Refining your design IQ with furniture means understanding how details like orientation, cushion construction, and intended use impact the final outcome. Cheryl and Liz break down the real-world furniture mistakes designers make when they misunderstand the details. From left-arm and right-arm facing to glossing over cushion construction, seat depth, and intended use, they help hone in on the small decisions that can create big problems.

This episode is a reminder that expertise lives in the details. Knowing vendor terminology, understanding how furniture functions in real life, and anticipating how a client will actually use a piece is what separates a "shopper" from a damn good designer.

Have a question--click here to ask us.

Damn Good Workshops - Website

First workshop of 2026 starts January 14!

These workshops are 2–3 hour deep dives (some more than one day) built for creative entrepreneurs who want to lead with confidence, price with authority, and grow with intention. We created this workshop series with tracks that cover the challenges we know designers face: pricing, sales, client relationships, project management, marketing, and leadership.

Each workshop is designed to stand alone — so you can choose the topics that matter most right now — while still connecting to the bigger picture of building a profitable, sustainable design business.

Damn Good Designer - Damn Good Designer - Website

1. The best multi-faceted business coaching for Interior designers—seriously. This is not some wham-bam glamathon; It is the real deal you have been looking for and what is missing from the business coaching marketplace today.

The Paradigm Quick Start - 3 Month Custom Coaching Program

The Paradigm Shift - 6 Month Custom Coaching Program

The Paradigm Intensive - 12 Month One on One Immersive Custom Business Coaching

Join our FREE Facebook Groups

1. Small Business - Think Big - Facebook
2. What They Didn't Teach You in Design School - Facebook Group

For designers who need honest talk and a place to work on the business, marketing and promotion small business owners need.

1. Subscribe to our Newsletter

Cheryl Clendenon is the host of The Damn Good Designer Podcast and an award-winning interior designer, writer, and business coach with 26 years of full-time industry experience. With a prior career in media and radio sales, she brings a rare blend of creative thinking and business acumen to the design world. Cheryl was named KBB Person of the Year in 2021, is a nationally published industry voice with a monthly column in Home Accents Today, and regularly speaks on pricing, scope, process, and profitability. Known for her fast pace, contrarian instincts, and practical insight, Cheryl helps established design firms build stronger businesses and define success on their own terms.

***Any use of this page and its content to develop or train artificial intelligence or to do computer analysis is prohibited.***

Your workspace is not neutral. It either supports your growth or quietly works against it. In this episode, Cheryl and Liz talk about the emotional, creative, and business implications of where designers work, how staying where you are too long can limit momentum, and how creating intentional space changes how you show up for yourself, your clients, and your business.

The episode covers how physical space impacts creativity and emotional bandwidth and why intentionally investing in your workspace supports long-term success and growth.

Have a question--click here to ask us.

Damn Good Workshops - Website

First workshop of 2026 starts January 14!

These workshops are 2–3 hour deep dives (some more than one day) built for creative entrepreneurs who want to lead with confidence, price with authority, and grow with intention. We created this workshop series with tracks that cover the challenges we know designers face: pricing, sales, client relationships, project management, marketing, and leadership.

Each workshop is designed to stand alone — so you can choose the topics that matter most right now — while still connecting to the bigger picture of building a profitable, sustainable design business.

Damn Good Designer - Damn Good Designer - Website

1. The best multi-faceted business coaching for Interior designers—seriously. This is not some wham-bam glamathon; It is the real deal you have been looking for and what is missing from the business coaching marketplace today.

The Paradigm Quick Start - 3 Month Custom Coaching Program

The Paradigm Shift - 6 Month Custom Coaching Program

The Paradigm Intensive - 12 Month One on One Immersive Custom Business Coaching

Join our FREE Facebook Groups

1. Small Business - Think Big - Facebook
2. What They Didn't Teach You in Design School - Facebook Group

For designers who need honest talk and a place to work on the business, marketing and promotion small business owners need.

