How Much Does a Room Designer Cost?
Long gone are the days when you could paint your walls white or cream and live on. Modern day interior décor focuses on custom colors, molds, and decorations that only a professional room designer with experience can accomplish.
Your interior room designer will not only know how to plan the finishing and furnishing but also have the skill needed to give you the right design that matches your specific needs. Other than looks, property owners might be concerned about features like acoustics, temperature lighting, and aesthetics. This is where the importance of distinguishing between a room designer and interior decorator is important as the two terms are not totally interchangeable.
Interior decorators will be able to change the look and feel of your space with some new furnishings, new colors, a change of lighting, and some other smart touches. An interior designer takes into consideration your behavior within that very same space to create something more functional and attractive while also being able to boost the quality of life with some technical and creative solutions. In short, decorators decorate your room whereas room designers often work closely with architects and other contractors to help achieve the look and functionality you require.
What Affects Design Cost to Hire a Room Designer?
The cost to hire a room designer will depend on the kind of room you want to design and the different design features that go into it. Some other factors that will affect the overall cost will include:
- overall skill of the designer
- the intricacy of design features
- local market forces
How You May Be Billed
There are a few different ways for a professional to bill you if you want to design a room. Some companies earn most of their money by charging marked-up prices for materials. Others primarily bill by the hour. Another option is to quote a flat fee for each room or the entire house.
It's more common for room designers to charge businesses by the square foot, but only a few contractors are willing to offer this pricing method to residential customers. You're more likely to pay a flat fee for a large design project and hourly rates for small tasks. Regardless of how you pay, a retainer fee is often necessary.
Choosing a good designer ensures that you get exactly what you wanted for your room. A good designer will not only listen to your request but also have the ability to convert your vision and ideas into reality. Compare estimates from multiple room designers and ask the questions you need to. You will soon find a room designer that best fits your needs.
How Much Will It Cost To Hire a Room Designer?
Pricing room design and decoration is tricky. You will have to talk with the designer and explore your options before coming up with an accurate quote.
Hiring a professional room designer to get the job done can be anywhere within the $50 - $200 per hour bracket for smaller jobs. Larger jobs covering multiple rooms will usually be charged on a flat or fixed rate fee. However, the labor expense may be included in the price of materials.
The cost to hire a room designer, based on a national average, comes in at around $6,000 per room. This will include a flat design fee, materials, vendors, and any contractors. Typically, you will purchase the paint, wallpaper, rugs, furniture and similar items through the designer who receives these items from wholesale distributors after adding a 20% markup.
On the high end, you could pay as much as $10,000-$20,000 on a fixed fee which will cover design across multiple rooms.
If you would like a more accurate breakdown of the cost to hire a room designer, or you aren't quite sure what you need to be done just yet, it's usually possible to schedule an initial consultation at little or no charge. However, you could end up spending a minimum of $400 on a room designer which would likely only cover a 2-hour consultation.
The cost to hire a room designer not only depends on the abovementioned factors, but also differs by region. For example, living in an upmarket neighborhood is likely to cost more because there's greater demand for this service and higher business expenses for contractors. Compare estimates from room designers near you to get a more accurate idea of what you will be paying.
Room Design Cost Examples
Designing your room in a specific style has many benefits, but the rooms in your home will vary. Consider the following cost breakdowns:
Kitchen Designers
Kitchen designers will generally charge a percentage of the total cost of the project. The industry standard being 10%, depending on your region and current pricing trends. The cost to design a room, in this case, a kitchen, comes in anywhere between $22,100 and $59,999. However, smaller projects can even come in at $10,000 - $15,000. This puts the cost to hire a kitchen designer anywhere between $1,000 and $6,000.
It would be best to compare estimates from kitchen designers in your area. To get a clearer picture of what you could be paying, click here.
Bathroom Designers
Designers may bill you by the hour or they may offer to create the design in exchange for a flat fee. Regardless of the specific billing method, this service typically starts at around $1,400. A minimum two-hour labor charge may apply if the designer only works briefly. The national average is around $1,700, but hire a well-qualified professional to develop a sophisticated remodeling plan may reach $2,100.
The cost of a bathroom designer can vary by any number of factors. For a more detailed cost breakdown of bathroom designer fees click here.
How To Find The Best Room Designer
- Always verify the qualifications and go through previous work to ensure that the designer is up to the task
- Consultation might be free, but most of the honest room designers will charge you for a design mockup and subsequent implementation.
- Flat fee designers might not be the best at all times. Consider doing the math with hourly quotes to ensure that you keep the overall project cost in check
- If you go for an hourly quote, ask for a time estimate and even push for a deal that will prevent you from paying for any hours beyond the estimate
Remember to take charge of additional tasks that could make the room designer spend more time on your premises. This could include shopping around for fixtures and paints or getting the legal documents needed to implement room design.
Get In Touch With Local Room Designers
Understanding the complexity of your design needs before hiring will help you keep your expectations in check. Moreover, working with a local room designer would be a great idea and offers many benefits.
How To Get a Free Localized Estimate
Would you like to find out exactly how much your cost to design a room will be? Comparing estimates is the best way to see what's possible given your budget and current regional pricing trends. We can connect you with the best local experts for a totally FREE estimate on the cost to hire a room designer for your particular project.
