How COVID-19 is impacting the interior design industry

At the risk of sounding cliche, we are in unprecedented times. Most things about our way of life have changed in the last year, and we’ve had to change along with them. While we are all in the same boat generally, not all challenges are made equally, and covid-19’s impact varies in its scope everywhere.

The interior design industry is no different. We have a tight knit community that shares tips and information with each other, and that has been invaluable in understanding the ups and downs of the past year or so. We want to extend the same courtesy to you and open the curtain a little bit, so you can see some of the behind-the-scenes on the state of the industry during the covid-19 pandemic. If you’re looking to start a renovation or decorating project and you’re wondering if this is the right time, hopefully this will break down the challenges of our current times while also assuaging any fears you have about getting started.

Let’s go back to March, when this whole thing really began. It all happened very suddenly; a national emergency had been declared, staying home was encouraged, and masks became increasingly common. Many businesses reduced their workforces, changed their business hours, or altogether closed in the interests of safety. The economy seemed to contract overnight, and everyone had to be very conscious about where their money was going.

One of our fabric vendors shared with us that there was an industry-wide expectation of a similar slowing in business, and for a while, there was. Through about mid-summer, order volume dropped to nearly 1/5 of what it normally was, as everyone was figuring out how to adjust and wondering how long this was going to last. With fewer orders coming in from retailers or interior designers and less people in the warehouse to receive them, a lot of vendors began to downsize their inventory and even cancel their orders. Touchstone industry events were also being cancelled because of safety concerns, including the popular High Point Market in North Carolina, which we love attending every year. To put that in perspective, the only other time it had been cancelled in its 100+ year history was during World War II. Like everyone else, the interior design industry was bracing for impact.

However, what a lot of us didn’t expect was that spending a lot of time at home meant spending a lot of time at home. This may seem self-evident, but when the number of places you can safely go outside of the home dwindles closer to zero, you really start examining your surroundings with a more critical eye. If you are one of the people who had to be confined to your house to realize that it needed an update, you’re not alone! When we all started to realize after 3 to 6 months that this pandemic would be here to stay for a while, many industries contracted even more. The interior design industry, on the other hand, actually boomed.

Demand suddenly began to skyrocket as homeowners and renters alike contacted interior designers and we, in turn, contacted our vendors again, ready to hit the ground running. However, many companies had already been cancelling their orders for months, and supplies at every stage were backordered. In the example of one of our fabric vendors, they cancelled their purchases from mills, which caused them to cancel purchases from yarn suppliers, which caused them to cancel purchases from dye houses, and so on all the way down the production line. Suffice it to say, the demand quickly outgrew the supply, and we’ve all been playing catch up ever since.

One result of this has been shortages. Even if we use an upholstery company in North Carolina, for example, that is doing well to keep up with demand and delivering with only a short delay, we are having issues with fabric being out of stock. Online inventory lists can no longer be expected to be accurate, because with less staff, there are less people available to regularly update inventory systems. Custom items have doubled in production time because of the time needed to get the materials in stock, meaning we’re regularly seeing upwards of 15-17 weeks for an upholstered chair, and there’s no skipping the line!

Once supplies are finally back in stock and furniture pieces have been produced, there is still the issue of shipping. Shipping and manufacturing facilities have been unable to work at capacity because of covid safety restrictions, and while some of us have been lucky to transition to working from home, furniture makers don’t exactly have the luxury of mobile workspaces. These smaller work crews often find themselves tired, overworked, and occasionally getting sick, which results in even more delays. Local contractors have also experienced a similar boom in business, so the process of hiring outside labor and getting work permits has also been slow. Estimated ship dates, which used to be very reliable, are now getting pushed back further and further to accommodate the industry-wide shipping delays.

As you can imagine, all these delays mean we have to be in closer contact with our vendors than ever before, and one of our fabric vendors provided an interesting perspective on international shipping. Even products that are made in America often ship supplies and materials from abroad, and we’ve all seen the delays in our own post offices and domestic shipping, so you can only imagine what overseas shipping looks like. Common fabric-importing countries like India, China, and Turkey are all densely populated and so have had to cut down the amount of production to spread people out. For example, two people can’t work two looms right next to each other, so now one person is required to work two looms. In the UK, where there have been much stricter lockdowns than here in the US, not as many people can work at once. This is all part of an important effort to protect employees, but the unfortunate result is that it takes a long time to get fabrics, wallpaper, and other crucial items for production.

Pre-pandemic, shipping via air was often the quickest way for items to arrive from overseas. They would be aired on commercial flights that people were already on and would normally take about 2 weeks to arrive, making it a faster alternative to boats. However, there are much fewer commercial flights nowadays, especially commercial flights between countries, so shipping times have doubled and prices have tripled, making it financially infeasible for our vendors to justify using it. International freight therefore has to rely on boats, which is less expensive but slower, and boats still face delays in ports, especially with places like Los Angeles experiencing record high covid cases and lockdowns.

This may all seem like industry nitty-gritty, and it is, but we want to be clear about the varied and complicated reasons for the shipping delays that the industry is experiencing. The widespread halt in production combined with limited ability to work at capacity in order to catch up is not at all the norm, and you can be assured that there are frustrations from every end of the process. One of our vendor contacts told us: “The backorders are the worst they have been in my 20 year career.”

Now that we’ve explained the obstacles, let’s move on to what it means for you. On the best of days, the interior design process has a lot of moving parts and necessary communication, so the types of challenges we’ve listed above are not new, just bigger. Luckily, interior designers have always had to be creative and flexible, whether that be working under budget, time, or space constraints, so the industry is nothing if not resilient. While it is important and helpful for you to have a grasp on all the logistics, you don’t have to worry about managing it. That’s what we’re here for!

The only thing that we ask from you during this time is a little patience. Delays have been plaguing the industry for the numerous reasons above, and they all trickle down to the designer who has to then problem-solve around issues they have little control over. Therefore, we like to focus on what we can control, which is our relationship to you, the client, whether that has moved to Zoom or six feet apart. Our job is to help you design a space that you love, and just because your project may take a little more time to get finished doesn’t mean that the quality of the furniture or our service will be diminished. We promise to be realistic about the challenges we’re facing and proactive about solving them, so this process is as streamlined and straightforward as possible for you.

Hopefully this has provided some insight into the state of the design industry right now and answered your questions about just what is taking your furniture so long to arrive! Homes are important to our well being, and if nothing else, this pandemic has reminded us to fall back in love with and take care of them. Armed with this background context, don’t be afraid to start on this exciting design process with us. After all, good things come to those who wait!