So, have you thought about a budget for your design project?

This is a question I’ve asked hundreds of times and about 90% of the time clients respond stating they have no idea how much designing their home will cost. And honestly, how could you? Between grossly understated tv design projects and mass retail cheapies available everywhere, it’s hard for homeowners to really grasp quality furnishing and design costs.

The truth is , it varies. There are design tiers, differentiated most by quality. Thus, determining your interior design budget will require you to understand what best suits your lifestyle and what you will receive whether you fall in the low, mid, or high range.

How to Start Creating Your Interior Design Budget

Let’s illustrate how much one room can vary in price :

This formal sitting room was created for less than $15k using retail pieces. This was a DIY project where the client ordered and received everything herself. The biggest thing to note is that the client does not use this room regularly , so the quality of the pieces wasn’t a major factor when creating a design. The client also had time to do her own shopping , receiving and installing.

On the other hand, this formal sitting room was more than $50k. Even at firdt glance, you can see there was a considerable difference in budget and the visual aesthetic of the two rooms. Although a much bigger investment, I am confident my client’s furnishings will be in tip top shape for the next 10 plus years.

As you can see, just one room can vary widely in budget from one client to the next. When starting to budget for your design project , I recommend starting with a budget of 20% your home value, assuming you’d be furnishing your entire home. If you plan to renovate your kitchen and bathroom the budget will be considerably higher.

Full Service Interior Design Budget Chart

The ranges  below are a good starting point for developing your design budget by room.

	Low	Mid	High
Living Room	$15,000	$35,000	$50,000+
Master Bedroom	$20,000	$35,000	$45,000+
Guest Bedroom	$12,000	$25,000	$40,000
Dining Room	$15,000	35,000	$60,000+
Powder Room	$5,000	$12,000	$20,000+
Kid’s Bedroom	$10,000	$25,000	$40,000
Home Office	$12,000	$25,000	$35,000
Kitchen	$45,000	$65,000	$85,000+
Master Bathroom	$40,000	$65,000	$85,000+
Guest Bathroom	$25,000	$35,000	$50,000+

These ranges will vary widely based on the quality of your fixtures, finishes, construction involved, room size, etc. I recommend that budget be discussed with your interior designer upfront so that you are able to set reasonable and comfortable expectations before your project starts. At The Glass Touch , we begin to develop a client budget during our first meeting with our clients, the in-home consultation.

Overcoming Sticker Shock

Can we say sticker shock ?

The cost of full room design always seems to come as a shock to homeowners who have never worked with an interior designer. After all , as consumers, we rarely ever do it all at once. Think of your bedroom , you probably purchased your bed first because you absolutely needed one when you moved in. Then, later on bought some other pieces for storage and styling. Oh, and then you decided you wanted a really nice chandelier instead of that old fan a few months after growing tired of looking at it . Not realizing the cost these individual items were adding up to in total. A good interior designer will present you with the whole package to ensure cohesiveness and to save you time and money! Yes, working with an interior designer not only gives you access to showroom exclusives but your designer’s preferred pricing as well.

The ranges above would apply to full service projects where the designer sources quality trade furnishings and facilitates the project from conception, through project management to installation.

Consult Your Interior Designer

Tackling your home in phases is a great idea to manage your budget if doing all rooms at once seems like a big commitment. Talk to your designer to prioritize which rooms you would like to focus on first and set a timeline for when to start the subsequent phases.

Need help creating a budget and design plan for your home? Book a 30-minute discovery call with our team here. We would love to hear more about your project.