There’s a lot of mystery surrounding interior design and the costs you should expect when renovating, remodeling, and/or decorating your home. Money can be a bit uncomfortable to talk about, but setting clear expectations for my clients from the get-go is paramount. Once a budget is established, everyone can relax knowing that your designer is working hard to make your dream home a reality.

A lot of different factors influence the budget, but today we’re breaking down the real cost of decorating a living room—one of the most important rooms in your home.

The Living Room

The living room is often the most expensive to furnish and decorate due to its size and function as a high-use space. It’s a place that brings the family together, a place for rest and entertainment, and because it preserves so many functions it needs to be comfortable and durable for an active family. KPD’s philosophy is to invest in higher-end fabrics and finishes for the larger items so that they stand the test of time and all the functions they have to serve. We always will choose to invest in quality larger pieces and value-engineer the smaller items that will be updated more frequently.

Fact: Interior Design Costs Aren’t One-Size-Fits-All

• Every designer has their own unique pricing scale and many designers prefer to keep pricing private between themselves and clients/potential clients because each project and its complexity is unique.
• The three things that make up your budget are:
  • Design Fees
  • Furniture and Decor Costs
  • Construction Costs

Tip: Prepare For Sticker Shock

In our initial consultation, I like to educate my clients on the interior design process and keep everything transparent. This is also discussed in more depth at our first in-person meeting. I always tell my clients to expect sticker shock when they see the total costs of furnishing a room, and especially a living room due to the amount of furniture it requires. Why is this? Well, most people don’t furnish a home all at once, items are slowly bought over many years, or handed down from family so most aren’t used to seeing the bottom line upfront. The interior design process is about completing rooms and while it’s a big number, it’s well worth it for having a space that is beautiful, functional, and completely finished.

At KPD, we only take on full room designs— this assures that the end result of the project meets all of our expectations of being functional, comfortable, and beautiful. While some designers do take on partial rooms, in our experience everyone is happiest when the room feels complete at the end of the project.

Budget Breakdown: Cost of Decorating a Living Room

ITEM	High-End Budget	Mid-Range Budget	Economy Budget
Sofa	$8,000	$5,000	$2,000
Loveseat	$5,000	$3,000	$1,000
Armchair	$3,000	$1,500	$800
Coffee Table	$2,500	$1,000	$500
Side Tables	$1,000	$500	$250
Floor Lamp	$2,000	$1,000	$500
Table Lamps	$1,000	$500	$250
Console Table	$2,500	$1,000	$800
Rug	$8,000	$4,000	$1000
Art	$5,000	$3,000	$600
Pillows	$2,000	$1,000	$500
Window Treatments	$6,000	$3,000	$1000
Accessories	$4,000	$2,000	$800
TOTAL:	$50,000	$26,500	$10,000

Get the Look: English Hill West Living Room

Above you’ll find both lookalike retail products and a selection of actual sources from this project. We value creating unique spaces for our clients and that often means using custom, trade-only, and one-of-a-kind items in our designs—those of which we aren’t able to disclose out of respect for our clients. Thank you for your understanding!