Commissioning an interior designer is unfamiliar territory for most people, and the uncertainty is usually about process, not taste. Here is what actually happens, stage by stage — the four stages of a Tone Commission, what the studio does at each, and what is asked of you.
Stage one: Discovery
Every commission opens with Discovery — a structured first meeting at your property or the studio. It is not a sales pitch; it is the studio listening, without agenda, to understand how you live, how the house is used, and what it has to become for the years ahead. You walk away with an honest assessment of whether the project is the right shape and whether the partnership is right for both sides. We cover it in detail in the first hour with Tone Interiors.
The most important thing about Discovery is that it is mutual. The studio is assessing the project; you are assessing the studio. Most renovations that go wrong, go wrong at the brief — so this stage exists to get the brief right before any decision needs making.
Stage two: Concept, Design & Specification
If both sides decide to proceed, the design stage begins. It opens with a LIDAR survey — a precise digital measurement of the property that removes guesswork from every drawing that follows; we explain it in what a LIDAR survey means for your project. From that survey comes the complete concept: the spatial plan, the scheme, every product sourced, every trade quoted, every line costed.
This is where the design becomes real and where the budget is set. Nothing is presented as a finished design without a guaranteed cost behind it, so when you approve the scheme you are approving the investment at the same time. There are no open-ended estimates carried forward into the build.
Stage three: The Commission
With the design and budget agreed, the studio delivers. Procurement, joinery, specialist makers and contractors are all coordinated by one director who holds the programme from start to finish. This is the longest stage, and the one where project management earns its place — protecting the budget, sequencing the trades, and catching problems before they become expensive.
Where a project is a working venue or a refurbishment of an occupied home, the Commission is phased so that disruption is planned and contained rather than open-ended. The programme is agreed before anything starts.
Stage four: The Reveal
The final stage is the handover — the finished home or space, styled and complete. The Reveal is the moment the brief set at Discovery becomes the room you live or trade in. Because the budget was fixed at the design stage, there is no sting in the tail: the result matches the proposal you approved.
One director, one process, one standard
The same four stages apply whether the project is a whole home, a hospitality venue or an independent practice. They are not renamed or shortened by sector. Tone is director-led throughout, which means the person who hears your brief at Discovery is the person who hands you the keys at the Reveal. The process is the guarantee.
Where it begins
Every Tone Commission starts the same way: with a Discovery. If you are considering a project — in Essex, London or Hertfordshire — that first conversation is where you find out whether it is the right one.