1. Subscribe to our Newsletter

Cheryl Clendenon is the host of The Damn Good Designer Podcast and an award-winning interior designer, writer, and business coach with 26 years of full-time industry experience. With a prior career in media and radio sales, she brings a rare blend of creative thinking and business acumen to the design world. Cheryl was named KBB Person of the Year in 2021, is a nationally published industry voice with a monthly column in Home Accents Today, and regularly speaks on pricing, scope, process, and profitability. Known for her fast pace, contrarian instincts, and practical insight, Cheryl helps established design firms build stronger businesses and define success on their own terms.

***Any use of this page and its content to develop or train artificial intelligence or to do computer analysis is prohibited.***

Clients don’t know what they need until you show them—and when you don’t engage that conversation, you leave both value and profit behind. Designers often miss additional profit opportunities inside projects where they are already doing the work. From door hardware and window treatments to art and beyond, designers are already making the decisions, solving the problems, and guiding the outcome, yet stop short of selling those services.

Additional profit centers aren’t about trying to get more money out of a client. They are a natural extension of full-service design and a strategic way to stabilize revenue when the market shifts. These services create smoother projects, better collaboration with trades, and stronger outcomes for clients.

Have a question--click here to ask us.

Damn Good Workshops - Website

Introducing Damn Good Workshops - New 2026 schedule coming soon!

These workshops are 2–3 hour deep dives (some more than one day) built for creative entrepreneurs who want to lead with confidence, price with authority, and grow with intention. We created this workshop series with tracks that cover the challenges we know designers face: pricing, sales, client relationships, project management, marketing, and leadership.

Each workshop is designed to stand alone — so you can choose the topics that matter most right now — while still connecting to the bigger picture of building a profitable, sustainable design business.

Damn Good Designer - Damn Good Designer - Website

1. The best business coaching for Interior designers—seriously. This is not some wham-bam glamathon; It is the real deal you have been looking for and what is missing from the business coaching marketplace today.

The Design Paradigm - The Interior Design Paradigm - Website

1. A 12 month comprehensive and powerful business coaching program for creative entrepreneurs who are serious about running a profitable business and being the expert in the room. It is the only coaching program to combine individual attention & accountability with live group workshops, honest video presentations and customized attention to your needs.

Join our FREE Facebook Groups

1. Small Business - Think Big - Facebook
2. What They Didn't Teach You in Design School - Facebook Group

For designers who need honest talk and a place to work on the business, marketing and promotion small business owners need.

1. Subscribe to our Newsletter

***Any use of this page and its content to develop or train artificial intelligence or to do computer analysis is prohibited.***

Most project problems don’t start on the job site. They start much earlier, when assumptions are made, roles aren’t defined, and everyone thinks someone else is handling it. In this episode, Cheryl and Liz talk through why setting the stage before working with a contractor is one of the most important leadership moves a designer can make. You are not micromanaging or crossing lines, but instead establishing expectations and defining the individual responsibilities so the designer, the contractor, and the client are all working toward the same outcome. Clients don’t know how this process works unless you show them. Contractors don’t know your role unless you define it. And if you’re not in the conversation, you can’t protect the design.

Have a question--click here to ask us.

Damn Good Workshops - Website

Our new Damn Good Workshops started October 8! Look for our new release of subjects coming December 19!

These workshops are 2–3 hour deep dives (some more than one day) built for creative entrepreneurs who want to lead with confidence, price with authority, and grow with intention.  We created this workshop series with tracks that cover the challenges we know designers face: pricing, sales, client relationships, project management, marketing, and leadership.

Each workshop is designed to stand alone — so you can choose the topics that matter most right now — while still connecting to the bigger picture of building a profitable, sustainable design business.

Damn Good Designer - Damn Good Designer - Website

• The best business coaching for Interior designers—seriously. This is not some wham-bam glamathon; It is the real deal you have been looking for and what is missing from the business coaching marketplace today.

The Design Paradigm - The Interior Design Paradigm - Website

• A 12 month comprehensive and powerful business coaching program for creative entrepreneurs who are serious about running a profitable business and being the expert in the room.  It is the only coaching program to combine individual attention & accountability with live group workshops, honest video presentations and customized attention to your needs.

