How Much Does it Cost to Furnish your Home?
If you are finishing a new build or in need of new furniture or thinking of working with a designer, you need a ballpark figure of what it’s going to cost to fully furnish your house so that you can budget for it.
As always, there is no simple answer, but I can give you a pretty good estimate. A lot of variables come into play as far as where you shop and how custom you want your home to be, but the short answer is this:
Expect to spend $100 – 150 dollars per square foot to furnish your entire home or at least 20 percent of the home’s value. If you are doing a new build, you’ll need to figure in about 30% cost for furnishings and design.
WHAT ARE THE COSTS?
What’s Included?
When we talk about furnishing a house from start to finish, there are a lot of things included:
- Furniture
- Chandelier
- Rugs (+ a really great rug pad)
- Table lamps
- Artwork
- Curtains
- Styling Accessories
But when we are talking about completing a room, there are also costs that aren’t included like:
- Painting
- Wallpaper
- Wood or tile flooring
- Moldings
- Built-in Cabinetry
- Countertops
- Stonework/Masonry
- *Materials + Labor for all of the above
So make sure you take into account how fancy you want to get with your decorating project. Paint can make a huge difference, but once you start to add in custom moldings and stonework things begin to add up. (But rest assured your space will be exceptional!)
Design Fees
If you are working with an interior designer, there will be design fees as well. Now each designer charges in a different way, ranging from hourly to flat fee per project, but expect to spend anywhere from 20%+ of your furnishings budget (which should be based on the value of your home and level of products you want).
So if your home is valued at $2 million dollars, it will cost $200,000 to $400,000 to furnish your entire home — and the design fees could be $40,000+ if your designer charges a flat rate.
On the other hand if your home is $250,000, expect to spend $25,000- $50,000 on furnishings for the entire home. Likewise, the design fee would be $10,000 for that furnishings budget.
Tax, Shipping, Freight
In addition to design fees and furniture, artwork, rugs and lighting you will pay sales tax and shipping + freight on items.
If you order from stores online like Wayfair you are used to paying tax, but often times shIpping is “FREE” and is built into the price of the items. If you are purchasing through a designer, who has access to higher quality brands, they don’t charge shipping in their prices- it’s added on.
Additionally, freight – which is delivering large items, i.e. furniture, to a warehouse with a loading dock, and storing it at the warehouse – is charged separately. If you are using full service design, we also coordinating movers to bring everything to your house all at once, like an HGTV show for install day, which typically costs $900 a day for our movers to pick up all of the furnishings we selected, bring them to your home, unpack and arrange every piece and take the packing trash with them! (imagine all of the boxes for an entire home).
COST TO FURNISH A HOME PER ROOM
Now that we have covered the specific costs to furnish your home in general, let’s talk about actual costs to decorate and furnish rooms of your home.
Typically, we are hired for a) a new build, b) renovation of parts of your home, c) a few rooms at a time like living room, bedroom and powder bath to make them spectacular, d) kitchen designer for a day.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO FURNISH A LIVING ROOM?
A moderate living room is 300 sq feet and will cost approximately $30,000- $45,000 to furnish the entire living room. This quote includes using mid level designer brands for pieces + custom fabric for draperies and pillows.
- Sofa – $4,000 (x2)
- 2 chairs – $1,200 each
- Rug- $1,200
- Ceiling light- $1,400
- 4 lamps – $1,200
- 2 end tables- $1,600
- Coffee table- $1,800
- Throw blanket + pillows- $1,200
- Drapery panels- $6,000
- Bench- $1,200
- Console table- $1,000
- Artwork- $2,500
- Styling accessories $3,500
Total cost to furnish this room: $31,800
Plus you’ll need to add in tax, shipping, freight and design fees.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO FURNISH A DINING ROOM?
In a dining room, you can expect part of your cost to be for architectural details like molding or to go towards materials for wallpaper. It’s an otherwise bland room that we can really play up the personality with wallpaper and rugs.
Sample dining room budget:
- Dining Table- $5,000
- 8 Side Chairs- $3,500
- 2 Head Chairs- $2,500
- Sideboard- $1,500
- Rug- $5,000
- Table Lamps- $1,500
- Chandelier/Sconces- $2,000
- Artwork- $1,800
- Accessories- $2,500
- Draperies- $4,000
- Wallpaper- $3,500
- Sales Tax- $2,500
- Shipping- $3,500
- Warehousing- $1,200
- Wallpaper Installation- $2,400
The total cost to furnish and install a dining room like this, including shipping and tax is $42,400.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO FURNISH A PRIMRT BEDROOM ROOM?
Lastly, I will go over the cost to furnish a primary bedroom.
- King bed- $5,000
- Nightstands- $2,500
- Bedding- $2,500
- Rug- $2,500
- Dresser- $3,000
- Lamps- $2,000
- Chandelier- $1,800
- Wallpaper- $3,500
- Drapery- $5,500
- Lounge chair- $2,400
- Custom bench- $1,400
- Artwork- $2,500
- Full size mirror- $1,500
- Accessories- $3,500
Total cost to furnish a primary bedroom: $39,600
Again, here this example uses custom or semi-custom pieces and items from designer only lines, which provides you an extra level of uniqueness in your primary bedroom.
COST TO FURNISH A HOME
In summary, the cost to furnish rooms of your home through a designer is approximately $150/sq foot or $35,000 to $50,000 per room depending on how custom you would like the space.
With that said, if you can’t afford to spend this much on furnishings for one room, E-design is a great way to get a specific room plan for your style and then choose similar furnishings at a much lower price point. Between waiting for online retailers to have sales and shopping second hand in consignment shops and on eBay, you can save on a decorating project and fit it into your budget.
DESIGN SERVICES
Feeling inspired by these rooms? In addition to being a source for advice and details on home design, we are ready to assist with all of your interior design and interior decorating needs.
Our services range from DIY E-Design to Full Service Interior Design & Room by Room Selections. Each space will include layout and design options that fit your style and budget.
See our services and get started today!