Introducing Interior Design’s 2025 Rising Giants

The Montage Healdsburg Residences’s Harvest Homes in Healdsburg, California, are by EDG Interior Architecture and Design. Photography by Roger Davies.

It’s been a strong year for the Rising Giants, with overall positive momentum despite a few mild dips in the numbers. And where there are slight declines, they can often be attributed to the natural volatility that comes with smaller firms—one company’s big swing can skew the larger picture and create outsized statistical impacts.

Fee income saw a modest 5 percent drop year-over-year, with design fees falling from $586 million to $555.5 million. But even with this down-tick, fees remain well above pre-pandemic levels, and when looking at all 200 Giants together, the overall trend is one of growth. More importantly, 2025 is shaping up to be a strong year, with Rising firms forecasting a 14 percent increase in fee income. While confidence in those forecasts is down slightly, it’s still plenty high enough to consider these projections reliable.

When it comes to sector performance, the story for the Rising Giants diverges from that of the top firms. Among the 100 Giants, hospitality is up, while corporate work remains sluggish, but it’s the opposite for this group. Hospitality is down—dropping 18 percent year-over-year and still 4 percent since pre-pandemic levels—whereas corporate work has finally inched back to pre-pandemic numbers, marking a full recovery. This is a significant milestone for Rising Giants, which have always been more corporate-heavy than their larger, more diversified counterparts.

2025 Rising Giants

Note: “blank cells” = did not report data

While there’s been a slight decline in furniture, fixtures, and construction dollars, last year’s FF&C numbers were skewed by a single firm. If you remove that anomaly, the decline is less dramatic. Even with that drop, FF&C spending has grown 21 percent since 2021. Similarly, project volume dipped slightly to 21,534, but that’s still an 80 percent increase from prepandemic days. Looking ahead, firms expect to take on even more projects next year—to upwards of 25,000—though the size and scope of those projects remain an open question.

Geographically, overseas work has tapered slightly (from 12 to 8 percent), which aligns with the historically domestic focus of these firms. The bulk of their international projects remain in Canada and Asia, with a small presence in Europe. Domestically, the Southeast and Southwest continue to be the hottest markets, and some 96 percent of Rising Giants predict continued U.S. growth in 2025.

Staffing trends bespeak recovery and expansion. Since the pandemic, there’s been a noticeable increase in principals and partners, with project managers making a particularly strong comeback—up 90 percent [since 2019]. Non-design staff, including roles in HR, accounting, and sales, have also seen a sharp increase—up 60 percent year-over-year and 40 percent since pre-pandemic. Salaries are similarly on the rise. Everyone from principals to designers is making more than they did the previous year, with the biggest increases going to “other” interior design staff. These salary bumps likely reflect cost-of-living adjustments and, perhaps, a bit more workload.

In many ways, these firms are facing the same big-picture challenges as their larger counterparts: finding the right talent, maintaining profitability, and educating clients on the value of their work. But given the strong forecasts, steady hiring, and growing fees, 2025 is shaping up to be another promising year.

Interested in learning more about Interior Design’s 2025 Giants of Design? Check out our report for Top 100 Giants.

Workplace Trends

Reflecting a broader shift toward experience-driven spaces, the hospitality influence is continuing to drive workplace design, with firms incorporating elements like lounges, cafés, and elevated finishes to entice remote workers back. Flexibility remains paramount, manifesting in adaptable furniture and spaces that users can modify, free-address seating, and varied work settings—all of which help justify real estate costs while supporting hybrid work patterns. As budget pressures mount, firms are ramping up their focus on maximizing value. Meanwhile, digital integration is transforming both physical spaces and project execution, with virtual collaboration tools both accelerating design processes and increasing the demand for tech-enabled environments.

Segment Income and Number of Projects Worked On

Note: “blank cells” = did not report data

Senior Living Fees By Sector

Most Admired Firms

Editor’s Note: Take a look at recent coverage of our Rising Giants most admired firms of 2024 below. Rockwell Group tops the list followed by Gensler, AvroKO, Yabu Pushelberg, and Perkins&Will.

Percentage of Billable Time

Firms With The Most Design Fee Growth

Top Recruiting Tactics

Finding the right talent has been an enduring challenge for firms, and the hiring landscape has only gotten more competitive. Rising Giants rely on a multipronged approach to recruiting, citing relationships with universities—through teaching positions, sponsoring studios, and day shadowing programs—as the most effective way to cultivate employees, followed by word-of-mouth referrals, particularly staff recommendations. (Some have rolled out incentive programs for this purpose.) While third-party recruiters remain a common means to identify promising candidates, many Rising Giants find them less effective in today’s market, or out-of-reach financially. Firms have had more luck building flexible talent pools of interns and freelancers who can be quickly onboarded, and by doubling down on work/life balance to keep hard-won staffers from leaving.

Percentage of Rising Giants Reporting These Challenges As The Biggest They Face

Projects By Type

Domestic vs. Overseas Project Locations

International Project Locations

Staffing Information

Total Employees

Methodology

The Interior Design Giants annual business survey comprises the largest firms ranked by interior design fees for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2024. The listings are generated from only those surveyed. To be recognized as a top 100, Rising, Healthcare, Hospitality, or Sustainability Giant, you must meet the following criteria: Have at least one office location in North America, and generate at least 25% of your interior design fee income in North America. Firms that do not meet the criteria are ranked on our International Giants list. Interior design fees include those attributed to:

1. All aspects of a firm’s in­terior design practice, from strategic planning and programming to design and project management.

2. Fees paid to a firm for work performed by employees and independent contractors who are “full-time staff equivalent.”

Interior design fees do not include revenues paid to a firm and remitted to subcontractors who are not con­sid­ered full-time staff equivalent. For example, certain firms attract work that is subcontracted to a local firm. The originating firm may collect all the fees and re­tain a management or generation fee, paying the remainder to the performing firm. The amounts paid to the latter are not included in fees of the collecting firm when determining its ranking. Ties are broken by rank from last year. Where applicable, all per­cent­ages are based on responding Giants, not their total number. 

All research conducted by ThinkLab, the research division of SANDOW Design Group.