Join our FREE Facebook Groups

• Small Business - Think Big - Facebook
• What They Didn't Teach You in Design School - Facebook Group

For designers who need honest talk and a place to work on the business, marketing and promotion small business owners need.

• Subscribe to our Newsletter

***Any use of this page and its content to develop or train artificial intelligence or to do computer analysis is prohibited.***

It is always a treat when you hire people you genuinely like until you realize you now have to train them while juggling active projects, client demands, and the never-ending to-do list already sitting on your desk. Cheryl and Liz give you a look at what is going on at In Detail right now and what onboarding really looks like inside a busy studio. Some days your processes may feel like it has to re-evolve by the hour, or hot-potato tasks reveal who’s thinking and who’s parroting, and then other days you have to determine the fine line between empowering new hires and accidentally setting them up to fail.

It is all about building systems before you drown, to teaching employees how to anticipate needs, and to keeping ownership where it belongs (spoiler: not back on your desk) will help shape a team that can carry the weight with you. If you’ve ever hired too late, trained on the fly, or wondered why people don’t magically read your mind, consider this episode a must listen.

Have a question--click here to ask us.

Damn Good Workshops - Website

Introducing Damn Good Workshops starting October 8!

These workshops are 2–3 hour deep dives (some more than one day) built for creative entrepreneurs who want to lead with confidence, price with authority, and grow with intention.  We created this workshop series with tracks that cover the challenges we know designers face: pricing, sales, client relationships, project management, marketing, and leadership.

Each workshop is designed to stand alone — so you can choose the topics that matter most right now — while still connecting to the bigger picture of building a profitable, sustainable design business.

Damn Good Designer - Damn Good Designer - Website

• The best business coaching for Interior designers—seriously. This is not some wham-bam glamathon; It is the real deal you have been looking for and what is missing from the business coaching marketplace today.

The Design Paradigm - The Interior Design Paradigm - Website

• A 12 month comprehensive and powerful business coaching program for creative entrepreneurs who are serious about running a profitable business and being the expert in the room.  It is the only coaching program to combine individual attention & accountability with live group workshops, honest video presentations and customized attention to your needs.

Join our FREE Facebook Groups

• Small Business - Think Big - Facebook
• What They Didn't Teach You in Design School - Facebook Group

For designers who need honest talk and a place to work on the business, marketing and promotion small business owners need.

• Subscribe to our Newsletter

***Any use of this page and its content to develop or train artificial intelligence or to do computer analysis is prohibited.***

The confusion you accidentally create long before the proposal ever hits your clients inbox is the real reason clients hesitate. Your price is not the problem. You can unintentionally create confusion through discovery calls, the way you talk about freight, receiving, vendors, timelines, your value, etc. This causes your clients to be constantly collecting clues about whether saying yes to you feels SAFE or SCARY. Learn how your language, tone, and timing shape the emotional architecture your clients make decisions in, and why being clear is your most powerful sales tool.

AND if you loved this episode--we have something more for you!

Register for our workshop where we discuss this further on November 19

Have a question--click here to ask us.

Damn Good Workshops - Website

Introducing Damn Good Workshops starting October 8!

These workshops are 2–3 hour deep dives (some more than one day) built for creative entrepreneurs who want to lead with confidence, price with authority, and grow with intention.  We created this workshop series with tracks that cover the challenges we know designers face: pricing, sales, client relationships, project management, marketing, and leadership.

Each workshop is designed to stand alone — so you can choose the topics that matter most right now — while still connecting to the bigger picture of building a profitable, sustainable design business.

Damn Good Designer - Damn Good Designer - Website

• The best business coaching for Interior designers—seriously. This is not some wham-bam glamathon; It is the real deal you have been looking for and what is missing from the business coaching marketplace today.

The Design Paradigm - The Interior Design Paradigm - Website

• A 12 month comprehensive and powerful business coaching program for creative entrepreneurs who are serious about running a profitable business and being the expert in the room.  It is the only coaching program to combine individual attention & accountability with live group workshops, honest video presentations and customized attention to your needs.

