Your portfolio deserves Fraunces italic,
not Squarespace template #47.
VeloCMS is an independent portfolio and inquiry-capture platform for interior designers, residential decorators, kitchen and bath specialists, commercial space planners, color consultants, and home stagers — before/after portfolio posts with 20+ photo galleries, mood board pages organized by style, source-list pages with affiliate disclosure, and detailed scope-capture inquiry forms, with BYOK Stripe paid consultation tiers at 0% platform fee — with the Mid-Century Modern theme free on every plan.
Why interior designers are paying Houzz to commoditize their portfolios
Houzz fees eroding your margin, Squarespace templates erasing your aesthetic, and Pinterest building its SEO from your curation — none of them are building your audience.
Houzz Pro charges $99–399/month and your portfolio competes with thousands of identical profile pages
Your custom portfolio — the one you curated with hand-selected before/after shots, project narratives, and client testimonials — lives on a Houzz profile page that looks exactly like every other designer's page. You don't own the lead form; when a potential client fills in their kitchen remodel budget on Houzz, that lead goes to Houzz's CRM, not yours. When you stop paying, your portfolio drops from Houzz's algorithm. Clients searching 'kitchen designer near me' find Houzz's aggregated results, not your domain. You're paying $1,188–4,788/year to compete on a platform that benefits from your portfolio more than you do.
Squarespace template #47 looks like 5,000 other designers' portfolios — and you pay a subscription for the privilege
Your portfolio's visual differentiation is the design decision — the choice of typeface, grid, whitespace, color temperature, and image presentation is itself a statement of your aesthetic. But the Squarespace template homogenizes you with every other creative who picked the same grid-photo layout and Open Sans heading. Your Japandi project and your neighbor's Mediterranean villa renovation look identical at the page level. Worse, Squarespace's editor gives you drag-and-drop but not real-photo-density control — a 20-photo before/after shoot turns into a 4-image gallery with a 'view more' button.
Mood boards live in Pinterest + Houzz + Milanote + Notion — a SaaS stack with zero SEO benefit
A potential client searching 'Japandi kitchen 2026 trend' finds Pinterest's algorithmic feed and Houzz's editorial — neither of which belongs to you. Your Pinterest curation and Milanote mood boards are on their domains, building their domain authority, not yours. When you publish a mid-century modern mood board with your curated sources on your VeloCMS page, it lives at yourdomain.com/mood-board/mid-century-modern — a URL that accumulates organic search traffic, gets backlinks from design blogs, and positions you as the authority on that style. The SaaS stack is paying for reach on someone else's real estate.
What a design-first portfolio platform actually gives you
Before/after galleries, mood board pages, source lists, inquiry forms, and the Mid-Century Modern theme — one subscription, no Houzz algorithm, no Squarespace template grid.
Portfolio post format with 20+ photo before/after galleries — published as case studies that stay live forever
Each portfolio project becomes a case-study post: before photos, process shots, after photos, materials specification, room dimensions, style notes, and a source list of every piece in the room. The multi-image gallery handles 20, 30, 50 photos with lazy-load lightbox and caption support — not a 4-image Squarespace snippet. When a prospect googles 'kitchen remodel Japandi style before after', your case study is indexed, not a Houzz profile. The URL is yours, the photos are yours, and the post stays live for the lifetime of your domain — building authority with every new project.
Mood board pages organized by design style — Mid-Century, Scandi, Japandi, Maximalist — your reference library as a content pillar
Create a '/mood-boards' section with individual pages per style category: /mood-boards/mid-century-modern, /mood-boards/japandi, /mood-boards/scandi-minimalist, /mood-boards/maximalist. Each page is a curated collection of color palettes, material swatches, furniture references, and inspiration images — yours to edit as your eye evolves. The pages are crawlable, shareable, and accumulate backlinks. A 'Japandi living room 2026' page on your domain outranks a Pinterest board every single time because it has a canonical URL, a meta description, and structured prose explaining why these choices work together.
