Short answer
At a larger design firm, the principal whose portfolio you admired usually sets the direction and reviews the work, while project designers and assistants carry most of the day-to-day design, ordering and site visits. At a small owner-led studio, the owner does that work personally and relies on long-standing workrooms and trades instead of staff.
A larger firm is the better fit for very large projects on compressed schedules and for clients who want a deep bench. A small studio is the better fit when you want the judgment you hired to be the judgment in every decision, from the floor plan to the last pillow. Either can be excellent. The question that settles it is the same: who, by name, will design my rooms and come to the site?
On this page
How a larger firm usually runs
A design firm with a staff is organized much like any professional practice. Firms differ, but the roles usually look like this:
- The principal. The designer whose name and portfolio brought you in. Meets you at the start, sets the concept, presents at key meetings and reviews the work.
- A project designer or senior designer. Develops the plan, draws the elevations, prepares the selections and is your main contact from week to week.
- Junior designers and assistants. Pull samples, prepare presentation boards, draft drawings and specification sheets.
- Purchasing and project coordination. Place and track orders, chase lead times, manage receiving and schedule installers.
This structure is how a firm handles many projects at once, and in a well-run firm it works. The thing to understand before signing is that the principal’s hours on your project may be a small share of the total. Your rooms will reflect the principal’s direction and the project designer’s execution, and the quality of that second person matters as much as the first.
How an owner-led studio runs
In a small studio, the person who meets you at the consultation is the person who measures the room, draws the plan, chooses the fabrics with you, places the orders, walks the site and styles the room on installation day. The studio’s depth comes from outside rather than inside: workrooms, upholsterers, cabinetmakers, installers and trades the owner has used for years and trusts to meet the standard.
The consequence is continuity. Nothing is handed from the person who understood the brief to someone who did not hear it. When the drapery workroom calls with a question about a pattern repeat, or the electrician asks where the sconces go, the answer comes from the person who designed the room.
Chateau Concepts is a studio of this kind. Jan Revels, ASID, has practiced interior design in Dallas since 1997, founded Chateau Concepts in 2001, and leads every project personally: one room or a whole home, from first walk-through to final reveal, with no hand-offs and no junior staff. See her profile for credentials.
Most of Jan’s clients begin with a single room and grow from there. It is a sensible way to find out whether you work well together before committing to a whole house.
Where a larger firm is better
A fair comparison starts with what staff makes possible:
- Very large projects on compressed schedules. A large new build with dozens of rooms, a fixed move-in date and hundreds of line items can need several people working in parallel.
- In-house specialists. Some firms employ their own architectural drafters, lighting designers, art consultants or procurement teams.
- A deep bench. If one person is away, someone else in the office knows the file.
- A recognized house look. If you want the firm’s signature style, applied consistently, a firm built around that style delivers it reliably.
If those are the things that matter most on your project, a larger firm is a reasonable choice, provided you know who will be doing the work.
Where a small studio is better
- The judgment you hired is in every decision. Most of what makes a room good is small decisions made well: a seat depth, a lampshade height, how a rug meets a doorway. In an owner-led studio, the owner makes them.
- Decisions move faster. There is no internal review loop. A question asked on Tuesday can be answered on Tuesday.
- Fewer things get lost. Every hand-off, from principal to project designer to purchasing to installer, is a place where a detail can drop. Fewer hands means fewer drops.
- Your style, not the house style. A studio built around one designer’s listening rather than a signature look is better suited to clients whose taste is their own. Jan’s range runs from Traditional and Old World to Mid-Century Modern, Mediterranean and, in her words, “just plain funky,” because the style that matters is the client’s.
- Single rooms and phased work. Small studios are generally comfortable with one room, or with a house done a room at a time over a few years that still reads as one house. See whole-home design, phased.
- Accountability with a name on it. When something goes wrong, the person you call is the person responsible.
