Interior designer and Business Mentor Melissa Lunardon, shares in this webinar how she built a business that could run without her - first while living overseas, and later while starting a family. In this honest piece, you’ll learn how she simplified her workflow, set up smart systems and created space to grow without working around the clock.
Blog
Simplify to Scale: The Systems & Boundaries Every Designer Needs
Marketing for Interior Designers
What if scaling your design business meant less work, not more?
That was the question at the heart of our recent webinar with interior designer and business mentor Melissa Lunardon. Melissa built a multi–6–figure studio that runs smoothly while she works just two days a week. Her secret? A combination of systems, boundaries, and mindset shifts that allow her to step back without slowing growth.
Here’s a recap of her session and the key lessons for studios of every size.
Why scaling ≠ more work
In the design industry, “being flat out” is often worn as a badge of honour. But as Melissa shared, business usually signals a broken workflow, not success.
The goal of scaling isn’t longer hours, it’s better hours: spending your time on creative direction, client experience, and vision — not chasing invoices or rewriting the same client email.
When your systems are solid, you can finally stop firefighting and step into the creative director role.
Melissa LunardonFounder & Creative Director
The step back framework
Melissa calls this her freedom formula :
- Vision → Get clear on the role you want in your studio
- Systems → Centralise specs, approvals, and schedules in one place
- Delegation → Hand off tasks with confidence
- Growth → Focus on design and strategy, not daily firefighting
When you stop being the bottleneck, your business can grow without burning you out.
The four essential systems
Melissa outlined the non-negotiables every studio needs to function without chaos.
1
Centralised Project Hub
One source of truth for specs, schedules, and approvals (Programa).
2
Templates
Proposals, FF&E schedules, and email replies you create once and reuse forever.
3
Client Dashboard
Real-time visibility so clients know what’s happening without constant updates.
4
CEO Report
A weekly snapshot of margins, cash flow, and project status so you always know where you stand.
Boundaries that protect creativity
Systems only work if your boundaries do too. Melissa uses:
- Office Hours → Clear reply times to set expectations
- Revision Rules → Feedback forms that cap endless rounds
- Scope Guardrails → Simple variation processes to stop scope creep
- Milestone Payments → Payments tied to project stages, not inbox reminders
These aren’t about being rigid — they’re about protecting your creative energy and profitability.
What designers told us
During the webinar, we asked designers what keeps them up at night. The top three answers were:
- Building a pipeline of projects (36%)
- Protecting profitability (29%)
- Losing control of timelines (21%)
Melissa’s frameworks directly address these pain points. From dashboards that reveal margins before you place an order, to templates that save hours each week, the goal is simple: give you back control.
Quick Wins to Try This Week
Melissa suggests starting small:
- Audit your to-do list → What can you template or delegate?
- Write a 3-line “Working Together” blurb → Paste into proposals and emails
- Choose 2 set times a day to check email → Batch your comms
- Create a “Frequently Sent” folder → Stop rewriting the same messages
Little changes add up fast when they’re backed by systems.
Your Next Steps
Scaling doesn’t have to mean chaos. The right systems can help you work less, earn more, and design with energy again.
Start now
- Start a free trial of Programa
- Watch the Demo on Demand
- Download Melissa’s Presentation PDF
Your studio should amplify your creativity, not consume it.
