Helping clients save money is a reason to charge more per hour, not less. Most decorators would probably make a lot more on mark up of to the trade stuff than on their hourly rate.

I think 60 days notice for existing clients is more than fair, and zero for new clients. Especially if you don't particularly want to add to your work load. If you announce that your rates will go up in the future, it's almost like announcing a sale today, and you may get inundated. Better to have less clients who pay more.

Sue, I think your plan to give existing clients a few months notice is good and is a " good faith" move rather than just springing it on them with "now my rate is.." As for new clients, what Mtn said makes sense..but since they are mostly referrals and probably already know what your rates are, I would tell them your rates have just increased to $......and they can decide if they can afford you or not.

I would LOVE to find someone like you in my area....as stated in SJ's thread I had a miserable experience at $250 an hour. I love the fact that you use regular stores and try to save people $. My experience was the opposite. I think a lot of designers are snooty and only want to work with endless budgets. You are providing a service that most folks can afford and can relate to.

I would just finish out the existing customers at the rate they were given.

Have you have invested in printed materials (brochures, business cards etc.) with your current rates listed? If not, I would just state the new rates with new clients without any explanation of an increase.

If they question the rates just tell them costs have gone up. If they really push it, uhm ... do you want to work with them anyway?

ps. haven't had time to post lately - glad the dr. visit went well and you are well!

Sue, we used to live in the Boston burbs (top 5 school towns) and the rates 7 years ago were $75 - 100/hour for color consultations, etc.

Here in LA there is a pretty wide range, but the average designers (not on Bravo or HGTV!) charges around $100 - 200/hour. Most also add on markups for any purchases, starting at 20%.

Alternatively, for existing customers, to avoid the flood you could offer them their next job (up to xhours) at the old rate as a loyalty bonus, with the increase after that.

You might also include a mission statement, stating some of the thoughts you presented above, especially regarding saving clients money.

Analogous story: My husband's aunt owned a small art ceramics studio. Every now and then, she would come to my husband (businessman all the way) for advice on dealing with too many orders. He would explain to her how to increase her production, set up the studio more ergonomically, cut out low-volume specialty orders, and discontinue lines that weren't popular. She would always thank him, then say, "No, I'll just raise my prices." It would work for awhile, but very soon her pottery was even more in demand than before, because it was more expensive and therefore more valuable as a collectible!

So be prepared -- you may end up the most sought-after design consultant in the area.

All great advice so far. So, as to how much to increase, though.... say, hypothetically, that my rate was $50/hour. An increase to $75 seems a bit much, yes? or no?

Yes, it would be a big jump for a client that has been using you for a while, but you will still be pretty cheap to any new clients who have shopped around for a designer and compared rates.

I think two months is plenty of notice--- or, as you mentioned, January 1 for the new rate to begin--- for everyone, not just the new clients. As for the new rate, I don't know anything about your area but I don't know anyone around here who shops retail with clients. Definitely that hourly fee would be less than someone who is offering access to goods not obtainable without her or him. However, I don't think $75 is out of bounds, especially if YOU feel you're giving good value.

It's nice to be busy, but it would be nicer to be less busy and make the same amount!

I think $75 per hour is very reasonable.

I do a lot of work w/ helping clients choose paint colors, figure out floor/furniture plans, choose materials like tile and fabrics

Or you could set up a fee structure. So much for paint consult, so much for a floorplan and so on. Or perhaps one fee per room which includes all that you do.

and help navigate the furniture stores (with varying degrees of hand holding).

I would charge by the hour for shopping, including the drive time plus mileage.

The positive side of having the client shop retail is you don't have the headache when something inevitably goes wrong. Damaged goods, wrong item shipped, wrong dimensions listed on spec sheet, back orders, discontinued items....

Hi Sue -

Like you, I charge by the hour as a consultant. And yes, I've been a long time at the same rate and have been thinking of an increase. (Thanks for your question - Good timing!)

One thing that helped me most was a car repair bill. When I saw the hourly rate I was being charged for the mechanic's time, I felt much better about my proposed new rate. My new rate was in between my mechanic's and my CPA's (also a tax lawyer), so I felt perfectly justified, And in fact, that was the answer I planned to give my clients when they asked about the increase. To my relief, very few of them asked, and those that did, all agreed that my new rates (and rationale) were very reasonable.

I did lose a few clients, but those were the most price-sensitive and generally also the least satisfying to work with.

If I recall, I announced my rate hike about 30-60 days in advance in a letter to each of my regular clients.

So my suggestion? Pick a few 'sandwich professions' and price yourself relative to those. And most importantly, don't apologize. I've seen photos of your work, and you're right about saving people money. A beautiful room is a joy to live with, and one that pays dividends every day.

I did lose a few clients, but those were the most price-sensitive and generally also the least satisfying to work with.

That's the way it is for me too. Strange.

I'm a graphic designer/marketing consultant and I don't charge by the hour but per job. I haven't had a rate increase in forever, but last year I did separate out some specific tasks and billed them separately that would have otherwise been included in the total job. This afforded me the ability to make just a little bit more while not technically changing my rate per job. No one complained and I didn't loose any clients.

With all that said, I do bill some clients differently than others. It depends on how much work they give me, if they've referred me to other clients, PITA fee, how big of a company they are, etc.