Source-list pages with affiliate link disclosure — where to buy the chair, lamp, and rug from every project
Every portfolio post can link to a source-list page: the exact Eames lounge chair, the Artek stool, the Paul McCobb shelf, the Knoll credenza. VeloCMS's Affiliate Tracker plugin wraps outbound links on domains you configure (Chairish, 1stDibs, Design Within Reach, CB2, Amazon, and others) with a tracked redirect, so Admin → Plugins → Affiliate Tracker shows which pieces get the most clicks (sales and commissions are in the affiliate network's own dashboard) — but it doesn't append your affiliate ID to the URL or render an FTC disclosure automatically; you build the affiliate link yourself, with your own tag already in it, and write the disclosure text once as a reusable text block above the sourced items. Interior designers are sitting on enormous affiliate potential that Pinterest and Houzz lock behind their own commerce layers.
Detailed client inquiry form — scope, budget, timeline, square footage, style preferences — captured to your owned email list
Your inquiry form is the most important conversion surface on your site. VeloCMS's form captures: project type (residential full-scope / kitchen-bath only / commercial / staging / color consultation), approximate square footage, budget range (under $20K / $20–50K / $50–100K / over $100K), timeline, current style (Mid-Century / Scandi / Japandi / Maximalist / transitional / unsure), and a free-text 'tell me about your space' field. Every submission goes to your email list. No Houzz intermediary. No brokerage. The lead is yours, the contact is yours, and the conversation stays between you and your prospect.
Mid-Century Modern theme included free — warm retro palette, Fraunces italic, atomic-age aesthetic
The Mid-Century Modern theme was designed around the Eames–Braun–Saarinen–Bertoia era: warm amber, walnut brown, and olive cream palette, Fraunces italic headings for the handcrafted serif warmth of the period, atomic-age SVG ornaments as section dividers, and a two-column layout where portfolio photography dominates and text serves as context rather than content. It looks nothing like Squarespace template #47. Alternative themes: Atelier Modern for contemporary design firms with a cooler, Helvetica-driven editorial feel; Curator for high-end portfolio presentation with a gallery-white aesthetic. All three are free on every plan.
Features interior designers and decorators actually need
Before/after portfolios, mood board pages, source lists, inquiry forms, affiliate handling, and the Mid-Century Modern theme — without a plugin stack or a Houzz subscription.
Before/after portfolio post — 20+ photo galleries, case-study format
Multi-image lazy-load lightbox with captions, source notes, and a material-spec block. Case studies stay live at a canonical URL that builds domain authority over time.
Photo galleries — room-by-room sequencing, caption + source attribution
Room-sequenced gallery blocks: entry, living, kitchen, bath, bedroom — each section with its own photo set and caption block. Lightbox navigation with keyboard support.
Mood board pages — style-organized reference library, SEO-crawlable
Per-style pages at permanent URLs. Color palette blocks, material swatches, furniture references, and curated inspiration images — all organized by your hand, not an algorithm.
Client inquiry form — scope, budget, style, and square footage capture
Structured intake form with dropdown fields for project type, budget range, and style preference. Every submission lands in your owned email list — no platform intermediary.
Source-list pages — your own affiliate links, with click tracking
Add the domains you want tracked (Chairish, 1stDibs, DWR, Amazon, and others) in the Affiliate Tracker plugin settings once, and every outbound link to those domains gets wrapped with a tracked redirect — Admin → Plugins → Affiliate Tracker shows which pieces get the most clicks, while sales and commissions are in the affiliate network's own dashboard. It doesn't append your affiliate tag to the link or generate the FTC disclosure for you; you build the link with your own tag and write the disclosure text yourself, once, as a reusable text block.
Mid-Century Modern theme — Fraunces italic, Eames-era warmth, atomic ornaments
Warm amber palette, walnut brown accents, olive cream backgrounds, Fraunces italic headings, and atomic-age SVG ornaments — free on every plan, nothing like template #47.
VeloCMS vs Houzz Pro vs Squarespace + Pinterest vs Behance Pro
| Feature | VeloCMS | Houzz Pro | Squarespace + Pinterest | Behance Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custom domain | Yes | Shared — houzz.com/… | Yes | Shared — behance.net/… |
| Platform fee per lead | 0% | $99–399/mo subscription | Paid Squarespace plan + Pinterest 0% | $9.99/mo |
| Real-room portfolio post format | 20+ photo case study | Houzz-controlled gallery | Generic 4-image template | Static gallery grid |
| Mood board pages | Yes | Houzz Ideabooks only | Pinterest external board | No |
| Source list pages with affiliate | Yes | No | Manual links only | No |
| Client inquiry form | Scope + budget + style + sqft | Houzz captures the lead | Manual form only | No |
| Cost per year ($) | 0–348 | 1,188–4,788 | Paid Squarespace plan + $0 Pinterest | 120 |
From Houzz profile to your own portfolio in five steps
No developer, no migration wizard, no Houzz subscription renewal. Your portfolio, your mood boards, your client leads — live on your domain today.
