If you’re an interior designer you know how expensive it can be to get good professional interior design photography. Depending on what you charge and the size of the project, the photography can cost as much as, or even more than, the profits from your project. 😳

What if there were a way to save money on your professional photography and also leverage that photography to get more of the kinds of projects you want?!

There is! It’s called a “Featured Project” portfolio.

What’s a “Featured Project” portfolio?

Sometimes called a “case-study” portfolio, it’s a single-project portfolio that helps people understand what you do, who you do it for, and why you’re great at it. It focuses your client’s attention on the kind of design you want to be known for, drawing in ideal-fit clients like bees to honey, and scaring off bad-fit clients you didn’t want to work with anyway. 🙄

What might a single-project portfolio look like? Let’s take one of my favorite past projects as an example. What if you saw this on the “portfolio” page of my website?

From this single before-and-after story a client could immediately understand what I’m all about. It would draw in clients who want bold color, prefer an unfussy design style, appreciate practical solutions, and love low-maintenance materials. THOSE ARE MY PEOPLE!

Align your photography investment with your marketing strategy!

Does it change how you think about investing in pro photography if, instead of spending as little as you can photographing each project, you spent a bit more on just one, two, or three featured projects that illustrate exactly the kind of work you want more of? Might you be more strategic in which projects you have photographed, and know exactly what you want those photos to do for your design biz?

Of course, the photo doesn’t have to do all the work. Your portfolio copy (the writing part) can help reinforce your design philosophy and services. For example, to support the above Featured Project I could write:

Creating an open floor plan kitchen in a half-century-old condo can be tricky! How did we turn a cramped and bland galley kitchen into a fun and functional chef’s playground?

First, we got clear about the client’s goals. They wanted to:

• Open up the kitchen to the dining and living room
• Incorporate a larger fridge and a wall oven, and reinstall their garbage compactor
• Have a LOT more functional storage, and a LOT more functional counter space
• Make it COLORFUL (yea!!) 🌈

What were the challenges?

• A structural wall separated the kitchen from the rest of the entertaining space, and since it was a condo, we knew we didn’t want to open up a structural can of worms. We had to find a way to keep the structural supports while giving the clients the open-space kitchen they craved.
• There was under-used space we wanted to incorporate into the kitchen, but the low sill of an arched window made that a challenge.
• There was a bump in the wall that would need to be incorporated without creating a weird maze-like feel.

It required some clever thinking, but we helped the client get just exactly what they wanted – an open concept kitchen full of fun color, functional practicality, and hidden storage! Does that sound like just the kind of thing your kitchen could use? Reach out and let’s chat!*

My photo(s) can draw in the client, and my copy can help them understand the unique kind of expertise I bring to my projects. Is this an approach that could work for YOU?

Are you a veteran designer with a bunch of old projects cluttering up your portfolio? This is a way to clear the confusing clutter and get known for what you’re GREAT at! Of course, you can feature more than one – just choose carefully. You want to show the depth of your expertise, not the breadth of your expertise.

What if you’re a new designer without much work to show? This is a way to elevate your authority as a designer by focusing the client on what you are great at! The sooner they see you as an expert in the exact thing they need, the sooner you’ll become a Go-To designer!

What do you think? Do you think you could use one single case study of one perfect project to build the business (and portfolio) of your dreams? Is that a way to back into the niche you’ve been dreaming of carving out for yourself since day one?

Is that how I built up Seriously Happy Homes?

Nope. 😅 I actually built Seriously Happy Homes using amateur before-and-after photos I took myself. But that fit the regular-people clients I was working with. In fact, since I knew I could actually scare off my ideal clients with photography that felt too slick or staged, once I started paying for professional photography I carefully choose an interior design photographer who understood the human, inviting vibe I wanted to create and capture.

Just like in design, there’s no one “right” answer to anything. But if you’re trying to target a higher-end client, or want to be known for a unique POV, then a Feature-Portfolio or Case-Study focus might be a great tool to consider for your website!

If you try it out, I’d love to hear about it!

And if you aren’t sure what kind of work you want to do, or who you want to work with, we should probably have a coaching session together. Until you figure out what you really do and who you do it for, you’ll struggle to get your ideal clients or create a business that makes you Seriously Happy.

Your portfolio will only be a focused as you are!

You’ve got this! 💪

*Seriously Happy Homes is on sabbatical starting August 31, 2023 and is not currently taking on design clients. 
*Seriously Happy Coaching is open for business and happily taking on new design-preneur clients. 🤓