A question recently came up in the Interior Design Community that stopped a few designers in their tracks.
A member shared that she had marked up a piece of art for a client. It was from a local artist. The artist also happened to be a friend. When the artist found out there was a markup, she said she understood charging a handling or procurement fee, but felt the markup was disrespectful. That word stuck.
Disrespectful.
The designer said she always discloses art markups to her clients. She is upfront about what she makes on a piece. But now she was second guessing herself. She came to the IDC looking for clarity. And hundreds of designers responded with hard earned, unfiltered truth.
Let’s be clear. Sourcing artwork is not just a favor. It is part of a job that carries risk, cost, and responsibility. We are not just placing orders. We are planning. We are coordinating delivery. We are managing damage claims. We are on site with a level and a nail gun when that piece needs to be installed.
And yes, we deserve to make money on that effort.
@joseph.bellone said it best.
“If you look at art like a product, there is no ethics involved.”@joseph.bellone
He’s right. This is not about right or wrong. It’s about business. When we source art, we’re not just clicking “add to cart.” We are taking ownership of the result. That includes quality, presentation, condition, timing, and everything else that could fall apart along the way.
@katerinabuscemi pointed out that artists never hesitate when a gallery takes 50 percent. Designers are the only ones expected to do the work and skip the paycheck.
“Anything you source through your company is a liability and you need to have a cushion on the sale. Plain and simple.”@katerinabuscemi
We’ve seen this before.
Clients or collaborators think markup is greedy. Or unnecessary. Or worse, they think we’re sneaking profit in under the radar. That assumption is not just unfair, it shows a lack of understanding of what designers actually do.
Let’s say a piece of art costs $1,500 from the artist. By the time it’s framed, shipped, insured, delivered, and hung, that designer has handled five different vendors, paid a receiving warehouse, coordinated with a framer, tracked the package, scheduled a delivery window, waited for install day, and took the heat when the frame arrived with a scratch. That isn’t a pass through. That’s labor. And labor needs to be paid.
@courtneyeidsonartinteriors sees both sides. She’s a designer and an artist. Her perspective is rare, and grounded in the reality of how sales actually happen.
“A markup by the designer should happen for brokering art,” she wrote. “Galleries charge 50 percent. Designers charge less. And we bring a different audience. We get their work into homes. We don’t just hang it, we help tell the story.”@courtneyeidsonartinteriors
The story matters.
A beautiful piece of art doesn’t live in isolation. It has to speak to the rest of the room. That’s a trained eye at work. That’s hours of editing, meetings, and sourcing. That’s years of experience making visual decisions that pull the entire space together. Art is part of the whole. And when it goes in through a designer’s hands, it’s curated, not just selected.
@nestinteriordesignboutique added another layer.
“If you are responsible for it, then mark it up. We are a business at the end of the day.”@nestinteriordesignboutique
And she’s right. Designers take on that responsibility. If something goes wrong, we are the ones the client calls. The artist doesn’t take that phone call. We do.
There’s another layer most clients don’t understand. Procurement is not always clean and simple. Some artists are late. Some framers disappear. Some shippers damage the piece in transit. The designer takes on the problem solving. And those hours need to be accounted for. Markup is one way to make that time part of the pricing structure.
@formaltraditional brought this into sharp focus.
“If I recommend a piece and something goes wrong, I’m the one they call. I need to charge enough to offset that risk. If I didn’t collect some reasonable amount on each transaction, I wouldn’t have the ability to make it right.”@formaltraditional
And @donidouglas_design drew a parallel to construction.
“Agreed no one, ever,”@donidouglas_design
She was referencing how general contractors never do vendor coordination for free. Contractors charge for their subcontractors. They upcharge on materials. No one bats an eye. But designers, we get questioned for wanting to build margin into our services.
This conversation always circles back to the same issue. People don’t understand what interior designers do. They see the end result. They don’t see the spreadsheet, the shipping form, the install crew, or the client management that happens in between.
And here’s the part that matters most. We do this work with heart. We are proud of what we deliver. We don’t just want it to look good. We want it to be right. We want it to feel personal. And we want our clients to live beautifully. That kind of pride shows up in how hard we work behind the scenes.
But pride alone doesn’t keep a business alive. Profit does.
Art Markups is not unethical. It is not greedy. It is the way a business survives. The way a designer pays their bills, grows their team, and stays available when a client needs them again. That’s not manipulation. That’s smart business.
You can disclose your markup. You can bake it into a flat fee. You can itemize it, round it, cap it, or calculate it based on risk. The method is flexible. The principle is not. If you are doing the work, you need to be paid.
Designers are not middlemen. We are experts. We are the ones who connect the dots. We handle the chaos. We protect the client’s investment. And we protect the artist’s work. That’s not free labor. That’s a premium service.
Markup is not just about money. It’s about ownership. It’s the difference between recommending something and being responsible for it. When we take on that responsibility, we need to be compensated. Period.
So no, it is not unethical to mark up art. What’s unethical is expecting someone to carry risk without reward. That kind of business practice burns people out. And burned out designers do not create beautiful, lasting spaces.
This isn’t just about art. It’s about how designers are treated. It’s about pushing back when someone questions your value. It’s about having the confidence to say, yes, I mark it up. Yes, I earn a profit. Yes, I run a business.
If you’re new to this conversation, let it be a turning point. Look at how you structure your pricing. Look at where you’re losing money. Look at how many times you’ve made it right for a client without charging for the time it took. And decide, today, to build a business that honors your time.
Profit is not optional.
It’s what gives you the capacity to do this work at the level your clients expect. And markup is part of that.
This is not about convincing anyone. It’s about claiming what’s already yours.
Join the conversation on @interiordesigncommunity.
Related resource: Explore IDC’s Pillar on Pricing and Profitability for scripts and tools that help explain art markups, protect margins, and keep your projects profitable.