designerEDGE
Free live workshop · Wed–Fri, Nov 4–6 · Noon ETSave my seat

You have an eye for design.
Make it your business.

Free live workshop on how to start your interior design business and earn income as a designer.

Save my seatFree. No nonsense.
Wed–Fri, Nov 4–6 · 12:00 PM ET

You already have the part no one can teach. The other parts can be learned.

What you have
  • An eyeYou notice when a room is off, and usually why.
  • People who trust itFriends ask. Neighbors notice.
  • Follow-throughYou finish rooms, not just Pinterest boards.
What you need (what the workshop covers)
  • The principles and the languageWhy a room works, and how to say it like a pro.
  • The process and the toolsEvery step of a real project, and the tools to run it.
  • A way to startWith the people who already ask you for help.

What each day covers

An hour at noon Eastern, with a short assignment you post in the workshop group.

1Wed, Nov 4
Know it

Do I know enough to design for clients?

  • How designers read a room from the doorway: six questions
  • The numbers behind a room that works: walkways, rug size, art height, light
  • Live rounds of “what’s off here?” on real rooms, and how to say why like a pro

You’ll leave with a one-page cheat sheet, and proof to yourself that you have the eye.

2Thu, Nov 5
Win it

How do I win clients and start my business?

  • Where clients really come from, and the four moves to your first five projects
  • Looking the part, picking your moment and landing your first paid project
  • From “can you help?” to a signed agreement: the call, the intake, the price and the proposal

You’ll leave with a map for your first clients, and a real client brief to design for.

Inquiry · Discovery call · Consult and intake · Price · Proposal · Agreement · Kickoff

3Fri, Nov 6
Design it. Deliver it.

How does the room actually get done?

  • Her brief to a concept, a plan and selections she says yes to
  • Ordering, install day and the reveal, with the client in the loop at every step
  • The close, where one project brings in the next

You’ll leave with the whole process, seen on one room, from brief to finished.

Concept · Plan · Sourcing · Selections · Order and install · Reveal and close

What people pay for design help

You don’t need a firm, or a degree, to be paid for design. Here’s what clients typically pay independent designers today.

$150–$750

A design consultation: about two hours with a client in their home. Often around $400.

$160–$500

Online design for one room: a plan, a look and a shopping list, done from your desk.

$50–$200 /hour

An hour of design time on a full project. More in high-demand areas.

On the side

Consultations and single-room design for the people who already ask you. Work that fits around a job: evenings, weekends, a few clients at a time.

As a new career

Full-service projects: whole rooms, from the first conversation to install. It’s a real profession: the median salaried designer earns $67,190 a year, and about one in four designers work for themselves.

What clients pay designers, from published sources: DesignFiles, Havenly, HomeAdvisor; salary and self-employment from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025). Not a promise of what you’ll earn: that depends on your market, your clients and your work.

Aaron Wollner, right, on a beach

You bring the eye.
I’ll show you the business.

I’m Aaron. I didn’t go to design school either. I was the chief marketing officer of an award-winning online bank, and I led teams at some of the top marketing agencies.

A few years back, my wife and I built and designed our house. It tapped into a creative side of me, and I found that designing spaces that feel great is something I love (and I’m pretty good at it). Friends and neighbors started asking for help, and that’s when design turned into real work: twelve projects within a year.

I loved the design work but couldn’t find the right tools to run it. So I drew on my marketing and product experience and built Designer Edge: one platform for running an interior design practice from intake to invoice, the creative side and the business side. Anyone with good taste and motivation can do this work.

Today, professional designers run their practices on Designer Edge. I’m focused on building out the platform, I do marketing leadership consulting on the side, and the rest of the time I’m chasing my two little kids around.

Do the assignments.
Win an iPad + Pencil.

Every assignment you post in the workshop group is an entry for an iPad and Apple Pencil.

Drawn after Day 3 and announced in the group. No purchase necessary. Official rules.

Fair questions

What’s the catch?

It’s live. Each session happens once, at noon Eastern. Showing up is the point.

On Day 3, I’ll show you two ways to keep going, and both are paid. I built Designer Edge, the platform I run my projects on. One option is a 10-week program that includes a year of it; the other is Designer Edge on its own. If neither is for you, keep everything you made.

Is this for me?

It is if people already ask for your help with their rooms, and you’ve wondered if it could be more. If you want to start small, on your own hours, without giving up your job or time with your family. If you’re changing careers and want work that uses your eye, or you’d like extra income from something you already love doing.

It’s probably not for you if you want CAD skills, a commercial license or a job at a big firm.

Do I need a design degree?

Not to start a residential interior design business in most states. A few states regulate the title “interior designer,” and we cover what you can call yourself, briefly, in the first session.

Is this like design school?

No. No history, no theory. The rules that make a room work, shown on real rooms.

Do I get a certificate?

No. Clients don’t hire certificates. They hire someone with an eye, a process and follow-through.

Is it too late for me?

No. This business runs on taste, listening and follow-through, and none of those has an age limit. Day 2 covers starting alongside a job.

How much time does it take?

An hour a day for three days, plus a short assignment each day you can do on your phone or laptop.

Do I need to buy any software?

No. There’s nothing to buy to take part.

What if I can’t make it live?

It’s live only. If these dates don’t work, the next workshop starts Wed, Nov 11.

Turn your interior design skills
into income.

Wed–Fri, Nov 4–6 · 12:00 PM ET

Save my seat
© 2026 Grow Bonzai LLC · Designer EdgeTermsPrivacyPrize rules. Open to legal U.S. residents 18 or older. Post a workshop assignment in the workshop group by midnight ET at the end of Day 3; each assignment is one entry. One winner, drawn at random after the workshop and announced in the group, receives an Apple iPad and Apple Pencil. Odds depend on the number of entries. Not sponsored by Facebook. Void where prohibited.This free workshop teaches how to start a residential interior design business. It doesn’t promise clients or income; results depend on you.