Hiring an interior designer costs anywhere from $2,000 to $14,000, excluding furnishing costs. The most important thing to remember is that the cost of hiring an interior designer will vary dramatically based on where you live, the designer’s experience level, your furnishings budget, and how extensive your design needs are.
What Is an Interior Designer
An interior designer is a professional who can not only redecorate a space for aesthetic purposes, but can also assist with redesigning to make a room more functional,
As with most professional services, you can always shop around and get a few quotes, but it’s essential to remember that you get what you pay for. Some designers charge by the project, some charge hourly, and some charge a commission percentage of the total price to redesign your home.
Before you decide to hire an interior designer, it’s essential to understand the financials. Here, we’ve broken down everything you need to know about the associated costs and how to decide if it’s right for you.
What Interior Designers Do
Interior designers can make a space more livable, more beautiful, and more functional depending on your needs. From redecorating a room to fully designing a space through renovations, they’re able to transform and personalize your home according to your goals and design preferences. Planning renovations, selecting paint, finding new furniture, and customizing fabrics are all things you can expect an interior designer to assist with.
While a lot of this can be done yourself, an interior designer can help with more complex projects (such as ones that involve renovations or changing the layout of a room). As for furniture and decor, an interior designer can not only help bring a vision to life by sourcing items you may not have been able to find yourself, but they can also facilitate more customized designs that aren’t readily available in a home decor store. They have access to fabrics, textiles, and more that you need a design license to purchase. If you’re looking for a truly unique and individual home, an interior designer is probably the right choice for you.
Average Cost to Hire an Interior Designer
Interior designers typically cost between $2,000 and $14,000 in total. While the national average in 2023 is $8,000, hiring a designer can cost as low as $200 for small projects or upwards of $65,000 for whole-home designs.
| Price Range | Hourly Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Low-end | $2,070 | $50 |
| Average | $8,086 | $100 |
| High-end | $14,609 | $200 |
Interior designers often charge in one of two ways: flat rate or by the hour. Again, this will depend on the professional you work with and how many rooms you want to be designed. If hiring an interior designer by the hour, you can expect rates to start at $100 for a junior designer. From there, the price can go up to $500 for the most experienced designers, but typical rates are around $150 to $200 per hour.
It’s also common for an interior designer to charge a retainer, which is an upfront fee paid for a portion (often up to 30%) of the designer’s total fee. A designer can also earn a commission on the furniture and items they buy for a home. While not all interior designers do this, you’ll find some of the more high-end ones will. The commission can be anywhere from 10% to 35% of the item’s total cost.
In the end, the price shouldn’t be your only determining factor. It’s essential to find a designer who understands your design style and has a similar communication style to you. Finding the right fit is as much about personality as it is about taste and cost.
Interior Designer Price Factors
The size of your home, the number of rooms you have, the region of the country where you are, and your budgetary constraints will determine the price. A flat rate will often be determined by how many hours your designer expects to spend on the project.
- Project scope: Beyond just the square footage of a project, price can be determined based on what the overall goal is, how extensive work is, how aggressive a timeline needs to be, how complex certain projects may be, etc.
- Project needs: Project costs fluctuate based on a small project, like one room, vs. a large project, like the whole home. A single room usually costs around $2,000 but can reach five-figure sums. An entire house design usually starts around $5,000 and goes up from there.
- Location: Designer costs vary based on your location in the country. For example, you can expect to pay more in large metropolitan cities like Los Angeles and New York.
- Home size: Typically, designers charge $5 to $15 per square foot. The larger the space, the costlier the project.
- Budget: Consider your budget. You will need to pay for all the furnishing and decor, which can cost $2,000 to $5,000 over the designer’s fee. A designer can incorporate high-end and low-end finishes to make the project work for your budget.
- Designer experience: While someone new to design without a large portfolio may be more budget-friendly, high-end interior designers that are more sought-after will run on the higher end of the price spectrum.
What Do You Get With an Interior Designer?
There are many different ways to work with an interior designer. For example, you can consult them on a single project. Say you love a specific couch, but you’re struggling to pair it with suitable easy chairs or don’t know what type of rug would work best. Here, you’d work with a designer hourly, and they would help you come up with ideas to address this specific need.
On the other end of the spectrum, you can hire your designer to create a whole room’s look and feel. In this scenario, you would sit with an interior designer and tell them what you like, dislike, feel you are trying to create, and more. They will move forward with these ideas and develop options that work perfectly in your space. The larger or more unusual the space, the longer it may take to create the right design.
You can also hire an interior designer to help pick finishes for your renovation. If you’re redoing your primary bathroom, an interior designer can help you choose the right flooring or backsplash.
Does an Interior Designer Buy Furniture?
Whether your interior designer buys your room’s furniture is typically up to you. You can ask your designer to develop a few specific options for each piece, and then you can purchase them on your own if you’d like. This allows you to make the final selection and purchase however you want.
The other option is allowing your interior designer to purchase furniture from vendors they work with. Often, interior designers have unique relationships with specific vendors and can get you a discount that may not otherwise be available to you. You set the budget, and your designer will find pieces that fit within your range. This option can save you time and allow your interior designer to commission custom pieces that fit your space.
If you’re considering hiring an interior designer, it’s essential to know that the costs can add up. That being said, working with a designer to create your dream space will often save you money in the long run and ensure that every piece of furniture you buy is perfect for your home.