Choosing an interior designer in Singapore is one of the most consequential decisions in a luxury home project. The wrong choice produces a home you have to live with for fifteen years. The right one produces a home you forget was designed.
Here are ten questions every Singapore luxury home owner should ask before signing. We welcome them — and would be wary of any practice that doesn’t.
1. How do you charge — and what does that include?
Three structures are common in Singapore: percentage of construction value (typically 12–18% for full-scope luxury work), fixed lump sum, or hourly. Each has implications. Ask which model the practice uses, what is and isn’t included, and how scope changes are handled commercially.
2. Who, exactly, will work on my project?
Boutique luxury practices vary in how projects are staffed. Some are led personally by the founding designer throughout. Others have senior designers running individual projects with the founder reviewing at key milestones. Both can produce excellent work. The wrong answer is the one you didn’t expect.
3. How many projects are on your floor right now?
Capacity matters. A practice with too many concurrent projects can stretch its attention thin. A practice with too few may be in difficulty. The honest answer to this question — and how it is given — tells you something.
4. What is your view on procurement margins?
Some practices charge design fees plus a margin on furniture, lighting and finishes procurement. Some charge design fees only and pass through procurement at cost. Some have hybrid arrangements. Neither is intrinsically wrong, but you should know which model you are buying into.
5. When do you say no to a brief?
A practice that has never said no to a brief is a practice that has not yet developed its character. The answer to this question reveals what the practice values and what it will defend. We say no to status-driven briefs, to projects where the budget cannot do the brief justice, and to briefs that ask for execution without dialogue.
6. How do you handle changes during construction?
Changes during construction are almost inevitable on luxury projects. The question is how they are managed: how decisions get made, how cost implications are communicated, and how the design intent is protected. A clear process here prevents most construction-phase friction.
7. Who manages the contractor?
On Singapore projects this varies meaningfully. Some practices hand over to the contractor and provide oversight only. Others manage the contractor directly and provide weekly site supervision. The level of practice involvement during construction affects cost and outcome equally.
8. What is your contingency policy?
A 10% contingency on construction value is a reasonable benchmark for Singapore luxury work. Practices that quote without contingency may be optimistic; practices that quote with much more may be hedging. The conversation about contingency is often more revealing than the number itself.
9. Will you walk me through a delivered project — in person?
Photographs are useful but limited. Walking through a delivered project is how you see the detailing, the joinery quality, the materials, and how the home wears. Any practice you are considering should be able to arrange this with a previous client. If they cannot, ask why.
10. When have you been wrong, and what did you do about it?
This is the question that matters most. A practice that cannot answer this honestly is a practice that has not yet matured. We have been wrong about clients we should not have taken on, materials that did not perform as we expected, contractors we trusted who let us down. The answer is in how the practice responds when it has been wrong.
Working with DDA
Every DDA conversation begins with an open invitation to ask these questions. If you are weighing a luxury Singapore project and would like a candid first conversation, we would be glad to hear from you.