Choosing the Right Website Platform for
Your Design Studio

One of the most common questions I hear from interior designers is: "Which website platform should I use?" It's a reasonable question — there are dozens of options, each with passionate advocates and confusing pricing structures.

The truth is, the "best" platform doesn't exist. What exists is the right platform for your specific situation, skills, and goals. This guide will help you think through the decision calmly and make a choice you won't regret.

Before You Choose a Platform

Before comparing features and prices, answer these questions honestly:

• How comfortable are you with technology? Be honest. There's no shame in preferring simplicity over flexibility. Some designers love tinkering with their websites; others want to update text and images without ever seeing code.
• Who will update the website? Will you manage it yourself, or do you have (or want) someone to help? A platform that's perfect for a solo designer might be wrong for a studio with an assistant handling updates.
• What's your budget? Consider both the initial build and ongoing costs like hosting, domains, and maintenance. A "free" platform with hidden costs can end up more expensive than a straightforward paid option.
• How important is design flexibility? Do you need complete creative control, or would you be happy with a beautiful template? Be honest about whether you'll actually use that flexibility, or if it will just create overwhelm.
• Do you need specific features? E-commerce, booking systems, client portals, membership areas — some platforms handle these elegantly while others require awkward workarounds.
• What's your growth trajectory? A platform that works for a newly launched studio might feel limiting for an established practice. Consider where you want to be in three years, not just today.

Write down your answers before researching platforms. It's easy to get swayed by flashy features you don't actually need. Having your priorities documented helps you evaluate options objectively.

The Main Options for Interior Designers

Squarespace

Best for: Designers who want beautiful templates with minimal technical hassle.

Squarespace is the most popular choice for interior designers, and for good reason. The templates are stunning, the interface is intuitive, and everything is included in one monthly fee — hosting, security, and basic features.

The portfolio templates in particular are well-suited to visual work. You can have a polished, professional website live within a weekend, and making updates — adding new projects, changing text, swapping images — is genuinely straightforward.

Where Squarespace falls short is customisation. You can tweak colours, fonts, and some layout options, but you're fundamentally working within the template's structure. If you want something that doesn't fit the template's design, you'll hit walls quickly.

Pros: Beautiful out-of-the-box templates, easy to update, reliable hosting, good for portfolios, built-in analytics, SSL included, good mobile experience.

Cons: Limited customisation beyond templates, can feel restrictive if you want something unique, ongoing monthly cost, you don't "own" your site in the same way, challenging to migrate away later.

Typical cost: £12–40/month depending on plan.

Best templates for interior designers: Look at Paloma, Orine, or any of the portfolio-focused templates. Avoid business-heavy templates designed for different industries.

WordPress

Best for: Designers who want maximum flexibility and long-term ownership.

WordPress powers over 40% of websites worldwide. It's incredibly flexible — you can build almost anything — but that flexibility comes with complexity. There's a learning curve, and you'll need to manage hosting separately.

The distinction between WordPress.com and WordPress.org confuses many people. WordPress.org (self-hosted WordPress) is what I'm discussing here — you install it on your own hosting and have complete control. WordPress.com is a more limited, Squarespace-like hosted version.

For interior designers, WordPress excels when you want a site that grows with you. Need to add e-commerce later? No problem. Want to integrate a booking system? Done. Thinking about adding a members-only area for clients? WordPress handles it. This flexibility means your website won't outgrow the platform.

The downside is maintenance. WordPress requires regular updates — to the core software, your theme, and any plugins you're using. Neglected sites can become security vulnerabilities. If the idea of "maintaining" your website feels like homework you'll never do, WordPress might not be the right fit unless you have someone to handle it for you.

Pros: Unlimited customisation, you own your site completely, huge ecosystem of themes and plugins, excellent for SEO, scales with your business, easy to migrate hosting if needed.

Cons: Steeper learning curve, requires separate hosting, needs regular updates and maintenance, quality varies wildly depending on theme/developer, plugin conflicts can cause headaches.