Join our FREE Facebook Groups

• Small Business - Think Big - Facebook
• What They Didn't Teach You in Design School - Facebook Group

For designers who need honest talk and a place to work on the business, marketing and promotion small business owners need.

• Subscribe to our Newsletter

***Any use of this page and its content to develop or train artificial intelligence or to do computer analysis is prohibited.***

Every designer has run into this situation before—the panic of too many projects, too little time, and clients who “need it done now.” Your timelines aren’t the enemy; but poor planning is. When you managed your schedule with purpose instead of panic it means you are understanding your own process. This means before you promise anyone else a date, you know how to communicate timing in a way that builds trust instead of tension.

This episode will help you rethink what it means to be “busy,” and see how managing your capacity actually protects your profit and learn why the right clients will wait for the right process. We want you to learn that leading a project doesn't mean you should be saying yes to everything right then and there but instead knowing when to say not yet.

Have a question--click here to ask us.

Damn Good Workshops - Website

Introducing Damn Good Workshops

These workshops are 2–3 hour deep dives (some more than one day) built for creative entrepreneurs who want to lead with confidence, price with authority, and grow with intention.  We created this workshop series with tracks that cover the challenges we know designers face: pricing, sales, client relationships, project management, marketing, and leadership.

Each workshop is designed to stand alone — so you can choose the topics that matter most right now — while still connecting to the bigger picture of building a profitable, sustainable design business.

Damn Good Designer - Damn Good Designer - Website

• The best business coaching for Interior designers—seriously. This is not some wham-bam glamathon; It is the real deal you have been looking for and what is missing from the business coaching marketplace today.

The Design Paradigm - The Interior Design Paradigm - Website

• A 12 month comprehensive and powerful business coaching program for creative entrepreneurs who are serious about running a profitable business and being the expert in the room.  It is the only coaching program to combine individual attention & accountability with live group workshops, honest video presentations and customized attention to your needs.

Join our FREE Facebook Groups

• Small Business - Think Big - Facebook
• What They Didn't Teach You in Design School - Facebook Group

For designers who need honest talk and a place to work on the business, marketing and promotion small business owners need.

• Subscribe to our Newsletter

***Any use of this page and its content to develop or train artificial intelligence or to do computer analysis is prohibited.***

Just because you can take on another project doesn’t mean you should. In this episode, Cheryl and Liz unpack what it really takes to manage your firm’s capacity—not just your time, but your energy, your team, and your profitability. There must be a level of discipline to say no, even if they are a great lead because saying yes to every project is not always helping your business. Consider this episode your permission slip from Cheryl to stop trying to do it all—and to create a new paradigm in our industry. We believe you have to forge ahead by eliminating what does not work from the past, learn from the past, and then take control.

Have a question--click here to ask us.

Damn Good Workshops - Website

Introducing Damn Good Workshops--next one starts Oct 22!

These workshops are 2–3 hour deep dives (some more than one day) built for creative entrepreneurs who want to lead with confidence, price with authority, and grow with intention.  We created this workshop series with tracks that cover the challenges we know designers face: pricing, sales, client relationships, project management, marketing, and leadership.

Each workshop is designed to stand alone — so you can choose the topics that matter most right now — while still connecting to the bigger picture of building a profitable, sustainable design business.

Damn Good Designer - Damn Good Designer - Website

• The best business coaching for Interior designers—seriously. This is not some wham-bam glamathon; It is the real deal you have been looking for and what is missing from the business coaching marketplace today.

The Design Paradigm - The Interior Design Paradigm - Website

• A 12 month comprehensive and powerful business coaching program for creative entrepreneurs who are serious about running a profitable business and being the expert in the room.  It is the only coaching program to combine individual attention & accountability with live group workshops, honest video presentations and customized attention to your needs.

Join our FREE Facebook Groups

• Small Business - Think Big - Facebook
• What They Didn't Teach You in Design School - Facebook Group

For designers who need honest talk and a place to work on the business, marketing and promotion small business owners need.

