Toronto · Consultation
Interior Design Consultation in Toronto
One session, one space, and an honest read on it. For people who do not need a studio to run the whole project — they need to know whether the plan in front of them is any good before they spend money on it.
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Who this is for
You have a floor plan from a builder and a feeling that something is off. You have three quotes that differ by forty thousand dollars and no way to tell why. You are about to commit to a kitchen layout, or a wall coming out, or a stone you cannot return.
None of those need a nine-month engagement. They need someone who has drawn a hundred of these to look at yours for ninety minutes and say what they actually think.
It is also the honest answer when the budget is tight. Full-service design is the right call when you want the whole thing run for you. When you are prepared to do the sourcing and the coordinating yourself, a paid consultation to sanity-check the plan is far better value — and we would rather tell you that than sell you the bigger engagement.
What happens in a session
We look at what you have: floor plans, photographs, quotes, the drawings from whoever has been in before us. If you do not have plans, rough dimensions and a set of photos are enough to work from.
Then we go through the layout properly — clearances, circulation, where the light comes from and what it does at different hours, what the building will and will not allow, and which of your constraints are real versus assumed. A surprising number of the constraints people arrive with turn out to be somebody's guess.
You get direction on materials and finishes, a view on the budget you have been quoted, and a clear list of what to do next and in what order. If we think you should not spend the money at all, we will say that too.
What it is not: a set of drawings. A consultation is professional judgement, not a deliverable package. If you want plans, elevations, and a specification, that is a design engagement and we will tell you what it would take.
In person or remote
In Toronto and across the GTA we can do this on site, which is better when the space itself is the question — an awkward level change, a room that feels wrong and nobody can say why, a building whose services you need eyes on.
Remote works well when the question is about the plan rather than the room. Send the drawings ahead, we mark them up, and we talk through it live. Most consultations that end in a clear decision are about a drawing, not a wall.
If you are outside the GTA entirely, the studio's virtual consultation service is the same conversation without the site visit.
What a consultation costs
A consultation is billed as time, and hourly design work in the Toronto market runs roughly $85 to $225 an hour. Ours is $55 to $145, about 35% under that. A single session is usually one to two hours, plus reading time when there is a lot to go through beforehand.
That is a different product from virtual e-design, which is a packaged deliverable — a digital scheme, a shopping list, and no site visit — and runs $350 to $1,200 per room in this market, against $225 to $780 from us. If you want the package rather than the conversation, the virtual consultation service is the page to read.
If the consultation leads to a full engagement, ask whether the fee is credited against it. Some studios do, some do not, and it is a fair question to put to anyone you are considering.
What you leave with
A read on the layout
Clearances, circulation, and light assessed against how you actually intend to use the space.
A view on the budget
Whether the numbers you have been quoted are reasonable for the scope, and where they are likely to move.
Material direction
A palette direction and specific finishes worth looking at, with the trade-offs said plainly.
Constraint check
What the building, the board, or the permit path will actually allow — before you design around a guess.
An ordered next-steps list
What to decide first, what can wait, and what to stop doing.
Consultation questions, answered
How much does an interior design consultation cost in Toronto?
A consultation is billed as time. Hourly design work in the 2026 Toronto market runs about $85 to $225 an hour; YaDesign charges $55 to $145, roughly 35% below that, with a typical session running one to two hours. That is separate from virtual e-design, a packaged per-room deliverable with no site visit, at $350 to $1,200 in this market and $225 to $780 from us.
Do I get drawings from a consultation?
No. A consultation buys professional judgement on what you already have — layout, budget, materials, and next steps. Plans, elevations, and a finish specification are a design engagement. We will tell you what that would involve if it turns out you need it.
Can you do the session on site?
Yes, across Toronto and the GTA. On site is better when the space itself is the question. When the question is really about a floor plan, remote is just as effective and usually quicker to arrange.
What should I have ready?
Floor plans if you have them, photographs of every wall of the space, any quotes or drawings you have already been given, rough dimensions if there are no plans, and a clear sense of your budget. The more you send ahead, the more of the session goes on the actual question.
Is the fee credited if I hire you for the full project?
Ask us when you book and we will tell you plainly for your scope. It is a fair question to put to any studio you are considering, and the answer varies by how much work the consultation itself involves.
Will you tell me not to hire a studio?
If that is the honest answer, yes. Some projects are well within what a competent homeowner and a good contractor can handle, and the useful thing we can do is confirm the plan is sound and get out of the way.
Want a straight read on your plan?
Send the drawings and tell us what you are deciding. We reply to every enquiry within two working days.
yivgalenko@gmail.com·Toronto & Los Angeles