How to Get Your Interior Design Project Published
Seeing a completed project featured in a design publication can build credibility, introduce your work to a wider audience, and help attract the kinds of clients and projects you want next. But a beautiful room alone is not always enough to earn editorial attention.
Before becoming a professional interior and architectural photographer, I spent eight years as an art director at Maine Home+Design. I saw firsthand how editors evaluated projects, selected images, and transformed a home into a compelling editorial feature.
The strongest submissions combine beautiful design, professional photography, a distinctive story, and complete project information. If publication is one of your goals, it helps to plan for it before the photography even begins.
1. Look for the Story Behind the Design
Editors are not simply looking for attractive rooms. They are looking for a reason to share a particular project with their readers.
Consider what makes your project distinctive:
Was a historic home thoughtfully restored?
Did you solve an unusual architectural or design challenge?
Does the home reflect its coastal, urban, or rural setting?
Were local artisans or custom materials involved?
Did the clients have an interesting vision or personal connection to the property?
Does the project demonstrate a new way of using color, space, or materials?
The story does not need to be dramatic. It simply needs to give the project context and make it memorable.
2. Discuss Photography and Publication With Your Client Early
Before arranging a professional photo shoot, confirm that the homeowner is comfortable having the space photographed and potentially submitted for publication.
Ideally, this conversation should happen early in the design process and be addressed in your client agreement. Explain how the images may be used, whether the homeowner’s identity or exact location will remain private, and whether a publication might request an interview or additional information.
Clear communication from the beginning can prevent complications once the project is complete.
3. Research Publications Before the Photo Shoot
Each publication has its own visual style, geographic focus, audience, and submission process. Researching potential outlets in advance can help shape the photography plan.
Review recent issues and online features. Consider:
Does the publication feature projects like yours?
Does it focus on a particular region or style?
Does it publish whole-home stories or individual rooms?
Does it favor highly styled imagery or a more natural approach?
Does it require exclusivity?
Does it publish projects that have already appeared elsewhere?
National publications may have different requirements from regional magazines, local newspapers, and digital design outlets. Choose a few publications that genuinely fit the project instead of sending the same submission everywhere.
4. Create a Complete Editorial Shot List
A design portfolio and an editorial feature have overlapping needs, but they are not exactly the same. A portfolio might rely on a few exceptional hero images. An editorial story requires enough visual variety to guide a reader through the project.
A strong editorial image library usually includes:
Exterior views that establish the setting
Wide photographs showing complete rooms
Medium compositions that reveal relationships between spaces
Vertical and horizontal options
Architectural details and custom craftsmanship
Materials, textiles, art, and styling details
Transitional spaces such as entryways, stairs, and hallways
Environmental portraits of the designer, architect, builder, or homeowner when appropriate
Lifestyle moments that help communicate how the home is experienced
It is also important to leave room within some compositions for headlines, captions, and magazine layouts. Before the shoot, talk with your photographer about where you hope to submit the project. A photographer with editorial experience can help create a shot list that works for publications as well as your website, portfolio, social media, awards, and marketing.
5. Photograph the Project at the Right Time
Schedule photography when the project is truly complete but still looks fresh.
Construction materials, temporary furniture, unfinished landscaping, missing artwork, and small installation details can distract from an otherwise exceptional space. At the same time, waiting too long may mean the clients have begun changing the styling or adding everyday clutter.
Walk through the project before the shoot and create a list of anything that needs attention. Confirm that lights work, window treatments are installed, artwork is straight, surfaces are clean, and all final accessories are in place.
6. Style for the Camera
A beautifully designed room may still need adjustments to translate well in a photograph. The camera sees spacing, scale, clutter, and visual balance differently from the human eye.
During a shoot, furniture and accessories may need to be moved slightly to improve the composition.
Flowers, branches, books, artwork, table settings, and textiles can add depth and life, but they should support the design rather than overwhelm it. If the project is being considered for a major editorial submission, working with an experienced interior stylist may be worthwhile. The designer, stylist, and photographer can collaborate to preserve the character of the space while ensuring every frame feels intentional.
7. Include Both the Overall Design and the Details
Editors need images that show the entire room, but close details are often what make a story feel personal and specific.
Custom millwork, handmade tile, hardware, upholstery, lighting, collected objects, and unexpected design decisions can all become important parts of the visual narrative. These images also provide useful variety when a publication is planning a multipage layout.
A complete image collection should help someone understand how the spaces connect while also revealing the craftsmanship and decisions that make the project unique.
8. Gather Complete Project Credits
Do not wait until an editor requests credits to begin assembling them. Create a complete list while the project details are still fresh.
Depending on the project, credits may include:
Interior designer
Architect
Builder or general contractor
Landscape architect or designer
Kitchen and bath designers
Cabinetmakers and millworkers
Artists and craftspeople
Lighting, plumbing, tile, stone, and textile sources
Stylist
Photographer
Accurate credits make a submission feel professional and help ensure that everyone who contributed to the project is properly recognized. They can also create opportunities for project partners to share the published feature and link back to one another, extending the reach of the story.
9. Write a Concise and Compelling Project Description
Your submission does not need to include a fully written magazine article. A clear overview is usually more useful.
In a few short paragraphs, explain:
Where the project is located
The type and age of the property
Who lives there, if the clients are comfortable sharing
The goals of the project
The primary design challenges
The most distinctive materials or features
Any meaningful connection between the design and its setting
Why the project is relevant to the publication’s readers
Include memorable details, but keep the pitch focused. Editors receive many submissions and should be able to understand the story quickly.
10. Follow Each Publication’s Submission Guidelines
Before submitting, review the publication’s current requirements. Some use online forms, while others request an introductory email with a small selection of images or a private gallery link.
Avoid attaching a large collection of high-resolution files unless specifically requested. Instead, lead with a carefully edited selection of images that communicates the quality and range of the project.
Your submission should include:
A brief introduction
A concise project summary
Several strong preview images or a gallery link
The project location
The design team and photographer credits
Publication history, if any
Confirmation that homeowner permission has been obtained
Your contact information
If you do not hear back immediately, be patient. Editorial calendars are often planned well in advance, and a project may not fit the publication’s needs at that particular moment.
What Editors Look for in Interior Photography
From an art director’s perspective, the strongest interior photography does more than document a completed room. It creates a visual experience.
Editors and art directors look for images that are technically polished, accurately colored, thoughtfully composed, and varied enough to build a story. They need wide views, intimate details, horizontal and vertical options, and photographs that flow naturally from one space to the next.
They also look for a clear point of view. The photography should preserve the designer’s vision while helping readers understand how the home feels. Natural light, materials, craftsmanship, scale, and the relationship between the interior and its surroundings all contribute to that sense of place.
A cohesive set of editorial-quality images makes a project easier to evaluate, easier to lay out, and ultimately more compelling to publish.
Make Photography Part of Your Publication Strategy
If you hope to have a project published, do not treat photography as the final administrative task after the design is complete. Include it in the project plan from the beginning.
Confirm client permission, identify the story, research appropriate publications, and collaborate with your photographer on a comprehensive shot list. Even if the project is not ultimately published, you will come away with a versatile image library that can support your portfolio, website, social media, press outreach, award submissions, and future marketing.
Planning to Photograph a Completed Interior Design Project?
I collaborate with interior designers, architects, builders, and other project partners to create polished, editorial-quality photography that captures both the overall design and the details that make a space distinctive.
With eight years of experience as an art director at Maine Home+Design, I understand how to plan and photograph a project for portfolios, editorial submissions, awards, websites, and marketing.
Based in Southern Maine and available for projects throughout New England and nationwide.
