showroom , we have had various discussions about things like budgets, and this makes sure that we are not either wasting their time our ours!”