How to Write an Interior Design Brief for a London Renovation

The interior design brief is the document that translates what you want into something a design team can work from. Getting it right at the start saves significant time and money later — revisions at design stage cost far less than revisions on site.

Here is how to approach writing a brief that produces the results you actually want.

What a brief should cover

How you live. Before any aesthetic discussion, a good brief describes how the household uses the space. Who lives there, how many people, what ages. Do you work from home? Do you entertain regularly? Do you have regular guests staying over? This shapes room allocation, acoustics, storage requirements, and circulation patterns more than any material or colour choice.

Room-by-room requirements. For each space, note: the primary use and any secondary uses; the storage requirements; the lighting requirements (natural and artificial); any specific pieces of furniture that will remain or have been purchased; views you want to preserve or obscure; any absolute constraints (structural, planning).

Aesthetic references. Collect images of spaces you like. Use Pinterest, Architectural Digest, 1stDibs, or any other source. The images do not all need to be consistent — contradictions are useful because they force a conversation about what you actually value. When you show images, note what specifically you like about them: the material, the scale, the colour, the proportion. "I like this" is less useful than "I like the depth of this wall colour against the white architrave."

Budget parameters. A design team cannot do its job well without understanding budget constraints. You do not need to give a single figure — it is often better to describe what you are willing to spend in different scenarios. But "no budget" is not a useful instruction; it results in unconstrained proposals that often disappoint when costs are revealed.

What you do not want. As important as what you want. If you dislike a particular style, material, or colour, say so explicitly. A designer who does not know you hate grey will use grey.

Priority. If resources are constrained, which rooms or elements matter most? The kitchen and principal bedroom are almost always priority one in residential projects. Understanding your hierarchy allows the design team to allocate quality appropriately.

The difference between brief and specification

A brief describes what you want to achieve. A specification describes exactly how it will be achieved — materials, dimensions, suppliers, finishes. The brief comes first. The specification emerges from the design process.

Clients sometimes try to write a specification without a brief — specifying materials before the design is resolved. This usually produces either a coherent room that does not reflect your needs, or a specification that has to be revised multiple times as the design evolves.

Common brief mistakes

Too vague. "Timeless and elegant" describes almost every brief a London designer receives. It is not useful. Push past the adjectives into the specifics: what period, what materials, what scale, what palette.

Too prescriptive too early. Specifying every material and finish before the design is developed removes the ability of the designer to create coherent solutions. Indicate preferences and constraints; let the design process develop the specific answers.

Ignoring the building. The most successful interiors in period properties respond to the architecture — they use the existing mouldings, proportions, and materials as context rather than fighting against them. Your brief should include your view on how much you want to preserve and emphasise the period character versus taking the interiors in a more contemporary direction.

Working with ASAAN on design

ASAAN provides interior design services as part of full renovation projects. We do not operate as standalone interior designers for furnished spaces. When we design, we design for buildability as well as appearance — every detail is developed with installation in mind.

If you are planning a renovation and want to discuss the design process, contact us. Related reading: What Good Project Management Looks Like on a Luxury Renovation.