Facing high tariffs for products across the globe, interior designers are worried about their ability to source products, and a weakening economy has some fearing for their businesses.
Others are more optimistic, confident that their high-income clients will be able to absorb increased costs and continue with their renovation and building plans.
Regardless of their level of optimism about the economy, interior designers share a sense of uncertainty and frustration over their inability to plan for the year, according to several designers that Design News Now spoke with during the High Point Market.
“It feels a little like the Wild West,” said Kelly Vickers, owner and principal designer of Zimmer Design in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. “A showroom I source furniture from sent us an email saying their manufacturers are only guaranteeing prices for 48 hours. Forty-eight hours! How do I price things? How do we as small designers insulate ourselves?”
“I have a big project starting in September and I’ve reached out to every vendor on that project to say, ‘Can I pay a deposit now to guarantee pricing?’ About half of them said yes and half said no because they don’t know what their own prices will be,” Vickers continued. “It’s really unsettling.”
Vickers is among the designers who said they’d recently placed larger orders to try to lock in prices.
Designers report that many vendors began to raise prices in recent weeks, many adding a tariff surcharge of around 5% to prices. Other suppliers have been trying to hold off but have told designers to expect price hikes in May.
Vickers decided to attend the spring market April 26-30, in part, to talk to vendors about pricing and product availability. “I don’t think I’ve gotten any answers because there really aren’t any answers,” she said. Vickers was also planning to shop the show for U.S.-manufactured products, knowing that even those could come with price increases, depending on where the raw materials and components originate.
Andrea Keller, architect and designer of 4D Design in Joshua Tree, California, is troubled by how the threat of tariffs and the uncertainty surrounding them are forcing designers and their clients to expedite purchases to lock in prices before tariffs take effect.
“This is rushing people into decisions,” Keller said. “… We don’t really know what’s going to happen with tariffs, but price increases are being rammed through. So, on top of price increases, you’ve got hasty decisions and, to me, that’s the ultimate crime in design. As designers, we want to carefully evaluate and have time to make the best decisions. That’s out the window because everyone’s running around like a chicken. It’s not a good situation.”
Some designers compared today’s situation to the uncertainty and buying panic that came with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. And just as the pandemic drove up prices that then stayed high, Keller doubts most tariff-driven price increases will be lifted even if the tariffs are relaxed.
Erica McClain is troubled by the pricing impacts of tariffs, but she’s especially bothered by what tariffs will mean for sourcing finishes and furnishings.
“I have a very global aesthetic and I love bringing different natural elements from around the world into people’s homes,” said McLain, who is founder of McLain by Design Interiors in Frisco, Texas, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. “I work with a lot of incredible artisans around Mexico who are using ancestral techniques and raw materials native to Mexico. I hate the idea of being limited to just the resources we have in the U.S. We have beautiful woods and stones here but there’s something powerful about the variations of the regions around the world.”
“I don’t know when the tariffs will go away,” she continued, “but if they don’t, I think design is going to become very homogenized” because designers will have less access to materials and finished products from around the world.
Some of McLain’s vendors in Mexico City have stopped shipping to the United States, at least temporarily, “and it’s so devastating,” she said.
McLain noted that she and many of her clients are supportive of Made in the USA and often favors U.S.-made products but that many materials and furnishings just aren’t available here.
Effects on business
The tariffs are just one part of a weakening economic outlook, with consumer confidence dropping and fears of a recession increasing.
Vickers said her clients, who tend to be upper-middle class professionals “who can afford and need professional design help” can withstand some price increases but may be worried about overall economy.
“My phone was ringing a lot in the first quarter, but I think a lot of us are looking ahead to the fall without a lot of leads right now because people are holding back a little and waiting to see what happens,” she said. Vickers has some wiggle room in her own pricing that could help her absorb some costs, as long as clients keep booking projects.
Unsure what the coming months will bring, Vickers is worried. “Depending on what happens, for me and some others, it could mean the end of a small business, frankly,” she said.
McLain expects her well-off clients to continue to build and renovate but acknowledges she might have to help them prioritize where to invest their money in terms of finishes and furnishings.
“I’m not worried about my business,” McLain said. “I think I can definitely weather (the situation). I’m creative and savvy enough. I think it’s about making trade-offs and educating clients. And I think it’s about compassion for vendors and what they’re going through and not being frustrated with them if prices go up because they’re not in control either.”
McLain told the story of a small company that supplies bespoke, handmade wooden wall planters. The company owner told McLain that tariffs would make it impossible for her to sell some planters because they would cost twice to make what she currently sells them for — doubling costs for buyers and eliminating her profit altogether. Such anecdotes fuel McLain’s fear of losing access to the depth and breadth of products she and her clients have come to expect.
In addition to working together at 4D Design, Keller and designer Mikalay Mitchell are manufacturers. As partners and designers for their business Star Tile in Yucca Valley, California, they produce luxury, custom dimensional tile.
Tariff-driven interest in U.S.-manufactured products could increase their tile sales, they said, making them grateful for their diversified business strategy.
As for their architecture and design firm, Mitchell expects it to do well this year. The firm serves high-end residential clients, as well as institutional clients such as schools and wellness centers.
“We serve the higher end of the market so there’s not a lot of price sensitivity there, which, personally, I think is great for us,” Mitchell said. “But the 1% is not the world and it shouldn’t be the case that only the 1% can do well.”