Export your Squarespace or Houzz portfolio and inquiry log
On Squarespace: Settings → Advanced → Export → WordPress XML (includes page content and media library). On Houzz: your project photos live in your profile — download them from each project manually (Houzz has no bulk export). On Houzz Pro: your past inquiry log is in the Leads section — export the CSV. Save all files. Your existing profile stays live throughout, so existing inquiries continue uninterrupted.
Upload to VeloCMS with multi-photo gallery format
In Admin → Tools → Import, upload your Squarespace XML export. Posts and pages keep the publish status they had on Squarespace, with content intact. For Houzz projects, create new portfolio posts manually — paste in your project description, upload your before/after photos into the multi-image gallery block, and add a source list. The 20-photo gallery block handles the density Squarespace and Houzz can't. After upload, each project becomes a case-study post at yourdomain.com/projects/your-project-name.
Set up mood board pages by design style
In Admin → Pages, create a 'Mood Boards' section. Add individual pages: /mood-boards/mid-century-modern, /mood-boards/japandi, /mood-boards/scandi, /mood-boards/maximalist. Use the image gallery block for color palette swatches, the text block for material descriptions, and the link block for curated furniture references with your affiliate tags. Each page gets a meta description targeting style-specific search queries ('mid-century modern interior design mood board 2026').
Activate Mid-Century Modern + BYOK Stripe for paid consultation tier
In Admin → Themes, click Mid-Century Modern → Apply. Instantly: Fraunces italic headings, warm amber-walnut palette, atomic-age SVG ornaments, and a portfolio-first layout. Then in Admin → Settings → Membership, paste your own Stripe secret key (copied from your Stripe dashboard — about a minute). Create your paid consultation tier: 'Initial Design Consultation at $150' or 'Full-Scope Residential Design at custom quote' — VeloCMS takes 0%. Your Stripe account receives payment directly.
Migrate Pinterest and Milanote curation to native VeloCMS pages
For each active Pinterest board (Mid-Century inspo, Japandi kitchen ideas, maximalist living rooms), create a corresponding mood board page in VeloCMS. Copy in your curated images, add your written commentary on why each piece belongs, and link to source pages with your affiliate tags. Your curation now lives on your domain — building your SEO, not Pinterest's. The old Pinterest boards can stay as a discovery surface pointing back to your site.
Start your free trial. Pay only when you grow.
Pro
$9/mo
- All core publishing features
- Custom domain
- BYOK Stripe paid consultation tier
- Unlimited portfolio posts
- Affiliate click analytics
- Email newsletter to inquiry list
Business
$29/mo
- Everything in Pro
- Team members (associates + junior designers)
- Unlimited portfolio posts
- Multi-author portfolio contributions
- Priority support
- Unlimited AI translations
Start a 14-day free trial with the Mid-Century Modern theme, mood board pages, an inquiry form, and source lists. Plans start at $9/mo and include unlimited posts, a custom domain, and a paid consultation tier.
Questions from interior designers
Everything about migrating your portfolio, setting up mood boards, and collecting client inquiries on your own domain.
Can I migrate my Squarespace or Houzz portfolio to VeloCMS?
Yes. From Squarespace: export via Settings → Advanced → Export → WordPress XML — VeloCMS imports pages and posts with content intact and the publish status they had on Squarespace. From Houzz: there's no bulk export, so you'll download photos from each project manually and re-create them as portfolio posts in VeloCMS. Houzz Pro leads can be exported as CSV from the Leads section. Most designers complete the migration in 3–5 hours for a portfolio of 10–15 projects. Your existing Squarespace and Houzz profiles stay live throughout — no downtime for incoming inquiries.
How do before/after portfolio posts handle 20+ photo galleries?
The portfolio post format in VeloCMS includes a multi-image gallery block that handles 20, 30, or 50+ photos with lazy loading, keyboard-navigable lightbox, and per-image caption and source-attribution fields. You can sequence photos into sections — 'Before', 'Demolition', 'In Progress', 'After' — each as a separate gallery block within the same post. The gallery renders at full viewport width on desktop and swipeable on mobile. Images are served via Cloudflare R2 with CDN delivery and automatic WebP conversion for fast loading even on high-resolution portfolios.
