Making the decision to strike out on your own takes a lot of courage, especially if you are a budding interior designer. It’s particularly intimidating to do so in the area of interior design that is simply saturated in studios all over the place. You have probably thought a lot about starting your own company. Chances are you have planned multiple contingencies and put a lot of thought and long hours into this project. Sometimes we’ll focus so hard on the serious, scary and difficult parts of a project that we will forget about the simplest ones. For example, the name. You can have all of your affairs in order and then sit around for days on end banging your head against the wall because you just can’t think of good interior design business names for your company. Here are a couple of tips to help you navigate these unexpectedly tricky waters.
Chill out
First and foremost, you need to relax. Though it may feel like your business is like a child to you, it isn’t really.
At least when it comes to the name, that is. Furthermore, when it comes to your business, very little, if anything, is set in stone.
You can name it one thing and then change it if you happen to figure out something better.
Know that choosing a name is not something that will make or break your business, so you can relax.
The longer you spend working on your business, the more you’ll discover about it. You will slowly build your brand and there will be plenty of opportunities to re-think and change things.
Even if you go through several interior design business names, do not fret. After all, as Shakespeare said – what’s in a name?
Use your own name
If you’re reading this, you have probably thought of this idea and it didn’t exactly blow your mind.
However, this is probably the safest of the name ideas for an interior design business.
It’s solid, traditional and, most importantly, it gets the job done. If you’d like to be a bit more cryptic but are still stuck for ideas, you can use your initials.
If you’d like to use your name, but your first or last name (or both!) are unusual or difficult to spell or pronounce, this is still something you can workaround.
Take a cue from people like Gary Vee, born Gennady Vaynerchuk. Alter your name slightly or use a part of it that sounds good to you.
Mine your history for ideas
Alternatively, if none of this works for you, but you’re still strapped, you can mine your family history for ideas too:
- your mother’s or grandmother’s maiden names
- pet names
- any funny names you used for your relatives or siblings.
This way, the name of your business won’t literally be your own, but it will still be meaningful to you.
Alliteration avalanche
Choosing an alliterative name can be a great idea because it will be easier to remember. It will also lend itself well to a cool logo.
Try names such as the following that have the words like design, décor and interior in them:
- Delicious Designs
- Décor Delight
- Incredible Interiors
- Limelight Lofts
- Fabulous Furnishings
- Harmonious Homes
It is good to have these words in the name itself, because this will really hammer the point home.
If your business is doing residential remodeling exclusively, for example, make sure to put that in the name too.
No matter what name you choose for your interior design business, it is important that it is clear and displayed properly using a good 3D business sign.
Try to steer clear from any words that have possible homophones. Homophones are (usually) pairs of words that are pronounced the same but spelt differently.
Think crème and cream, flower and flour, etc. In case you don’t have your card with you and need to say the name of your company, you want to make it as easy as possible for people to google you afterwards.
Puns
Puns and plays on words seem like a treasure trove of interior design business names, but they can also be somewhat confusing.
On the other hand, depending on what you choose, they could actually be what sets you apart. It might also make your name more memorable.
So, you really have to take everything into consideration. Here are some suggestions:
- The Home Run
- Done by Design
- Divine Design
- Home Sapiens
- Imaginterior Design
- Homecore
The bottom line is, even though you think a name will look good in big block letters on the wall behind your desk once you settle down in your brand new office, it might not be the name you’ll get the most use out of.
If you have a couple of choices, think about what that name would look like on your card, portfolio or office wall.
Color- and style-inspired names
These are great because they make what your company does somewhat obvious:
- Paint the town red
- United Colors
- In Living Color
- Black & Blue
- Chic is the New Black
- Cream de la Cream
- Monoch(r)ome
It can be especially useful if you specialize in a particular style or type of home. On that note, here are some highly specialist names that may fit your business:
- Cozy Cottages
- Feng Shui Chic
- Virtuous Villas
- Minimal Designs
- Tiny Pads
Common mistakes
If these have gotten your ideas going, but you are still wondering how to name your interior design business, here’s what not to do:
1. Don’t make it hard to pronounce
If you’re making up a name, pick something with enough vowels in the right places that will make it easy to pronounce and remember.
Clear, clean and stylish – just like your designs.
2. Be careful if crowd-sourcing
While the feedback of the people around you is often valuable, sometimes it can only confuse you further.
Asking others for their opinion can be invaluable, but also confusing.
3. Don’t go too weird
4. Leave geography out of it
Name ideas for an interior design business that have to do with the location of the offices can be quite limiting.
If you name your business after the city you are working out of, it can make it tricky to expand beyond that territory.
Final choice
All in all, take a couple of days to really consider what your options are. Bear all of the above in mind when brainstorming.
Finally, choose your top three, for example, and make quick mock-ups of logos and see what will work best on the front page of your interior design portfolio.
