The full brief
All thirty questions below. “Don't know” is a valid answer and a far more useful one than a guess.
| Section | Question | Your answer |
|---|---|---|
| Household | Who lives here, and their ages? | |
| Household | Who visits regularly and who stays overnight? | |
| Household | Is there domestic help, and do they need a dedicated space? | |
| Household | Any mobility, allergy or accessibility need to design around? | |
| Household | Pets, and what they need — feeding, litter, scratch-resistant finishes? | |
| The flat | Carpet area, and which floor and facing? | |
| The flat | Is it a new possession, a resale, or a redevelopment allotment? | |
| The flat | Anything already installed that must stay — ACs, wardrobes, chimney? | |
| The flat | Known problems: seepage, low water pressure, noise, west sun? | |
| Use | How many people cook, how often, and what kind of cooking? | |
| Use | Where does the family actually eat on a weekday? | |
| Use | Does anyone work from home, and for how many hours a day? | |
| Use | How do you entertain — seated dinners, casual, large gatherings? | |
| Use | Is a pooja space required, and is a direction preference fixed? | |
| Storage | Long-hanging garments: how many, roughly? | |
| Storage | Folded clothing: how many running feet of shelf today? | |
| Storage | Suitcases, bedding, seasonal items — what needs loft space? | |
| Storage | Kitchen dry and wet grocery volume for a normal month? | |
| Storage | Books, instruments, sports gear, tools — anything bulky? | |
| Taste | Three images you like, and one sentence each on why. | |
| Taste | Two things you actively dislike in interiors? | |
| Taste | Colours you want, and colours that are out of the question? | |
| Taste | Do you want the home to look designed, or to look lived-in? | |
| Taste | Any material you want to avoid — glass, high gloss, dark wood? | |
| Money | Total budget for interiors, ex-GST? | |
| Money | Is loose furniture inside or outside that number? | |
| Money | Which two rooms deserve the most of the budget? | |
| Money | Which items are non-negotiable regardless of cost? | |
| Time | Target move-in date, and how firm is it? | |
| Time | Who signs off decisions, and how quickly can they respond? |
Print it, fill it in, and bring it to the first design meeting. Every blank is a decision someone else will make for you.
How to answer it well
- Answer the use questions with what you do, not what you intend to do. A kitchen designed for aspirational cooking serves nobody.
- Count for the storage section. Running feet of shelf and number of hanging garments; estimates in this section are worse than blanks.
- Bring three images with a sentence each explaining what you like about them. The sentence matters more than the image.
- Name the sign-off person and their response time. Slow approvals are the largest single cause of residential delay.
Three revisions it avoids
- A layout redrawn because a parent will be staying six months a year. Section one asks.
- Wardrobes resized after the client counts their saris. Section three asks first.
- A scheme abandoned because the client dislikes high gloss. Section five asks what is out of the question.
Read how to brief your interior designer, or find your direction with the interior style quiz.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to fill in?+
About ninety minutes if you do the storage count properly, and twenty if you guess at it. The ninety-minute version saves two design revisions, which is two to three weeks of calendar time on a typical project.
What if my partner and I disagree?+
Write both answers. A brief that records a disagreement is far more useful to a designer than one that papers over it, because the disagreement will surface at the 3D stage regardless. Knowing about it at week one lets the design address it.
Should I bring reference images?+
Three, with one sentence each on why. Thirty images with no commentary tells a designer nothing except that you have browsed. What is genuinely useful is the sentence: 'I like that the storage is invisible' is an actionable brief.
Do I need to know my budget before briefing?+
You need a range and a firm upper limit. Designing without one produces a scheme you cannot afford and a month wasted. It is also worth deciding at this point whether loose furniture and appliances sit inside or outside the number.
What if I genuinely do not know something?+
Write 'don't know'. A blank invites an assumption, and an assumption in a brief becomes a drawing, and a drawing becomes a carcass. Three honest blanks are easier to resolve in a meeting than thirty confident guesses.