How much does it cost to fully furnish your home, room by room?
Perhaps you are tired of the same old furniture, uninspiring style, and poor lighting in your home. Or you recently purchased a new home, and are staring at empty rooms, with no clue where to start.
All you know is that you would love to transform your space with beautiful, functional and elegant furnishings. However you may be wondering…how much will it cost to achieve this?
Today I am going to share some inside information on how to realistically estimate the cost of fully furnishing your home, room by room.
Be sure to sign up for your complimentary Design Investment Guide: Furnishing Your Home at the bottom of this blog post, a super helpful guide with estimates and tips on where to splurge & where to save.
Right photo: Eric Striffler
Planning for your furnishing investment
Before making any design decisions, or buying anything, consider how long you plan on living in your home. This will determine how you approach your furnishing investment.
If you intend to sell your home within a few years (5 years or less), consider easy to transport furnishings that can adapt to a new space, such as rod-mounted drapery, and modular or standard-sized furniture.
If you plan on enjoying your home for many years, investing in more custom furnishings is perfect. For example, a built-in shelving unit around your fireplace, custom luxury drapes and one-of-a-kind pieces that work with the architecture of the space.
Photography by Lucy Shaeffer, Styling by Ed Gallagher
The breakdown of a furnishing estimate
Furnishing projects have many moving parts, however a typical full furnishing estimate can be broken down into three essential components: product, shipping/freight and installation.
This excludes design fees and other home improvement costs, such as painting or refinishing floors. We are solely focusing on furnishing costs at this point.
The majority - roughly 70% - of your furnishing expenses, will go toward purchasing products, including local sales tax.
Approximately 15-20% of the cost of your project will go toward shipping, freight and delivery. Where you fall on this scale will depend on whether you are buying the products directly, or working with a designer who will purchase the products for you, store them at a receiving warehouse, and deliver & install them in your home.
The remaining 10-15% of your furnishing costs will cover any required installation fees, such as window treatments, minor electric work for fixtures and custom furniture assembly.
© Natura Interiors LLC
Choose Quality over Quantity
The cost of furnishing each room in your home will depend on two things: the number of items you select, and the quality of these items.
If anyone tells you to base your furnishing estimate on a percentage of the cost of your home, please ignore them. I have seen 300K homes with exquisite furnishings that probably cost as much as the property itself. And I have seen hugely expensive homes furnished with discount furniture that is more appropriate for a dorm room.
If you choose retail products, your estimate will be at a lower price-point. If you select higher quality items, such as custom pieces and furnishings exclusive to designers, your estimate will be on the higher end.
When working on furnishing projects, I typically mix more affordable pieces with a few select high-quality items that stand out from the rest. I always aim for QUALITY, rather than quantity.
© Natura Interiors LLC
Creating a furnishing estimate room by room
Start by choosing your favorite room (or the one in most dire need of help). Next, download your Design Investment Guide (see details below) to help you create a list of items and a basic furnishing estimate of your room.
The estimates in my guide includes a low and a high range of product costs. This will help you decide where to splurge and where to save…remember it’s OK mix & match retail with luxury items until you achieve a number, and style, you can live with!
Once you have your totals, add a line each for shipping/freight, sales tax and potential installation costs.
As a point of reference, a starting price-point to furnish a family room is approximately $30K, while a high estimate can be up to $100K. Fully furnishing a master bedroom can range anywhere from $20K on the lower end, to $65K on the higher end. It all depends on the desired level of luxury, and how many items you need.
The benefits of working with an interior designer
I highly suggest working with a professional interior designer to help you create a cohesive vision for your space, and select & purchase all your products.
When we embark on a Full-Service furnishing project, we handle all aspects of the design and logistics, from start to finish, including developing a detailed estimate. The experience of having this white-glove service is truly worth it, and will allow you to enjoy the process…and most importantly, love the outcome.
Design fees vary from one designer (and one project) to another. For the most part, you can anticipate to add 20-25% above your furnishing estimate for design fees.
In my Design Investment Guide, I also provide a transparent overview of our Full-Service Design fees at Natura Interiors and starting investment, to provide you with clarity on how we work.
Photography by Eric Striffler
I hope I have shed some light on how to estimate the cost of fully furnishing your home, so you can plan for this important and exciting investment. Just imagine how you will feel walking into your newly transformed space - one that is filled with carefully selected pieces that reflect your personality, elegance and joy.
Please be sure to sign up to receive your complimentary Design Investment Guide: Furnishing Your Home below!
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post today :)
Warmly,
Alejandra