The professional you call already sets your budget
In short
This guide compares the interior decorator and the interior designer in Switzerland: training, scope, regulation and cost. The interior designer trains at a university of applied sciences (HES-SO, ECAL, HEAD) and is responsible for structure, plans and site; the decorator advises on mood, furniture and materials, with no compulsory diploma. To decide between an interior decorator or interior designer, the central question is simple: are you touching walls and volumes, or only the visible surface.
You have a living room to rethink, a flat to freshen up or a villa to renovate, and the first reflex is already there: look for « someone for the interior ». Except there is not one job behind that idea, but two, with completely different skills, responsibilities and prices. Calling the wrong profile means either paying too much for a simple refresh, or handing a structural site to someone who cannot carry it.
Two jobs that get confused constantly
The confusion makes sense: both work with space, talk about colour, light and materials, and deliver a finished interior. The difference is scope. One acts on what is visible and movable; the other also acts on what is fixed and technical. That boundary comes down to a single question: are you touching only the surface, or also the walls, the volumes and the services.
What an interior designer does
The interior designer conceives and transforms spaces. They move partitions, redistribute rooms, rework a kitchen or a bathroom down to the water feeds and the electrics, and coordinate the trades on site. They produce dimensioned drawings, a technical specification and supervise execution. It is a role of design and project management, not just taste.
- Surveys, dimensioned plans and re-layout of the rooms
- Coordination of trades: joiner, electrician, plumber, painter
- Choice of fixed materials: floors, tiles, bespoke fittings
- Permit applications and compliance with safety standards
- Site supervision, scheduling and cost control
What an interior decorator does
The decorator works on the atmosphere of an already existing space. They build colour palettes, choose furniture, textiles, lighting and objects, stage the existing volumes and harmonise the whole. They move no wall and touch no services. Their intervention is lighter, often quicker, and focused on the visible result.
- Acts on structure, volumes and services
- Delivers technical drawings and an execution specification
- Coordinates and directs the site
- Trained at a university of applied sciences and carries project liability
- Fee as a percentage of works or an hourly rate
- Acts on the visible surface: colours, furniture, materials
- Delivers mood boards and a shopping list
- Advises and stages, with no site direction
- No compulsory diploma, very varied backgrounds
- Billed by the hour or as per-room advice
Training and title: what holds in Switzerland
In Switzerland the interior designer trains at a university of applied sciences: a three-year Bachelor at HES-SO, ECAL or HEAD, sometimes topped by a Master. The profession is represented by the VSI-ASAI. Note, however: the title is not legally protected, which makes checking the background all the more worthwhile. The decorator has no compulsory diploma; some come from a federal certificate as an interior decorator, others are self-taught or come from styling. Competence exists on both sides, but it must be proven, not assumed.
You are not choosing a title, you are choosing a scope of responsibility. The real test is not « interior decorator or interior designer », it is: who answers for the result when a wall gets opened.
Unsure which profile your project needs? Describe your interior to us and we will tell you honestly whether it calls for an interior designer, a decorator, or simply a good tradesperson. Compare architects in your canton
What each profile costs
The cost gap mirrors the responsibility gap. The interior designer often bills a percentage of the works amount, or an hourly rate for one-off advice. The decorator almost always bills by the hour or a flat fee per room. The ranges below give orders of magnitude for the hourly rate; the percentage fees are set out right after.
Indicative hourly rate
For a full mandate, the interior designer applies a percentage to the cost of works: reckon on roughly 15 to 22 % for a renovation, 12 to 18 % for a new build. The SIA scale long served as a tariff, but it has not been binding since 2020: everything is negotiated and fixed by contract. In both cases, plan a reserve of 10 to 20 % for the unexpected, which is more frequent as soon as you touch the existing fabric.
Interior decorator or interior designer: how to decide
The decision is made upstream, before any quote. Ask yourself the questions below: if you answer yes to just one of the first three, you need an interior designer. If you stay with the last ones, a decorator is enough and will cost you far less.
Removing a partition, widening an opening, redistributing rooms: that is design, so an interior designer.
As soon as a water point or the electrics move, you need drawings, standards and site coordination.
Safety, fire, structure, co-ownership: an interior designer answers for compliance.
Colours, furniture, light and materials on an unchanged structure: the decorator's ground.
Targeted decoration advice, by the hour, gives a visible result without opening a building site.
Three scenarios to place yourself
Refresh: you keep the volumes and change paint, curtains, sofa and lighting. A decorator, a few hours of advice, and it is done. Reorganise: you want to open the kitchen onto the living room or turn a study into a bedroom. Now we move to the interior designer, because there are drawings, walls and sometimes a permit. Deep renovation: kitchen, bathrooms, floors, electrics and layout reworked from scratch. That is clearly an interior designer mandate, with site direction and cost tracking. Many projects combine both logics, and a good studio moves between them without selling you more than you need.
A clear opinion before you commit
AC Design assesses your project across French and German-speaking Switzerland, points you to the right level of intervention and prices honestly what is needed, no more, no less. Let us talk before your first quote.
Describe my projectFAQ
The interior designer transforms the space, including walls, services and plans, under their liability; the decorator dresses an existing space with colours, furniture and materials, without touching the structure.
The title is not legally protected, but the profession rests on training at a university of applied sciences (HES-SO, ECAL, HEAD) and is represented by the VSI-ASAI. Always check the background and references.
Often 15 to 22 % of the works cost on a renovation, 12 to 18 % on a new build, or an hourly rate of 120 to 300 CHF/h. The SIA scale has not been binding since 2020; everything is set by contract.
No, not the technical part. As soon as a wall, a water point or the electrics move, you need drawings, compliance with standards and site direction, which fall to the interior designer.
Yes. Allow a 10 to 20 % reserve for the unexpected, especially in existing buildings where surprises often appear once works are under way.