The verdict in three sentences
For a London interior design studio, a redesign stands or falls on the portfolio migration: every indexed project page and every image found through Google Images or Pinterest must keep its address or get a 301 redirect. A sensible Kolonell budget is £3,900 (Growth) for a standard portfolio and £6,900 (Premium) for a multilingual site or a very large portfolio, with 3 to 4 weeks of build time. The costliest risk is legal and relational: publishing a photo you do not hold rights to, or an interior a Mayfair client wanted kept private.
A Chelsea or Notting Hill studio working on Victorian terraces, Kensington flats or Clerkenwell workplaces sells through its images. The site has to stay fast despite high-resolution photography, be organised by project type and qualify enquiries before the first call.
What does a redesign cost by portfolio size?
Market figures are a 2026 ballpark based on typical agency quotes and public London agency rate pages.
| Portfolio size | London agency (GBP) | Freelancer (GBP) | Suggested Kolonell tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 to 20 projects, one language | £8,000 to £15,000 | £3,500 to £7,000 | Starter, £2,300 |
| 20 to 60 projects, filters by type | £15,000 to £30,000 | £6,000 to £12,000 | Growth, £3,900 |
| 60 to 120 projects, journal and own press page | £25,000 to £45,000 | £10,000 to £18,000 | Premium, £6,900 |
| Multilingual site (Gulf, European clients) | £30,000 to £60,000 | rarely offered | Premium (the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote), £6,900 |
| Online shop for furniture or objects | £20,000 to £50,000 | £8,000 to £15,000 | On quote |
Kolonell tiers include a project manager reachable on London time, native English copywriting, delivery in 3 to 4 weeks and 3 months of support. Search work beyond the migration and any custom application are on quote. Details are on the international offer page.
What timeline should you plan for?
A portfolio redesign takes 7 to 10 weeks in practice. The build is only 3 to 4 of them; the rest depends on you.
Weeks 1 and 2: inventory. Export every URL, flag the project pages that receive traffic, list the Pinterest pins pointing at your site. Check, project by project, photo rights and client consent.
Weeks 2 and 3: structure. Organise by type (prime residential, hospitality, workplace), by area or by style. Write the project pages: brief, constraints, materials, photographer credits.
Weeks 3 to 6: build. Design, templates, image optimisation to WebP or AVIF, an enquiry form that captures budget and timing.
Weeks 6 to 8: testing and switch. Redirect tests, mobile speed, accessibility, launch on a quiet day.
Which risks should you watch, and how do you reduce them?
| Risk | Consequence | Concrete measure |
|---|---|---|
| Project URLs changed without 301s | Loss of Google and Pinterest traffic | Old URL to new URL mapping sheet |
| Images renamed or recompressed blindly | Drop out of Google Images | Descriptive file names, alt text, image sitemap |
| Photos without a clear usage licence | Claim from the photographer | Written contract or licence for each shoot |
| Client not consulted | Broken trust, takedown request | Written consent, "address withheld" option |
| Pages too heavy | Mobile visitors leave | LCP target under 2.5 s, lazy loading |
| "Architect" used incorrectly | Regulatory problem | Review of titles and bios |
On that last point: in the UK, the title "architect" is protected by the Architects Act 1997 and reserved for people registered with the ARB. An interior design studio should say "interior designer" or "interior design studio" unless someone on the team is actually registered. Membership of a professional body such as the BIID can be mentioned if it is real. For projects on listed buildings, which require listed building consent, stay factual and make no promises about approval timelines.
On data, the enquiry form and analytics fall under UK GDPR and the PECR rules on cookies, overseen by the ICO. You need a privacy notice, a genuine consent banner and limited data collection. The Equality Act 2010 also argues for a site everyone can use: WCAG 2.2 AA is a sound benchmark. This is not legal advice.
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Mini case study
Illustrative example. Olivia runs a six-person studio in Battersea, focused on townhouses and a few hospitality projects. Her site has 74 projects, 2,900 images, and about 30% of her traffic comes from Pinterest.
Local agency quote: £32,000 over 12 weeks. Kolonell option: Premium at £6,900, plus an independent interiors photographer to reshoot 8 older projects, estimated at 8 × £450 = £3,600 (third-party cost). Total: £10,500, a difference of £21,500.
Before the build, 11 projects are removed or anonymised at clients' request, and 63 are migrated with redirects. The 6 most-pinned projects keep exactly the same URL, which protects the bulk of the Pinterest traffic.
FAQ
How long does a portfolio redesign take?
Plan on 7 to 10 weeks overall, of which 3 to 4 weeks are build. The timeline depends mostly on checking photo rights and client consent.
Will I lose my Pinterest traffic?
Not if pinned page URLs are kept or 301-redirected. For a 70-project portfolio, the mapping sheet takes about 1 to 2 days.
Can I call myself an architect?
Only if someone on the team is registered with the ARB under the Architects Act 1997. Otherwise use "interior designer", a fix that takes under an hour at review.
Is the £3,900 Growth tier enough?
Yes for 20 to 60 projects in one language with filters. Beyond that, or for a multilingual site, Premium at £6,900 fits better.
Do I need to reshoot every project?
Rarely. Reshooting 5 to 10 older projects with an independent photographer is often enough, as a third-party cost budgeted separately.
To price your migration precisely, request a free quote with your URL export.
Let's scope your project. Tell us how many projects, images and languages you have, and we will price the redesign and redirect plan around a 3 to 4 week build. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
