Beyond the Grid - Instagram Best Practices for Interior Designers
In today’s design world, Instagram isn’t just a place to post pretty pictures—it’s a powerful branding, networking, and business development tool. When used strategically, it can extend your reach, elevate your reputation, and engage your ideal audience. Whether you're an established firm or an emerging designer, here’s how to make Instagram work smarter for you.
Start with A Strategy: Set Clear Goals
Before you post, define your why. Instagram success starts with intention. Your goals might include:
Raising awareness of your brand and services
Growing a highly engaged following
Attracting new clients, architects, media, or collaborators
Using Instagram as a creative portfolio to visually extend your brand
Once you’ve set your goals, every piece of content you share should support them.
Plan Ahead: Schedule and Syndicate
Consistency is everything on Instagram. Planning your content in advance helps ensure your feed stays on-brand, thoughtful, and relevant.
Helpful tools:
Later.com: Easily schedule, preview, and organize your content.
Populagram: Discover trending hashtags, filters, and influencers.
Iconosquare: Analyze engagement and gain insights on what’s working.
Webstagram: Identify high-performing hashtags and potential sponsored post partners.
Pro Tip: Instagram makes it easy to cross-post content to platforms like Facebook and Twitter—amplifying your reach with a single click.
Craft Compelling Content
Instagram is a visual-first platform, but what you say and how you engage also matters. Follow these best practices:
Define a Clear CTA (Call-to-Action): Whether it's “DM us to book a consult” or “Follow for behind-the-scenes updates,” tell your audience what to do next.
Be Thematic: Create a cohesive, curated visual theme and stick to it.
Post Consistently: Aim for at least 2 posts per week to stay visible.
Focus on Reels and Stories: These formats get more reach and allow for creative storytelling.
Share Behind-the-Scenes: Audiences love the “inside scoop.” Show sneak peeks, material selections, or day-in-the-life content.
Engage With Purpose
Engagement builds community. The algorithm favors creators who are active participants, not just broadcasters.
Reply to comments and DMs
Follow, like, and comment on accounts you admire
Engage with industry peers, media, and tastemakers
Ask questions or encourage your followers to comment and share
Create Community Through Collaboration
Instagram thrives on connection. Grow your network and visibility by:
Tagging vendors, photographers, and collaborators in your posts
Re-sharing user-generated content (UGC) and giving credit
Encouraging followers to tag your brand when sharing your work
Monitoring which types of posts get the most engagement—and doing more of that
Master the Art of Hashtags
Hashtags help new followers find you—when used well.
Create a custom branded hashtag
Encourage clients and collaborators to use it
Use 3–5 relevant, commonly searched hashtags per post
Organize and reuse hashtags with scheduling tools like Later.com
Engage with Competitor Communities
Your ideal audience may already be following accounts similar to yours. Engage with them through:
Following a user (14% chance they follow back)
Liking their photos (22% chance)
Commenting thoughtfully (34% chance)
Quality engagement—not just volume—can attract the right attention to your brand.
Broaden Your Reach: Get Reposted
One of the fastest ways to grow? Get featured on larger, aligned accounts.
Here’s how:
Pitch your projects to design marketplaces (Chairish, 1stDibs) or digital magazines
Ask vendors and brands you use regularly if you can cross-feature their work (and return the favor!)
Always give full credit to the architect, Builder, photographer, stylist, products and brand collaborators