You say so, early and specifically, and it gets changed. Revisions are a normal part of the design stage, not a failure of it — and a practice that reacts badly to honest feedback is telling you something useful about the next nine months.
Here is what happens when you do not like a design, how many rounds are reasonable, and — the part that actually matters — how to give feedback that produces a better second version rather than a different wrong one.
What should happen
A concept presentation is a proposal. You are expected to respond to it, and the response shapes the next version.
Most scopes include one or two rounds of revision at concept stage, and that should be stated in the proposal before you appoint anyone. Ask the question directly: how many rounds are included, and what counts as a new round?
What distinguishes a revision from a new brief is usually scale. Changing a material palette, adjusting a joinery elevation or reworking a seating arrangement is a revision. Deciding you want a different layout entirely, or changing the brief after the concept was approved, is new work — and it is fair for that to carry a fee.
How to give feedback that works
This is the part that determines whether version two is better or merely different.
Say what is wrong, not what to do instead
“Make the sofa grey” is an instruction. “This room feels cold to me” is information, and a designer can solve it several ways — texture, timber, lighting temperature, fabric — some of which will be better than changing the sofa colour.
Describe the problem and let the design respond to it.
Be specific about which part
“I don’t like it” gives nothing to work with. “The bedroom works; the living room feels too formal and I can’t see where we would actually sit in the evening” is immediately actionable.
Separate the plan from the picture
These are different objections. If the layout is wrong — the kitchen is in the wrong place, there is nowhere for the family to sit — say so loudly, because that is fundamental and everything else follows from it.
If the layout is right but the look is wrong, that is a much smaller problem, and it is worth saying which it is.
Give it in one go
Collect all the feedback and send it together. Feedback arriving in instalments over three weeks produces three partial revisions and a slower project.
Say what you do like
Genuinely useful, and usually skipped. Knowing which parts to protect is as valuable as knowing what to change.
Why a design sometimes misses
Worth understanding, because the cause usually points at the fix.
The brief was about style, not life. A brief built from saved images produces a home that looks like the images. If the concept feels like somebody else’s house, the brief conversation probably never got to how you actually live.
Two decision-makers with different taste. Extremely common. If one of you loves it and the other does not, the design did not fail — the brief contained two briefs. Resolve that between yourselves first, or the second version will disappoint the other person.
You cannot read a drawing. Entirely normal, and nobody should expect you to. If the plan feels abstract, ask for the furniture drawn to scale, ask what a dimension means in practice, ask to see a comparable built space. Approving something you cannot picture is how people end up unhappy later.
It is unfamiliar rather than wrong. Sometimes a good scheme is simply not what you expected. It is worth sitting with it for a few days before responding — and equally worth saying so if it still feels wrong after that.
When it is not working at all
If two rounds in you are no closer, say so plainly rather than continuing politely. A direct conversation — this is not landing, here is what I think is missing — is more useful to both sides than another iteration.
At that point either the brief needs rebuilding from scratch, or the practice is not the right fit. Both are better discovered at concept stage than after joinery has been ordered.
This is also why the appointment terms matter. Check before signing what happens if you part ways during design: what has been paid for, what you are entitled to keep, and whether the drawings produced so far are yours.
What not to do
Approve something you are unsure about. Reluctant approval at concept stage becomes expensive regret at site stage.
Change it on site instead. Rather than raising it during design, some clients wait and instruct a carpenter directly. That costs money, voids responsibility, and produces a result nobody planned.
Collect opinions from everyone. Showing a concept to six relatives produces six contradictory views and stalls the project. Decide who is deciding.
Go quiet. If something is wrong, silence reads as approval, and work proceeds.
Frequently asked questions
What if I don’t like the design my interior designer presents?
Say so specifically and early. Revisions are a normal part of concept stage, and most scopes include one or two rounds. Describe what feels wrong rather than prescribing a fix, and say which part — the layout or the look — is the problem.
How many revisions are included?
Commonly one or two rounds at concept stage, but it varies and should be stated in the written proposal. Ask directly how many are included and what counts as a new round before appointing anyone.
Do I pay extra for design changes?
Not for revisions within the agreed rounds. Changing the brief after a concept has been approved — a different layout, a different scope — is new work and it is reasonable for that to carry a fee. The distinction should be written into the appointment.
How do I give useful design feedback?
Describe the problem rather than the solution, be specific about which room and which aspect, separate layout objections from aesthetic ones, give all your comments in one go, and say which parts you want protected.
Can I leave partway through the design stage?
That depends on the appointment terms, which is why they are worth reading before signing. Check what happens if you part ways during design: what has been paid for, what you keep, and whether the drawings produced to that point are yours.
How we handle it
We present the plan before the pictures, because the plan is the decision everything else follows from — and it is far better to discover a layout objection at that point than after a scheme has been rendered beautifully. Revision rounds are stated in the proposal before anyone commits.
If you are considering a project, tell us about it. See also what the first meeting should cover, how a commission runs with us, and questions worth asking any firm.
About Pochē Aesthetics
Pochē Aesthetics — also written Poche Aesthetics — is a luxury residential architecture and interior design practice based in Greater Kailash, New Delhi, founded and led by architect Niyati Satsangi. Over more than twelve years the practice has designed private homes — farmhouses, villas, builder floors and apartments — across Delhi NCR and India, handling architecture, interiors, materials, lighting and styling as one connected commission, alongside select restaurant and commercial work. More about the practice.