Interior design fees depend entirely on project scope, location, and the depth of involvement you need. A residential apartment redesign in London operates on a different scale than a hair salon refresh or dental practice overhaul. Rather than a fixed ‘average’, your budget should reflect the complexity of your space, the number of rooms or zones involved, and whether you’re commissioning bespoke elements or working with existing structures. Understanding these variables — not a headline figure — helps you plan accurately.
Why interior design budgets vary so widely
There is no meaningful ‘average’ interior design budget because every project is fundamentally different. A single-room refresh in a residential flat operates under entirely different constraints than a full commercial fit-out. The studio’s work spans residential apartments in London, commercial salons, dental practices, and estate agent offices — each with distinct demands, timescales, and investment levels. What matters is not a national average, but your specific brief.
The primary drivers of cost are scope (how many spaces, how extensively they’re being reconfigured), location (London typically commands different resource allocation than a market town like Witham), and the degree of custom specification involved. A Concept, Design & Specification that requires bespoke joinery, finishes research, and multiple supplier relationships will reflect that complexity in the investment required. A straightforward refresh using existing structures costs less because the work is narrower.
How the studio’s process shapes what you invest
The studio works through five defined stages: Discovery, Concept, Concept, Design & Specification, Commission, and Reveal. Each stage builds understanding and reduces the risk of costly mid-project changes. The Discovery phase establishes your actual needs, spatial constraints, and intended use. The Concept phase develops the strategic direction. The Concept, Design & Specification phase produces detailed specifications, material selections, and supplier coordination. Commission manages the execution. Reveal delivers the finished interior.
Your budget allocation across these stages depends on how much strategic work your space needs. A residential apartment like the London Embankment Apartment may require deeper Discovery and Concept work to articulate how the space should function and feel. A commercial refresh like Fruittii Hair Salon may focus more intensively on Concept, Design & Specification and Commission, because the brief is often clearer upfront. Understanding which stages your project needs most helps you allocate investment where it creates most value.
What changes the investment required between projects
Commercial projects often require different planning than residential ones, but not always higher investment. Beaulieu Dental Practice, Fruittii Hair Salon, Keystones Estate Agent, and Tone at Canary Wharf are all commercial interiors, yet their scope and complexity varied considerably. A salon redesign centres on client experience, sight lines, and functional zones. A dental practice must address clinical requirements, patient psychology, and regulatory compliance. An estate agent office prioritises viewing experience and brand clarity. Each demanded distinct specialist thinking, reflected in the work’s depth.
Residential projects — whether the London Embankment Apartment or the Witham Project — typically require sustained engagement with how everyday life happens in the space. This often means more Discovery conversation, more material research, and more revision cycles during Concept, Design & Specification. Location matters too: London projects often involve dealing with listed building constraints, tight urban footprints, or complex logistics, which changes resource allocation compared to a market-town residence where spatial constraints may be different.
How to think about your budget realistically
Begin by defining your scope honestly: are you redesigning one room or five? Is the structure staying as-is, or do walls move? Are you commissioning bespoke joinery, or working with standard elements? Is this a cosmetic refresh or a functional overhaul? These questions determine whether your project is a contained Discovery-to-Concept conversation or a full Concept, Design & Specification requiring extensive supplier relationships and coordination.
The second step is to understand what you’re buying beyond ‘design’. You’re buying the studio’s ability to brief suppliers accurately, coordinate specifications so materials and finishes work together, manage timelines, and solve problems that emerge during Commission. This coordination work — not the aesthetic choices alone — typically justifies the investment, because it prevents costly errors and ensures the finished interior endures rather than dating or failing functionally.
The third step is to ask a studio directly how they work. How do they structure their engagement? Do they charge by the stage, by the project, or by the hour? What does each stage include? What happens if your scope changes mid-project? A studio that is transparent about its process — like explaining the Discovery, Concept, Concept, Design & Specification, Commission, and Reveal stages upfront — is helping you understand where your investment goes.
The relationship between budget and outcome
A lower budget does not automatically mean a worse interior, but it does constrain what is possible. Limited investment may mean focusing the studio’s work on one or two high-impact zones rather than a full redesign. It may mean prioritising strategic choices (colour, layout, key finishes) over comprehensive specification. It may mean working with existing structures and elements rather than commissioning new ones. None of these are failures — they are honest scope management.
Conversely, a larger budget does not guarantee a better outcome if it is not spent on what actually improves your space. A project succeeds when the investment matches the complexity of the brief and the studio’s thinking is applied to the decisions that matter most. The London Embankment Apartment, the Witham Project, Tone at Canary Wharf — each succeeded because the resource was proportionate to the spatial and functional challenges involved, and because the studio remained focused on permanence and restraint rather than trend-led novelty.
This is why the studio emphasises quiet luxury and competence-as-evidence. The finished interior should justify the investment by working beautifully for years, not by appearing expensive. That durability and functionality — not marketing rhetoric — is what makes the budget worthwhile.
Next steps: understanding your own project
To estimate your realistic budget, start with these questions: What is the footprint (total area and number of zones)? What is the primary problem you’re solving (worn finishes, poor layout, brand misalignment, functionality)? Are there any structural or regulatory constraints (listed building, clinical requirements, accessibility needs)? What is your timeline? Do you have existing suppliers or preferred materials you want to keep, or is specification open?
Once you have clarity on your own brief, a conversation with a studio will ground the investment in reality. Get in touch with the studio to discuss your project in Discovery mode — that conversation itself will clarify what your space actually needs, which is the only honest basis for a budget.