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The Index

Project stories, practical guides, conversations and considered ideas for interior designers.

Are you a designer? Submit your project story →

Home Project Stories Knowledge Guides Podcast The Edit

Contemporary living room showing balanced proportions between a large sofa, rug, artwork and surrounding architecture

Article · Design Principles

Why Scale Matters More Than Style

The proportions between furniture, architecture and empty space often determine whether a room feels right long before colour or style enters the conversation.

By The Design Index · 27 September 2026

Most popular

01Why Scale Matters More Than StyleArticle · Design Principles 02Welcome to The Design Index: Why I Built ItPodcast · The Design Index 03A 100 m² café in The Dubai Mall, shaped by three sculptural volumes.Project story · Project Stories 04Wall Lights for Rooms Without Ceiling AccessArticle · Lighting 05A 50 m² apartment in the Marais, given the Parisian character it never had.Project story · Project Stories

Latest from The Index

Welcome to The Design Index: Why I Built It

Podcast · The Design Index

Welcome to The Design Index: Why I Built It

How losing files, digging through emails and wasting hours on project admin turned into an idea for a new kind of interior design platform.

Trio Café by Studio Baab, Dubai. Photo: Natelee Cocks

Project story · Project Stories

A 100 m² café in The Dubai Mall, shaped by three sculptural volumes.

Studio Baab took its cue from the name Trio: three curved volumes, each in its own material, sharing one space and one design language.

A brass Takeout portable light by Buster + Punch on a kitchen island, with a sofa and window behind.

Article · Lighting

Wall Lights for Rooms Without Ceiling Access

When a new ceiling point isn't possible, the light has to come from the walls, the furniture and the sockets you already have. Here is how to plan it.

Pastourelle by Studio Ines Huertas, Paris. Photo: Clémentine Pelat

From the editor · Guides for practice

Run the project, not the paperwork.

Living room with a large area rug extending beneath the sofa and surrounding armchairs

Guide · StylingHow to Choose the Right Rug Size for Every Room

The Interior Design Procurement Process, From Quote to Installation

Guide · ProcurementThe Interior Design Procurement Process, From Quote to Installation

The Interior Designer's Guide to FF&E Specifications

Guide · SpecificationsThe Interior Designer's Guide to FF&E Specifications

How to Build an Interior Design Project Budget

Guide · Project ManagementHow to Build an Interior Design Project Budget

Now in The Exchange

What designers are asking.

Open The Exchange

Question · FeesFlat fee, hourly, percentage or cost-plus→Question · Project helpHow many options do you normally present to a client?→Question · SourcingHow do you charge clients for sourcing and procurement?→

The Friday Letter

New stories from The Index,
every Friday.

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Project story · Project Stories

A 50 m² apartment in the Marais, given the Parisian character it never had.

Studio Ines Huertas redrew the plan and added every moulding to give a featureless flat the soul of the city around it.

Living room with a large area rug extending beneath the sofa and surrounding armchairs

Guide · Styling

How to Choose the Right Rug Size for Every Room

Rug sizing is one of the easiest details to get almost right. Here is how to size the rug around the furniture arrangement rather than the empty floor.

Refined contemporary interior combining hard architectural finishes with curtains, upholstery and other sound-softening materials

Article · Acoustics

The Interior Design Problem We Rarely See: Sound

Hard surfaces, large volumes and open plans can create beautiful interiors that sound surprisingly uncomfortable. Good design considers what a room does to sound as well as light.

A Material Palette for the Transition Into Autumn

The Edit · Materials

A Material Palette for the Transition Into Autumn

Warm timber, muted stone, deep glass and tactile textiles for the quieter season ahead.

Coffee Tables Beyond the Rectangle

The Edit · Furniture

Coffee Tables Beyond the Rectangle

Ten low tables that bring shape, weight and movement to the centre of a seating arrangement.

The Soft Lighting Edit

The Edit · Lighting

The Soft Lighting Edit

Ten lamps that bring light closer to where life actually happens.

Sculptural Lounge Chairs That Can Carry a Room

The Edit · Furniture

Sculptural Lounge Chairs That Can Carry a Room

From low, rounded upholstery to expressive modernist forms, ten lounge chairs that do more than fill an empty corner. There are lounge chairs that complete a furniture arrangement, and there are lounge chairs that establish the entire mood of a room. The latter do not necessarily rely on bright colour or exaggerated scale. Their presence can come from an unusual silhouette, the tension between structure and softness, or simply a form that remains recognisable from every angle.

The Interior Design Procurement Process, From Quote to Installation

Guide · Procurement

The Interior Design Procurement Process, From Quote to Installation

A step-by-step guide to quotations, approvals, orders, deliveries and the final installation of an interior project.

The Interior Designer's Guide to FF&E Specifications

Guide · Specifications

The Interior Designer's Guide to FF&E Specifications

What to record, how to structure it and how to turn a product selection into information a project can actually use.

How to Build an Interior Design Project Budget

Guide · Project Management

How to Build an Interior Design Project Budget

From the client's total figure to a working budget that follows the project through design, sourcing and installation.

How to Create an Interior Design Project Brief

Guide · Studio Practice

How to Create an Interior Design Project Brief

A practical guide to defining the scope, priorities, budget and expectations of an interior project before design begins.

Why Interior Design Projects Go Over Budget

Article · Project Management

Why Interior Design Projects Go Over Budget

And why the problem usually starts long before anything is ordered.

20 European Design Brands Worth Knowing

The Edit · Sourcing

20 European Design Brands Worth Knowing

From established Italian houses to contemporary Scandinavian names, twenty brands worth keeping in your sourcing library.

AI for Interior Designers: What's Actually Worth Using?

Article · AI & Technology

AI for Interior Designers: What's Actually Worth Using?

The useful question isn't whether designers should use AI. It's where AI genuinely saves time without replacing design judgement.

How Interior Design Studios Actually Make Money

Article

How Interior Design Studios Actually Make Money

Design fees are only one part of the business.

The Interior Design Project, From First Call to Installation

Article · Studio Practice

The Interior Design Project, From First Call to Installation

What actually happens between receiving an enquiry and handing over the finished space?

Interior Design Has a Project Management Problem

Article · Project Management

Interior Design Has a Project Management Problem

Beautiful spaces are still being managed across inboxes, spreadsheets, PDFs and message threads. Why?