Let’s try to answer the question: how much will an interior design project cost? The most honest answer you can hear is – it depends! Today, I’ll explain these variables so that when comparing offers from different design studios, you can evaluate them in the proper categories.
The standard pricing model in our industry is per square meter. There’s an ongoing discussion about hourly billing. Some studios charge hourly, some per square meter, some use a combined approach, and there’s also a method of billing as a percentage of the investment value. When discussing a project without supervision, you might encounter a price range between 300 and 900 PLN/m², 300 – 600 PLN/h, or 6-8% of the investment value. What causes this discrepancy? I can list 7 main variables influencing the final price: project scope, investment size, experience, insurance, brand and prestige, presentation, and location.
Project Scope
The scope of the project you receive largely matters. I invite you to visit our Offer tab, where I describe in more detail the various possible project scopes and the differences between them. Here, I’d like to focus on the pricing aspect. However, it’s crucial when analyzing a quote to check whether projects priced by different studios have the same components. Projects differ in their Level of Detail (LOD), and it’s obvious that for different investments, we’ll need different project scopes. We’ll approach tenant changes or an initial investment assessment differently, i.e., checking if it’s even worth buying (LOD 200 – approx. 200 PLN/m²). And differently for a typical developer’s apartment, with simple changes, finished to a simpler standard (LOD 300 – approx. 400 PLN/m²). And yet differently for a dream home, apartment, or historic townhouse, where there will be more structural complexities or more industry-specific requirements (LOD 500 – approx. 500-1000 PLN/m²). Each option is good; they differ in the number of details resolved, and thus – in price.
Investment Size
When discussing pricing, the size of the investment must be considered. First, you should check what square footage the studio handles, as some studios set limits and do not work with areas smaller than, for example, 100m². It then turns out that designing them is similar to buying apartments: the price per m² is higher for smaller apartments or houses. Why is this? I can explain this using the example of a 100m² and a 200m² apartment. For these two sizes, even though the space is twice as large, both will include: two bathrooms, a kitchen (or kitchenette), a living area, a hallway, a walk-in closet, a corridor, and three bedrooms/rooms. In a 200m² apartment, functionally, we’ll add two rooms, one bathroom, and a walk-in closet (maybe two), and an office. This, in terms of preparing the entire project and its subsequent stages, will take more, but not double, the working hours in the studio. Designing a living room, dining room, and kitchen of 40m² or 70m² takes a similar amount of time, as does designing a bedroom of 12m² or 25m². Therefore, the price per notional m² varies depending on the investment size.
Experience
Market experience is of immense importance for the subsequent execution of the project you receive. In the age of AI, which renders beautiful visualizations in the blink of an eye, and hyperrealistic visualizations where, upon visiting a studio’s website, you might struggle to tell if it’s a completed project or a visualization, it’s crucial whether a project comes from an experienced architect who has seen many projects through, or from someone who knows the software very well but not the realities of construction. And this has nothing to do with talent or a superb artistic sense, but rather with whether a given designer can ensure the execution of a beautiful detail from a visualization. Can they draw this detail, or just visualize it? Can they foresee how many people are needed to transport and bring in elements? This is the know-how that is a component of the final project price.
Insurance
For some of you, it might be important whether the studio is insured against design errors. We are only human and we make mistakes. Show me at least one interior architect who has never made a mistake, miscalculated, or provided an incorrect catalog number for an order? There are none. “Even” AI makes mistakes, but at least for now, no one will insure it. So, we all make mistakes, and the only question is, how do we respond to them? Do we avoid responsibility, or if the mistake is on our part, can we admit it and fix it? And if we fix it, do we have the means to do so, or are we additionally insured against it? Since projects involve costs in the hundreds of thousands and millions of zlotys, it’s more reassuring to have insurance. An interior architect can have business insurance, and you can ask them to include an additional scope of insurance tailored to a specific investment in the contract. It’s worth asking your interior architect about this. And if they have insurance, keep in mind that this is also a component of the interior design project price.
Brand and Prestige
Brand prestige, the number of awards won, publications, or the type of completed projects. In Poland, there isn’t one name or one studio, or a Top 5 list, that everyone would point to as the best in the industry in a given segment. If, when thinking of a luxury car, you think Bentley, Rolls Royce, or Ferrari, what do you think when considering a brand in Interior Architecture? Which one would you name? I assume everyone would find their Top 5. However, objectively, you must be aware that if a studio has publications and can boast awards, Polish or international, it means that an external jury has positively evaluated the studio’s work as interesting in some aspect. It also means that the studio was willing to prepare an application for that competition, which sometimes requires a lot of work. And it also means that if you care about a studio that can boast such awards, it will certainly be a component of the project price.
Presentation
The project’s presentation and the graphic design method also matter. We work in the design industry, so even a technical drawing can be good or bad graphic design. Some of you won’t notice this at all, and it’s not important to them. However, for some of you, such small touches and details can matter. Perhaps this can be explained with an example of a shipment. Do you unwrap a handbag wrapped in newspaper and packed in a random milk carton with the same pleasure as a handbag wrapped in a fabric pouch and packed in a simple, minimalist box? Of course, we can discuss ecology here, but let’s assume that both the pouch and the box can be reused at home. Functionally – the content is the same, but the unboxing experience itself is different. And just as preparing packaging requires additional time and materials, so does the graphic presentation or preparation of a project. And this will also be a component of the price.
Location
The last point I’m listing here is location. However, it encompasses more than just that. It’s not about the district or town, although office rental costs vary depending on location. Rather, it’s about whether the studio has an office and all associated costs. Does the studio have a team of people, or is it one person handling the entire process? I will address travel to the investment site in an article on supervision or coordination costs, because in the design process, travel might be a one-time cost, for example, as part of an inventory. However, all these elements will influence the final price of an interior design project.
I hope I’ve shed some light on the variables that influence the final price of an interior design project. If you have any further questions, please write to: kontakt@morelewska.com.
Best regards,
Malwina
