How To Budget For Your Interior Design Project

Hello and a warm welcome. I'm Kayla and I design lovely living spaces for lovely people.

Today, I'm here to explain all the different parts of an interior design project budget. The simplest part or what should be the simplest part is the

1) Interior designer’s design fee

I recommend either working with a flat fee designer or a flat percentage designer meaning that either they charge you a set dollar amount for their design services or they charge you a set percentage of your total budget. Most designers who charge a flat dollar amount charge between $10,000 and $20,000 per room so if that sounds like it's out of your budget, a flat percentage fee designer like myself charges 10% of your total design budget leaving 90% for the actual project, thus keeping the design fee in healthy proportion to the project. So that is the first thing to budget for - is 10% for your designer.

Is there construction involved?

If so, you'll need to work with a

2) Contractor

Interior designers are not legally permitted to act as contractors or sell you a contractor's services, so any construction will need to be between you and the contractor. Just keep your interior designer informed throughout your project so that they can design your space correctly in accordance with whatever your contractor is doing.

The next thing you need a budget for is

3) Furniture and decor

While I wish I could tell you that this is where the other 90% goes, that's not at all the case. The furniture prices you see online or even in a store are just for the furniture. It doesn't include getting that giant sofa into your living room without damaging it and that is where

4) White glove delivery

comes in and it is pricey. Not only do you need to budget for white glove delivery, but you also need to coordinate with the suppliers so that your furniture is white glove delivered to you on the same day which is tricky and sometimes not fully possible, so as close as you can get it. But, if you've hired a designer, you really don't have to deal with this. Your designer will take your budget and fit everything into it perfectly without you having to deal with all of the details and organization. But, it is important to know that when you're looking at furniture prices, how very different the final cost is when white glove delivery is factored in. And then of course, there's the

5) Protection plans

Every investment that is $1,000 or more that offers a protection plan, I absolutely recommend purchasing that protection plan. Even if the product is just a few hundred dollar product, it's still worth a protection plan if it's offered. You will also need to budget for a

6) Handyman

or a contractor on installation day and this is even if you haven't had a contractor for the rest of the project. You'll want someone there to install lights and things like that. You’ll also want to budget for the

7) Mini-vacation during the 1-3 day installation phase

That covers the large parts of an interior design budget.

If you have any questions, please leave them for me in the comments below and if you're looking for interior designer and would like to see if I'm the right interior designer for you, I encourage you to schedule a free virtual meet and greet with me through the button above. I sincerely wish you all the best in your journey of creating your lovely living spaces. See you next time.