To-The-Trade Episode Summary
Jill Erwin started her interior design business in 2006, survived the recession, and recently hit the 20-year mark with a rebrand: Just Jill Home. She joined Laurie and Nile on To-The-Trade to talk about what it actually takes to get to the point where you charge what you are worth, and stay there.
Pricing was the throughline. Jill has spent years attending industry panels where designers reference rates without ever naming a number. Her take: just say it. Based on the market data Laurie shared, designers at the 20-year mark are operating in the $250 to $ 300-per-hour range, with major metro markets pushing considerably higher. Jill confirmed she is moving toward $250 in Richmond and is clear-eyed about why: that is what her experience is worth.
To give clients a lower-risk entry point, Jill developed two introductory service tiers she calls the Quick and Fast (2.5 hours) and the Short and Sweet (5 hours). Both were designed to let her assess a client and project fit before moving into a full contract. If the dynamic feels off, she has a structured way out. If it feels right, she moves forward. The contract itself has evolved over 20 years, adding photography rights, scope protections, and other clauses she learned to include the hard way.
Design philosophy came through in the specifics. She described a multigenerational family room near the Chesapeake Bay where she fit seven individual seats, a sofa, and a round leather ottoman into one cohesive plan, each piece chosen for how a specific family member actually uses the room. She also talked through a repeat client who came back after 15 years as an empty nester. Jill designed a custom coffee station with navy cabinetry and a bistro table, built around how the client now starts her mornings.
The broader conversation circled back to the same point Jill has spent 20 years learning: designers who undercharge are not just hurting themselves. They are giving away equity that belongs in their own businesses and households. The client benefits. The designer absorbs the cost.
Jill’s new website, Just Jill Home, launches May 1, 2026. She can be found on Instagram at @justjillhome.
00:39 – Jill’s 20-year rebrand to Just Jill Home
02:38 – IDC’s mission: getting designers to confidence and profitability faster
03:27 – Why discounting hurts designers and the whole industry
04:34 – What experience teaches you about pricing and worth
08:59 – Why clients underestimate what designers actually do
13:49 – Finding a mentor and surviving a cutthroat industry culture
19:08 – Discounting as giving away your own equity and retirement
22:11 – Rearranging a college student’s room in 60 seconds
25:42 – Repeat clients and the 15-year relationship that came back as an empty nester
26:11 – Designing a custom coffee station with navy cabinetry and a bistro table
31:35 – Pricing is the topic designers talk around but never name
32:13 – Jill’s tiered service model: Quick and Fast and Short and Sweet
34:42 – Why contracts need to be ironclad and what to include
35:25 – The viral $45,000 kitchen and the $300 no-photography fee
43:59 – Designing a multigenerational family room with seven seats
48:37 – Just Jill Home: the rebrand, the May 1 website launch, and the pricing conversation
52:00 – Jill’s current rate in Richmond and where she is heading
54:08 – Flat-fee confidence built from 20 years of experience