Updated: January 25th, 2024
If you have purchased a flat or planning to buy one, you may be wondering about the cost of interior designing services. How much does an interior designer charge to design and furnish a 2 or 3 BHK flat? This is probably the first generic question that you may like to ask. We often receive such question on rates and charges of interior designers and home furnishing. And that’s why this post, where I want to give you a good overview of the costs and charges of interior designers in major cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi NCR.
The interior designers work on a turnkey basis and also as consultants, and you can hire one, for your project, according to your needs and budget. And charges of interior designers depend on how you want them to engage on your project. When you hire an interior designer as a consultant, they may charge a flat fee or per square feet rates for the service. But in most cases, they engage on turnkey basis, which is the standard. For interior designing contracts, on turnkey basis, charges of interior designer vary on various parameters like scope of work, brand of materials and all.
Interior designers refer to the professional experts who know how to design and decorate the space to make it look good, without wasting any space. They will look at a space the way we can’t observe with our regular sight. Apart from the aesthetic look and feel, they ensure optimum utilization of available space. And whether you hire an interior design for design consultancy, or for turnkey execution of the project, the charges of interior designers may vary based on their experience, expertise and service quality.
Interior designing is a little cost extensive project and hence, it’s important for you to know all about it. Here, in this post, I am going to help you understand how much does an interior designer charge in India for residential or commercial interior projects.
General idea of charges of interior designers
The interior designers in India can charge INR 40-400 per square feet depending on the area and the kind of space. For a 2BHK flat or a space of 1000 sq feet, the interior designers can charge anything between INR 4 lakhs to 6 lakhs, depending on the scope of the project and the kinds of work to be done. If you are giving the interior designers your virgin flat of 2BHK area, then they can charge for it anything between INR 7 lakhs to 10 lakhs. Again, the experience and the portfolio of the designing company have to be taken in to consideration. In major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, the interior designers can charge anywhere between INR 600-1500 when they take the project on the turnkey basis.
The rates and charges of interior designers in India
The interior designers fix the rates on a variety of factors, such as:
- Your individual needs and preferences
- Your budget
- Cost of materials
- Brands of materials used
- Labour charges
- Kinds of lights and light fixtures used
- Type of the deal, contractual or turnkey basis
- Portfolio of the interior designer whom you have hired
- Size of the space to be designed
These bulleted points that I have mentioned above will give you an idea about the factors which play a major role in determining the cost of the interior designing of your space. Let me explain the points with some more details.
Individual needs and preferences
The space is your home and you want to design it as per your choice. A personal choice, a matter of subjectivity is playing a role here. Before you consult with an interior designer, you can obviously do your own research. Browse through the internet, the magazines, articles and decide what kind of design you want for your room. The interior designers will want to know your ideas and wishes before they proceed further.
Experience and credentials of the designer/firm
There are various kinds of interior designers all around; some specialize only in high end premium projects like the home of the celebs and other elite classes, while others entertain the projects of common homes and apartments. You have to find the professionals who are suitable for the kinds of projects you want. The professionals who are extremely reputed and have strong portfolios may charge a bit higher than the others. You must compare with at least 3 interior designing companies before hiring one particular one.
Size of the space to be designed
The expense is directly proportional to the size of the space in most of the cases. If the area is huge, then the expense will also be higher. The interior designing of a 3BHK flat is much more costly than designing a 1BHK flat. The professionals will first look at the area to be designed and only after proper evaluation they can give you an estimate.
Materials and Brand being used
The cost of materials will vary as per the brand. If you are buying the materials from local markets or shops then the expense will be lower than the branded materials. For example the cost of Godrej locks is much higher than any other ordinary locks, but again Godrej locks can assure safety and security which the ordinary products cannot. The cost of the raw materials will be included when the interior designers will fix the total cost of the project. Right from lighting to plumbing, wooden furniture to curtains, there are so many options out there. So many brands are available in various price ranges. You should use the brand that suits your need and budget. Branded materials are usually a little costlier, but that’s worth it. The materials will be in perfect condition at least for the next decade. But if you use the local products, then it may cost less, but it won’t last longer.
Labour charges
The interior designers hire their own labour for doing various kinds of tasks, when they will fix the rates of the whole project they will also include the labour charges.
Kinds of lights and light fixtures used
There are hundred types of lights that can be installed in the living room; it starts from Rs. 600 per pc to Rs. 5000 or even more. There are so many options and brands to choose from for electric switch wires, cables, faucets, tiles and what not. The light fixtures and other accessories are found in several places, and the interior designers often have their places from where they can get it at cheaper rates. There are some designers though who will find opportunity to charge you higher rates, so it is always better to compare the rates of the interior designers with the market, so that you can understand the price difference.
Type of deal, contractual or turnkey basis
Most of the interior designers in Bangalore or other major cities in India prefer turnkey projects and probably that’s the best way to get your home designed and furnished. Planning and designing is the most important part of the overall project and that’s where an experienced interior designing company adds value. They can turn an empty space into a highly optimized and great looking home. In case of turnkey projects, the price will be higher as the professionals will do each and everything here, the designs, blueprints, materials etc.
Your budget
Before you start with the venture of hiring a professional interior designer for your home, you must plan the budget. The interior designers will set the design layouts and the further designs according to your budget. Prior planning for your budget is the most important task your hand. The professionals will proceed with the task such that it does not exceed your budget. Keeping within the limits of the budget and then designing the home, this is something that the professional interior designers can do.
Over to you
The interior designers will turn your space more beautiful and functional by staying within the limits of your budget. The interior designing is no longer seen as a mere wastage of money. If you have a dream of making your home look gorgeous like the ones you saw in magazines, if you wish to earn accolades and praises from all your friends and relatives for your awesome home, then this is the solution. There are many interior designers in India, and you have to select only one. You cannot hire a particular company before comparing the rates with others. The rates tend to differ from company to company, so comparing before hiring is must. I hope, now you have an idea about how the interior designers charge in India.
Wish you luck!
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