• Subscribe to our Newsletter

***Any use of this page and its content to develop or train artificial intelligence or to do computer analysis is prohibited.***

One of the the biggest challenges designers face with managing client expectations is how to stop overpromising and start being intentional with your process. After a recent coaching call with one of our designers, Liz had the idea to create this podcast based on why intentionality is more than just “showing up with a good attitude”. Instead, you should be setting clear expectations, mapping out project steps, and slowing down enough to plan properly. By exploring how intentional processes, like job site visits or weekly updates, will improve your communication with clients and streamlines collaboration with subs--this ultimately protects your sanity and your project for problems before they happen while also deliver a stronger, and happier, outcome.

Have a question--click here to ask us.

Damn Good Workshops - Website

Introducing Damn Good Workshops starting October 8!

These workshops are 2–3 hour deep dives (some more than one day) built for creative entrepreneurs who want to lead with confidence, price with authority, and grow with intention.  We created this workshop series with tracks that cover the challenges we know designers face: pricing, sales, client relationships, project management, marketing, and leadership.

Each workshop is designed to stand alone — so you can choose the topics that matter most right now — while still connecting to the bigger picture of building a profitable, sustainable design business.

Damn Good Designer - Damn Good Designer - Website

• The best business coaching for Interior designers—seriously. This is not some wham-bam glamathon; It is the real deal you have been looking for and what is missing from the business coaching marketplace today.

The Design Paradigm - The Interior Design Paradigm - Website

• A 12 month comprehensive and powerful business coaching program for creative entrepreneurs who are serious about running a profitable business and being the expert in the room.  It is the only coaching program to combine individual attention & accountability with live group workshops, honest video presentations and customized attention to your needs.

Join our FREE Facebook Groups

• Small Business - Think Big - Facebook
• What They Didn't Teach You in Design School - Facebook Group

For designers who need honest talk and a place to work on the business, marketing and promotion small business owners need.

• Subscribe to our Newsletter

***Any use of this page and its content to develop or train artificial intelligence or to do computer analysis is prohibited.***

Liz is going solo again and giving you her expertise into the art of handling new lead calls with intention and strategy. Liz handles our discovery calls at In Detail and we do a great job at converting our prospective clients because it is not about rattling off your services or rushing into pricing—it’s about active listening. By asking the right questions, paying attention to tone and word choice, and guiding the conversation toward clarity, designers can uncover what a client really needs. We give practical tips (NOT SCRIPTS) for structuring calls, following up effectively, and positioning yourself as both relatable and professional so that your leads naturally progress into paid consultations.

Have a question--click here to ask us.

Damn Good Workshops - Website

Introducing Damn Good Workshops starting October 8!

These workshops are 2–3 hour deep dives (some more than one day) built for creative entrepreneurs who want to lead with confidence, price with authority, and grow with intention.  We created this workshop series with tracks that cover the challenges we know designers face: pricing, sales, client relationships, project management, marketing, and leadership.

Each workshop is designed to stand alone — so you can choose the topics that matter most right now — while still connecting to the bigger picture of building a profitable, sustainable design business.

Damn Good Designer - Damn Good Designer - Website

• The best business coaching for Interior designers—seriously. This is not some wham-bam glamathon; It is the real deal you have been looking for and what is missing from the business coaching marketplace today.

The Design Paradigm - The Interior Design Paradigm - Website

• A 12 month comprehensive and powerful business coaching program for creative entrepreneurs who are serious about running a profitable business and being the expert in the room.  It is the only coaching program to combine individual attention & accountability with live group workshops, honest video presentations and customized attention to your needs.

Join our FREE Facebook Groups

• Small Business - Think Big - Facebook
• What They Didn't Teach You in Design School - Facebook Group

For designers who need honest talk and a place to work on the business, marketing and promotion small business owners need.

• Subscribe to our Newsletter

***Any use of this page and its content to develop or train artificial intelligence or to do computer analysis is prohibited.***