Guides

Practical interior design guides for the decisions that come before the design — what to ask, what to agree on, and what most people only discover once the work has already started.

Most design advice online is about what to buy. Very little of it is about what to decide, and in what order. That gap is where projects go wrong: a room is rarely disappointing because someone chose the wrong cushion, and almost always disappointing because the big decisions were made late, under pressure, or by whoever happened to be in the room.

These guides are written from projects we have actually built. Each one takes a single question people arrive with and answers it the way we would in a first conversation. They are free to read, and none of them require you to work with us.

Before you start

How to Know If You’re Ready to Hire an Interior Designer
Five signs you are ready, three signs to wait, and what actually changes when you bring someone in.

What It’s Like to Work with R/terior Studio
The five stages, what you receive at the end of each one, and what we need from you to make it work.

Making decisions

Mood Board or Rendering? What Each One Actually Tells You
Which document answers which question, the two most expensive mistakes, and how to give feedback that is actually useful.

How Color Changes the Way a Room Feels
Why “blue is calming” keeps failing you, the three things that decide how a color reads, and how to test one properly.

Multigenerational living

Your Parents Are Moving In: How to Blend Two Households Without Anyone Feeling Like a Guest
The rule that solves most of it, four decisions to make before the moving van arrives, and what to do with the furniture nobody loves.