How to Build a Stronger Professional Network as an Interior Designer

Interior design depends on collaboration. Designers, architects, makers, suppliers, contractors. The work only happens when these people find each other. And yet, most of them work alone.

A typical interior designer works alone or in a very small team. Their days are spent on site, in client meetings, or at their desk sourcing products and managing contractors. The people they know are the people they have always known. Building a wider professional network requires time and energy that the structure of the job simply does not allow for. The kind that brings referrals. Collaborations. New opportunities.

It is the same across the wider ecosystem. Architects rarely cross paths with the makers whose products they would love if they knew about them. Trade suppliers invest in marketing but struggle to build genuine relationships with the specifiers who matter. Garden designers. Lighting consultants. Construction professionals. All working adjacent to each other. Almost never in the same room.

We have spent over a decade working inside this industry. We see the same pattern with almost every client we speak to: talented people, strong work, and a network that has not grown since they started. The work speaks for itself. But the work does not introduce you to people.

That is not a marketing problem. It is a structural one. Here is what you can do about it.

Stop Waiting for Trade Shows to Do the Work

The default networking strategy for most people in the design sector is to attend a couple of trade shows a year and hope for the best. Decorex. Clerkenwell. Maybe Salone. You walk the stands, collect some cards, have a few conversations. Then nothing happens for months.

Trade shows are useful for seeing what is new. They are not reliable for building relationships. The format works against you. Hundreds of people moving quickly through a space, each with their own agenda. The conversations are shallow by design.

If trade shows are your only strategy for meeting new people, your network will grow slowly and randomly. You need something that works between the fairs.

Make One New Connection a Week

This sounds simple because it is. One email. One DM. One introduction. Every week.

The key is to reach out to people in adjacent disciplines, not just other designers. An architect whose residential work overlaps with yours. A lighting designer you have seen on Instagram whose taste aligns with your own. A journalist who covers the kind of projects you want to be known for. A maker whose products you have specified or would like to.

Do not pitch. Do not ask for anything. Just introduce yourself and say something specific about their work that you noticed. That is enough to open a door. Most people in this industry are generous with their time when the approach is genuine.

Over a year, that is 50 new professional relationships. Most designers do not make 50 new contacts in five years.

Collaborate Before You Need To

The strongest professional relationships in the design world are not transactional. They are built through working together.

Look for opportunities to collaborate on something small before you need a favour. A joint Instagram post with a maker whose work you admire. A co-hosted studio visit with a complementary practice. A shared entry to a design award. Contributing a quote or insight to someone else’s blog post or newsletter.

These are low-effort, high-trust actions. They put you on someone’s radar in a way that a business card never will. And they create a reason to stay in touch.

Get Listed Where Specifiers Actually Look

Your website is not enough. If you are an interior designer or a trade supplier, you need to be visible in the places where people go to find professionals like you.

That means industry directories. Awards shortlists. Editorial features. Supplier platforms. Guest posts on blogs your target audience reads. The goal is to increase your surface area so that when someone needs what you do, your name appears in more than one place.

This is not about vanity. It is about discoverability. The designers who are consistently busy are not always the most talented. They are the most findable.

Show Up in Smaller Rooms

Large industry events have their place. But the relationships that move your career forward tend to start in smaller rooms. Studio visits. Roundtable discussions. Supper clubs. Events where you can actually have a conversation.

Seek these out. If they do not exist in your area, consider creating one. Invite six people from different corners of the industry to dinner. The effort is minimal. The return can be significant.

This is exactly the thinking behind AEVEN, the members’ community we co-founded with interior designer Alex Dauley. We built it because we saw how much the industry needed a consistent, year-round space for its people to find each other. Not once a year at a fair. Not through cold outreach. Through curated, in-person gatherings at inspiring London venues, supported by a members’ directory that keeps working between events.

The first AEVEN event took place on 9 March at Coral & Hive on the Kings Road. The room was packed. People from 1stDibs, Decorex, House & Garden, Elle Decoration, and London Craft Week were there alongside independent designers and emerging talent. On launch day, the website received visits from 21 countries. The appetite is real.

Membership is free for year one. You can apply at aevencollective.com.

Your Network Is Your Pipeline

In a market where project pipelines are unpredictable and budgets are under pressure, the professionals who thrive are not waiting for the phone to ring. They are building relationships now that will generate opportunities later.

None of this is complicated. One new contact a week. One collaboration a quarter. Visible in the right places. Present in smaller rooms. Consistent over time.

The work you do is what earns you the project. But it is your network that gets you into the conversation.

If you are an interior designer, architect, or design brand looking for help with your visibility and positioning, get in touch with Pierrus Agency. We work exclusively with businesses in the interior design and architecture sector.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do interior designers build a professional network?

By making one new connection a week through targeted outreach to people in adjacent disciplines — architects, lighting designers, journalists, makers. Over a year, that creates 50 new professional relationships, more than most designers make in five years.

What is AEVEN?

AEVEN is a members’ community co-founded by Grant Pierrus and interior designer Alex Dauley. It provides curated, in-person gatherings at inspiring London venues and a members’ directory that connects professionals across the interior design and architecture sector year-round. Membership is free for year one.

What is the best way to meet other professionals in the design industry?

Smaller, more focused gatherings — studio visits, roundtable discussions, supper clubs — tend to produce stronger relationships than large trade shows. The relationships that move your career forward start in rooms where you can actually have a conversation.

Are trade shows effective for networking in interior design?

Trade shows are useful for seeing what is new, but they are not reliable for building relationships. The format works against deep connection — hundreds of people moving quickly through a space with shallow conversations. You need a strategy that works between the fairs.