Why is Mid-Century Modern the recommended theme for interior designers?
The Mid-Century Modern theme was designed around the Eames–Braun–Saarinen visual era: Fraunces italic headings for handcrafted warmth, a warm amber and walnut brown palette, olive cream backgrounds that make photography pop rather than compete, and atomic-age SVG ornaments as section dividers — all design details that signal a thoughtful aesthetic sensibility. It looks nothing like Squarespace template #47 or Houzz's profile grid. Alternatives: Atelier Modern for contemporary design firms with a cooler, Helvetica-driven editorial feel; Curator for high-end portfolio presentation with a gallery-white, editorial-magazine aesthetic. All three are included free on every VeloCMS plan.
How do source-list pages work with affiliate links?
In Admin → Plugins, enable Affiliate Tracker and list the domains you want tracked (Chairish, 1stDibs, Design Within Reach, CB2, IKEA, Amazon, and others). Every outbound link to those domains gets wrapped with a tracked redirect, and Admin → Plugins → Affiliate Tracker shows the clicks on each one — so you can see which projects and which pieces get the most clicks. Sales and commissions are in the affiliate network's own dashboard. What it doesn't do: append your own affiliate ID to the link (you build that into the URL yourself, the way you would on any other platform) or render the FTC disclosure for you — write that text once and add it as a text block above your sourced items. You can still create dedicated 'Where to Shop' pages (e.g., /source-list/mid-century-modern-living-room) with the page-builder that list every piece from a portfolio project with your own sourced links.
Can I capture detailed client inquiry data — scope, budget, and timeline?
Yes. The inquiry form in VeloCMS captures structured fields: project type dropdown (residential full-scope / kitchen and bath only / commercial space / home staging / color consultation), approximate square footage (free text), budget range (under $20K / $20–50K / $50–100K / over $100K), preferred start timeline (immediately / 3 months / 6+ months), current style preference (Mid-Century Modern / Scandi / Japandi / Maximalist / Transitional / Not sure), and a free-text 'describe your space' field. Every submission is stored in Admin → Forms as a submission you review, and you're notified by email immediately. No Houzz intermediary, no lost leads.
Do mood boards have to live on Pinterest, or can I host them natively?
They can live natively on VeloCMS pages — and that's the better choice for SEO. A page at yourdomain.com/mood-boards/japandi-kitchen with curated images, material descriptions, and source links accumulates organic search traffic for queries like 'Japandi kitchen mood board 2026' — traffic that builds your domain authority, not Pinterest's. Pinterest boards are great for discovery and can stay as a secondary presence pointing back to your site, but the canonical reference should be on your domain. VeloCMS pages support image grids, color swatch blocks, embedded YouTube or Vimeo inspiration clips, and rich text commentary — everything a mood board needs.
Does VeloCMS take a cut of my design consultation fees?
No. VeloCMS charges 0% platform fee on any revenue you collect through the platform. When a client pays your $150 initial consultation fee or your $5,000 full-scope retainer through your VeloCMS checkout page, 100% of that payment goes directly to your Stripe account. The only transaction cost is Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee — the same rate you'd pay using Stripe on any platform. You paste your own Stripe secret key (copied from your Stripe dashboard, into Admin → Settings → Membership), and every payment goes directly to your bank account, not through VeloCMS.
Can I run Atelier Modern or Curator instead of Mid-Century Modern?
Yes. All three themes are included free on every plan. Atelier Modern is a better fit for contemporary design firms with a cooler, more restrained palette — Helvetica-driven typography, generous whitespace, and a layout that foregrounds photography without the warm-retro warmth of Mid-Century Modern. Curator is designed for high-end portfolio presentation with a gallery-white aesthetic, editorial column widths, and a quiet typographic hierarchy that feels closer to a museum catalogue than a design blog. You can preview all three at /themes/midcentury-modern, /themes/atelier-modern, and /themes/curator — and switch between them at any time from Admin → Themes without losing any content.
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Your portfolio deserves your domain.
Start your free trial with Mid-Century Modern. No lock-in, no Houzz subscription renewal, no template #47.