The honest limit of a small studio is capacity. One designer can lead only so many projects at once, so start dates and schedules can depend on what is already underway. Ask about it directly; a studio that is candid about its calendar is a studio that will be candid about your project.
When construction is part of the job
The difference between the two models grows when the project includes a remodel. Most design practices, large or small, hand their drawings to a separate contractor. The gap between the plan and the site is where details get substituted, value-engineered or improvised, and where the designer and the builder can each point at the other. The guide on design-build versus hiring separately explains where that seam fails.
Chateau Concepts closes it differently from most studios: Jan also takes on the general contracting, scheduling trades, ordering materials, pulling permits and checking the work against the approved drawings. Chateau Concepts, LLC is registered with the City of Dallas and carries general liability insurance for that work. On a kitchen, a bathroom or a whole-home renovation, the person who designed the room is the one deciding what to do when something unexpected turns up behind the plaster. See general contracting and what a general contractor does. If you prefer your own builder, Jan works alongside your contractor; see working with your own builder.
Side by side
| Larger design firm | Owner-led studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Who designs day to day | Project designer, under the principal | The owner |
| Who comes to the site | Usually the project designer or coordinator | The owner |
| Depth | Staff in the office | Trusted workrooms and trades |
| Speed of decisions | Depends on internal review | Direct |
| Capacity | Many projects in parallel | Limited by one designer’s calendar |
| Style | Often a recognizable house look | Usually built around the client |
| Best fit | Very large builds, fixed deadlines, signature style | Single rooms to whole homes where continuity matters |
Questions that tell them apart
Ask these of any designer you interview, large or small. The answers matter more than the size of the office.
- Who, by name, will design my rooms? And will I meet that person before signing?
- Who will be my day-to-day contact? Who answers the phone when a delivery is late?
- Who comes to the site, and how often? Who is there on installation day?
- How many projects is the lead designer running right now? When could mine realistically start?
- Who places and tracks the orders? Who inspects pieces when they arrive, and who handles the one that arrives damaged?
- Can I see a finished project the lead designer handled personally? Portfolio photos are the firm’s; ask which rooms were designed by the person who will design yours.
- How are fees structured? Flat fee, hourly, cost-plus or percentage each reward different things. See how interior designers charge.
For the full interview, including what credentials mean and how to read a proposal, see how to hire an interior designer in Dallas. If you are still deciding whether to hire anyone at all, start with is an interior designer worth it?
A quick way to decide
Write down the three things that would make you most unhappy at the end of the project. If the answers are “missing the move-in date” and “not enough hands on a very large house,” a larger firm is built for that. If they are “rooms that do not feel like us,” “details lost between the plan and the result” or “never knowing who is responsible,” an owner-led studio is built for that.
Then bring a few photographs of rooms you like, a rough sense of budget and timing, and the list above to a first consultation. A good designer of either kind will tell you plainly whether your project fits the way they work.
Key takeaways
- At a larger firm, the principal usually sets direction while project designers and assistants carry most of the day-to-day work.
- At an owner-led studio, the owner designs, orders, visits the site and styles the room personally.
- Larger firms suit very large projects, fixed deadlines and clients who want a signature look.
- Small studios suit clients who want continuity, faster decisions and a style built around them.
- Whatever the size, ask who by name will design your rooms and come to the site, and how many projects that person is running.
Frequently asked questions
Is a small interior design studio less capable than a large firm?
Will the designer whose portfolio I liked actually design my home?
Can a small design studio handle a whole house?
Is a small studio cheaper than a large firm?
Who designs the projects at Chateau Concepts?
Jan has practiced interior design in Dallas since 1997 and founded Chateau Concepts in 2001. She holds a BFA in Interior Design from the University of North Texas. She designs and general-contracts residential and commercial projects across the Park Cities, Preston Hollow and North Dallas. Read her full profile →
Written and reviewed by Jan Revels before publicationWork with Chateau Concepts
Jan Revels handles both sides of a project in Dallas and the Park Cities — the design and the build.