Have You Caught Your Client Cheating? Interior designers walk into people’s homes and lives. Sometimes, they see things they weren’t meant to see.
That’s what happened to one designer in the Interior Design Community, who posted about an uncomfortable situation during a Sunday morning site visit. The clients had gone away for the weekend. The designer dropped by to check on the tile installation and make sure everything was cleaned up. The wife wasn’t home, but her husband was. So was another woman.
The husband walked the designer out and asked her not to mention the visit. The designer didn’t want to jump to conclusions. She liked the couple, had worked with them for a long time, and couldn’t decide whether to say something or stay quiet.
It raised a difficult question for the community: If you saw something, would you say something?
The responses varied. A lot.
“I’d wait six months and ask about the surprise”
Thomason Interiors suggested a tactful follow-up with a long delay:
“About six months after the project is over I’d text and ask her how the surprise turned out.”
There’s no confrontation, it’s a chance to open the door to conversation later, when the job is over and the risk of fallout has passed.
“Always notify before entering”
Kristen McCrory offered a professional safeguard:
“I will always text my client to let them know I am planning to enter their home even if I know they are away on vacation.”
It’s not a courtesy. It protects you from seeing things you weren’t meant to witness and keeps the business relationship clean.
Kristen added another reminder:
“Who is paying your bills? I would keep my mouth shut and finish the job as quickly as I possibly could.”
For many designers, the focus stays on the job. Getting pulled into a Client Cheating risks damaging the working relationship and the bottom line.
“She deserves to know”
Hudson Home took a firm stance:
“My 17-year marriage ended because I discovered my husband was having an affair, and the pain was exponentially compounded when I learned others knew and didn’t tell me.”
She explained that after her divorce, she made herself a promise.
“I would never be a part of someone else’s secret, even if it cost me a job, a friendship, whatever. I’ll always defend it. She deserves to know.”
For some, ethics and personal experience leave no room for silence.
“Let it play out on its own”
Denise Glenn Design said she wouldn’t get involved, not because it didn’t matter, but because it wasn’t her place.
She shared a different kind of betrayal.
“It’s bad enough when you catch a client cheating on you with another designer.”
She had worked with one couple on multiple projects over the years, including a vacation home and a remodel for the husband’s mother. They discussed a new build for years, and Denise believed they were waiting for her to take it on.
Then one day, she saw them at her building, which also housed another design firm. They looked nervous. The wife eventually admitted they were meeting with other designers.
“She ended up using the other designer and has never said a thing to me.”
Denise was blindsided. It changed the way she thought about loyalty in client relationships.
“I’ve learned that people are never loyal no matter the relationship you think you have.”
The gray area between business and personal
Interior designers are often the quiet witnesses Client Cheating in the background of a client’s life. You hear things. You see things. And occasionally, you walk in on something that puts you in an impossible position.
This situation was more than awkward. It forced a choice between professional boundaries and personal integrity. Some designers would find a way to gently probe after the fact. Others would say nothing and keep the focus on the job. A few would speak up, no matter the risk.
There’s no easy answer. But there are takeaways.
What designers can learn from this
- Always text before entering. Even if the client says it’s okay to come by, a quick text protects you from precisely this type of scenario. It’s also just good business.
- Don’t assume. You don’t know the whole story. The person you saw might have been a friend, family member, or part of a surprise plan.
- Consider the consequences. If you speak up, you may damage your relationship with both clients. If you stay silent, you may carry the discomfort with you.
- Trust your own boundaries. There’s a difference between what you know and what you choose to act on. Decide what you can live with.
- Keep your contract and scope clear. Your job is to design, not to mediate personal drama. That distinction matters when situations like this arise.
This is the kind of conversation that only happens in communities like Interior Design Community. No filters. No hypotheticals. It’s real-life questions from designers in the field.
It’s not about finding the one right answer. It’s about being honest about how complicated the job can get. And sometimes, the messiest part of a project has nothing to do with the construction.
Want to weigh in? Join the discussion with thousands of designers on Instagram and subscribe to the Interior Insider newsletter for more real-world scenarios and solutions.