Typical cost: £50–200/year for hosting, plus theme costs (£40–80 one-time) and any premium plugins.

Recommended hosting: SiteGround, Cloudways, or Kinsta for performance. Avoid the cheapest shared hosting — it will slow your site down.

Showit

Best for: Designers who want Squarespace-level ease with more creative freedom.

Showit is a drag-and-drop builder that's become popular with creative professionals. It offers more design flexibility than Squarespace while remaining approachable for non-technical users. It can also integrate with WordPress for blogging.

Pros: True drag-and-drop design freedom, beautiful results, can integrate WordPress blog, good template marketplace.

Cons: Smaller community than Squarespace/WordPress, monthly subscription, can be fiddly to get things perfectly aligned.

Typical cost: £15–35/month depending on plan.

Wix

Best for: Designers on a tight budget who need something simple and fast.

Wix has improved significantly and now offers decent templates for creative professionals. It's often the most affordable option and very beginner-friendly.

Pros: Very easy to use, affordable, lots of features included, quick to set up.

Cons: Templates can look generic, ads on free plan, less "premium" feel, difficult to migrate away from Wix later.

Typical cost: Free with ads, or £10–30/month for premium plans.

Custom Build

Best for: Established studios who want something completely bespoke.

A custom-built website — working with a web designer — gives you complete creative control. Your site will be unique, optimised for your specific needs, and designed to grow with your practice.

Pros: Completely unique design, optimised for your workflow, professional result, long-term investment, reflects your brand perfectly.

Cons: Higher upfront investment, requires finding the right designer, takes longer than DIY options.

Typical cost: £2,000–10,000+ depending on scope and designer.

My Honest Recommendation

If you're just starting out and need a website quickly with minimal budget, Squarespace is a solid choice. Pick a clean template, add your best work, and you'll have a professional presence in a weekend.

If you're established, value long-term ownership, and want something that truly reflects your practice, consider either WordPress with a quality theme or a custom-designed website.

The platform matters less than you think. What matters is:

• Beautiful, high-quality images of your work
• Clear, concise copy that speaks to your ideal clients
• A clean, uncluttered design that lets your work shine
• Easy ways for potential clients to contact you

Get those elements right, and you'll attract the right clients regardless of whether you're on Squarespace, WordPress, or something else entirely.

Questions to Ask Before Committing

Before signing up for any platform, ask yourself:

• Can I export my content? If you decide to move platforms later, how easy is it to take your content with you? Some platforms make this simple; others make it deliberately difficult.
• What happens if I stop paying? Does your site simply go offline, or do you lose access to everything? Understanding the exit scenario helps you assess the real commitment.
• How much will this cost in five years? Monthly fees add up. A £30/month platform costs £1,800 over five years. Sometimes that's worth it; sometimes you could own something outright for less.
• Who do I call if something breaks? Every platform has problems sometimes. What's the support like? Is there a community that can help?

Platform Isn't Strategy

Here's what matters far more than your platform choice: having a clear message, beautiful images, and an easy path for potential clients to contact you. I've seen stunning portfolios on basic platforms and forgettable portfolios on expensive, feature-rich ones.

The platform is infrastructure. It's important — like good foundations for a house — but it's not what makes visitors fall in love with your work. That comes from the content: your projects, your story, your clear articulation of who you help and how.

So while it's worth getting the platform decision right, don't let it paralyse you. Any of the major options I've discussed can work well for interior designers. The differences between them matter less than whether you actually build something and put your work out there.

One Final Thought

Don't let platform research become procrastination. I've spoken with designers who spent months comparing options, reading reviews, and watching tutorials — all while their business had no website at all.

An imperfect website that exists is better than a perfect website that doesn't. You can always migrate, redesign, or upgrade later. Start somewhere, and improve as you grow.

If you're still unsure after all this, here's my simplest advice: if you want easy and polished quickly, choose Squarespace. If you want flexible and long-term, choose WordPress. If you want something uniquely yours, work with a designer. Any of these paths can lead to a website that serves your practice beautifully.