Congratulations on buying a home with your hard-earned money that may have cost you lakhs or even crores. You have been eagerly waiting for the possession date and are excited to move into your new home soon after possession. You and your family members are doing research on all kinds of interior design styles and have come across thousands of images on Instagram or Pinterest. However, you have no idea about the right pricing, nor do you know the quality and affordability of those images.
Those images create a strong desire to own something attractive, and you must. But whether you have a budget constraint or not, you would still wonder about the biggest question at this stage: What should be the budget for interior design?
It involves several steps to allow you to develop a clear idea of how much you can spend and what expenses you can afford. The below steps will give you some insights:
- Determine what you need, what you want, and what you desire. Most importantly, understand the differentiation before you determine the scope of your project.
- Use a top-down approach to determine how much you can afford to spend and how much you are willing to spend before you decide how much money to allocate.
- The most important step is to divide the budget into different categories like modular furniture, loose furniture like beds or dining tables, lighting and electrical modifications, false ceiling, wooden flooring, masonry changes, soft furnishing like curtains, wall décor/painting wallpapers, etc. This would help you avoid overspending at the finishing stages of execution.
- Prioritize using what you ‘need,’ ‘want,’ or ‘desire.’ That will help you allocate appropriately. Also, it will help you make the right decision during the project execution due to clarity.
- Allow flexibility: Design is not mathematics. Desires are also not science. So it is good to keep aside some funds to adjust your budget if unexpected expenses arise. In most interior design projects, the cost escalation due to our changing desires could have an impact of around 10-15%.
Once you are familiar with the overall approach, understand what is the trend in the market. In India, the interior design costing approach varies between regions. The prices are influenced by:
- Location of the property – The cost of both material and labor influences the budget.
- The size of the property – Quite obviously, the cost for a 2 BHK would vary from a 3 BHK.
- The type of property – Villas compared to apartments would need more customization and have more space, thus influencing the budget.
- Material Used –
- The level of customization desired for the interior work.
As a simple thumb rule, however, based on carpet area, for quality work for basic to mid-range interior design, clients can allocate a budget of Rs 1500 to Rs 2500 per square foot. For high-end or luxury projects, the costs can go upward of Rs 3000/sq feet. Clients also need to put in some contingency funds as shared earlier. However, it is important to keep in mind that these figures can significantly vary lower or higher depending on the detailing and client requirements.
Another useful approach in deciding on a budget would be to keep a certain % of property value as your budget for interiors. If you wish to use this approach, you may want to look at the range of 10% to 25% of your property value (depending on your affordability as well).
As they say, however, the devil is in the details. So take the figures with a pinch of salt as the budget could vary based on the design styles you choose and the design elements you include. As an example, if the property is ‘New’ and requires ‘Minimal Modification,’ a minimalistic design style would need a budget at the lower end of the range. Alternatively, if you are looking for a design style that needs a lot of customization besides various elements of lighting and functionality or purposes, then you could end up at the higher end of the spectrum.
Consulting an experienced designer who has seen market shifts for a sufficient period would be a good idea to take Design consultancy.
There is also another interesting tip that you might find handy if your requirements and budget don’t fit in well (with requirements exceeding the present budget). In that case, the project can be phased out in two stages to manage expenses instead of overall compromising to fit the budget and requirements. As an example, if you have a 4 BHK villa, but your budget at present may not meet all your requirements, you may like to keep a bedroom interior (woodwork only) for later.
It is also important to keep revisiting your original assumptions on needs, wants, and desires as the images on the internet would continue to distract you.
Finally, guidance from a professional designer whom you can trust is the best approach.
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