Check your quotation PDF for an item breakdown and available local price context. The checklist below covers the scope to confirm.
Turn questionnaire answers into one brief. Issue it before an interior design consultation. Neither document requests a finished design.
Once the room, users and constraints are clear, use the interior design mood board guide to turn visual references into one labelled direction. Keep it as a brief attachment, not a substitute for measured plans or specifications.
The living room guide checks the layout.
Attach a shared or printed plan from the free 2D room and furniture layout planner when candidates need the same measured starting arrangement. Label unknown items clearly, and do not treat the browser plan as a verified site survey.
For multiple levels, see the staircase guide.
The foyer guide records arrival and storage.
Use the balcony guide for balconies, the terrace guide for rooftops and the verandah guide for covered thresholds.
Use the home theatre guide and TV viewing-distance calculator to record seating, screen and AV decisions.
Use the music room guide for home playing, practice, lessons or music listening.
Use the bedroom fit checker with the stated mattress presets. Confirm the actual frame size and door clearances separately.
Use the dining fit checker for an initial room-and-table check with labelled presets. Confirm actual furniture and circulation before ordering.
Use the breakfast counter guide for kitchen-edge seats and quick meals.
Use the pantry guide for food stock.
Use the shop guide for retail; the grocery guide adds food-specific work.
Use the study room guide for reading and homework. Use the home office guide for adult work and equipment.
Use the home library guide when a household book collection, shelf access and reading lead the room.
For children, use the kids room guide for routines, change and sharing.
For a prayer space, the pooja room interior design guide begins with the household’s own practice and then records location, storage, light, ventilation, cleaning and project responsibilities.
Use the meditation room guide when meditation or quiet reflection is the main practice.
Use the indoor garden guide when living plants, filled containers, watering and care change an indoor room.
Use the kids playroom guide when play and toy storage need a separate area.
Copy the structure below into your own document. Replace every bracketed prompt, delete irrelevant rows and mark unknown information honestly rather than inventing an answer. You can also use the interior project questionnaire (PDF) to collect the same information offline.
What should an interior design client questionnaire ask?
Ask about property, users, rooms, daily needs, retained items, budget, dates, constraints and decision-makers. Request plans, photographs and equipment lists. Use the interior project mistakes guide to find unclear scope, responsibility, approvals or handover evidence before pricing. Colours or style alone cannot define comparable work.
| Questionnaire section | Useful answer | Weak answer to clarify |
|---|---|---|
| Project reason | Why the work is needed now | “Want a new look” |
| People and use | Who uses each room and what they do | “Family use” |
| Rooms and scope | What stays, changes and is excluded | “Full interiors” |
| Current condition | Known issue, evidence and investigation status | “Some damp” |
| Budget | Amount plus included and excluded cost groups | One unexplained total |
| Dates | Required ready date, reason and dependencies | “As soon as possible” |
| Decisions | Who approves design, cost, materials and changes | “We will decide” |
Complete the facts you know. Mark the rest as owner supplied, assumed or pending. The appointed professional still needs to check the site, refine the brief and define the actual services.
Interior design brief template
1. Project identity
Project name: [working name]\ Property address and locality: [address]\ Property type: [apartment, house, office, shop or other]\ Current stage: [occupied, vacant, under construction, possession pending]\ Available area information: [carpet area and source of measurement]\ Owner contact and decision-makers: [names and roles]
Add measured room areas with the home room area tool. It does not certify RERA carpet area or infer internal partition areas.
If the property is in Bandra, Andheri, Malad, Borivali, Vile Parle, Powai, Lower Parel, Worli or Goregaon and a locally based practice matters to attendance or access, complete the property record before comparing candidates. An office address narrows discovery; the brief still has to establish the required service, visits, building interfaces and project fit.
For a home, carry the same property, occupant and condition record into the residential Mumbai directory. Published residential work is a discovery signal, not proof that a candidate fits the home’s scope, delivery route or current programme.
For kitchen work, attach the inventory from the kitchen guide. For a store room, attach the item and access plan from the store room guide.
For a separate dressing or clothing-storage area, attach the inventory and occupied layout from the walk-in wardrobe guide. Keep the bedroom route and the fitted-wardrobe quotation visible beside it.
2. Users and daily activities
List the people who will use the property and the activities it must support. Include accessibility, privacy, storage, work, care, pets, visitors or operational requirements where relevant.
| User or group | Activities | Essential requirement | Current problem |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Example: two adults] | [work, cook, host] | [two work positions] | [dining table is used for work] |
| [Add user] | [activities] | [requirement] | [problem] |
Use the Mumbai cost guide to define the complete budget. Check actual offers with the PDF quote checker.
3. Rooms and scope
| Room or area | Keep | Change | Required outcome | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Living room] | [flooring] | [lighting and storage] | [seat six without blocking balcony] | [essential] |
| [Add room] | [items] | [work] | [outcome] | [essential/preferred/optional] |
Identify work that is explicitly outside the project. A room described as “not changing” may still need protection, electrical isolation, painting or access during construction, so clarify interfaces rather than ignoring it.
4. Existing information and site constraints
Record what is known about:
- possession and site-access dates;
- occupied versus vacant working;
- building or society working hours and approval procedures;
- lift, loading, storage and debris-removal restrictions;
- existing electrical, plumbing and air-conditioning information;
- known leakage, cracking, damp or concealed-condition concerns;
- retained furniture, appliances, artwork and equipment;
- owner-supplied plans, warranties and building manuals.
This is a starting record, not a substitute for the surveys or specialist advice required by the appointment.
For an occupied or phased workplace, extend this section with the office renovation planning guide, including continuity, landlord, move, shutdown and operational-release constraints.
For public work, use commercial directory, cafe guide, restaurant guide, restaurant shortlist, retail shortlist, hotel guide, hotel specialists, hospital planning guide or hospital specialists.
For a fitness business or workplace exercise amenity, attach the operating scenarios and exact equipment schedule described in the commercial gym planning guide. Keep activity, supervision, delivery, power, air, sound, cleaning and maintenance requirements visible instead of reducing the brief to a machine count.
5. Services required
Mark each service required, proposal requested or not required:
- measured survey and existing-condition record;
- brief development and space planning;
- concept and developed design;
- technical drawings and specifications;
- cost planning, scope schedule or BOQ;
- contractor quotation comparison;
- specialist consultant coordination;
- procurement and vendor coordination;
- periodic design review on site;
- project management or turnkey execution;
- snagging, testing and handover records.
Use the interior design services guide to distinguish a deliverable from a broad service label.
6. Budget information
Avoid giving only one unexplained total. Record:
Available project budget or range: [amount or not yet established]\ Included in that amount: [professional fees, construction, fixed furniture, loose items, appliances, taxes]\ Excluded or separately funded: [items]\ Contingency: [amount, basis or not yet set]\ Decisions that may change the budget: [scope or specification choices]
If no budget has been approved, ask the professional to identify the information needed to establish one. Do not treat an early allowance as a fixed quotation.
7. Programme and dependencies
State the desired occupancy or operational date and why it matters. List known dependencies such as possession, lease commencement, owner decisions, approvals, contractor appointment or long-lead purchases.
Ask each candidate to separate its own design duration from external approval, procurement and construction assumptions. The interior design process guide shows the decision gates that should appear in a realistic programme.
8. Proposal response format
Ask every candidate to return the same core information:
- proposed team and named lead;
- relevant published project evidence and the firm’s role;
- stages, services, deliverables and revision basis;
- owner information and approvals required;
- exclusions, assumptions and additional services;
- fee model, calculation base, taxes, expenses and payment triggers;
- indicative programme and dependencies;
- procurement, site-review and handover responsibilities;
- proposal validity and next steps.
Validate the brief before issue
| Brief input | Validation question | Status to record |
|---|---|---|
| Property and area | Is the source named, and have site dimensions been verified? | Verified, supplied, assumed or pending |
| User requirement | Does it describe an activity or outcome rather than a preferred solution? | Essential, preferred or optional |
| Existing item | Is it retained, altered, relocated, protected or removed? | Named action and responsible party |
| Budget | Which cost groups and taxes sit inside the stated amount? | Included, excluded or unresolved |
| Programme | Which date is required, and which external dependency controls it? | Fixed requirement, target or unknown |
| Service | What deliverable or recorded action proves the service was provided? | Required, proposal requested or not required |
Ask the owner decision-makers to review this table together. A disagreement about an essential room, budget boundary or occupancy date should be visible before candidates invest time in incompatible proposals.
Illustrative resolved and unresolved inputs
“Need more storage” is not yet a useful outcome. “Store two suitcases, daily clothing for two adults and cleaning equipment without reducing the clear passage” gives the designer something to test. It still leaves layout and appearance open.
“Budget ₹[amount]” is incomplete unless it states whether design fees, construction, appliances, loose furniture and taxes are included. If those decisions are pending, list them as unresolved and ask candidates to show their assumed boundary. The purpose is not to know everything before appointment; it is to stop unknowns from becoming different silent assumptions.
Before issuing the brief
Check that decision-makers agree on essential requirements, optional items and information that is still unknown. Attach the same files to each request and label every revision with a date.
Include a brief revision note describing what changed and resend the same revision to every active candidate. Keep superseded copies. If a question produces new information that could affect scope or price, share the answer consistently rather than giving one bidder an informational advantage.
Use the hiring guide to build the shortlist and the questions guide to interview the team that will deliver the work. Browse source-backed Mumbai interior designers only when the brief is ready to issue. If the recorded scope needs architecture and interiors, compare the narrower Mumbai interior-architect practices and verify the responsible professional separately.
This template is practical editorial guidance. The appointed professional remains responsible for defining the surveys, services and project documents appropriate to the actual site and appointment.