Jill Seidner Interior Design
  • Home
  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Services
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • ONLINE DESIGN

Design & the City

How To Set And Allocate Your Interior Design Budget

10/27/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Photo by Tomáš Malík from Pexels

So you’ve found the perfect home. All the purchase work is done. You’ve picked up the keys. Now all you have to do is move in and make it really yours. If you’ve moved before, you’ll know that this is often a challenge but can be a lot of fun. The key to keeping it fun is to set a realistic budget and stick to it. Here are some tips to help.
Start with an overall budget
​

A good rule of thumb is to allow 10% of your home’s purchase price for interior design. Then try to stay within 7% of the purchase price. That will allow you a bit of breathing space if you misjudge and/or if your plans have to change.

For clarity, your interior design budget is separate from the budget needed for any essential work on the house. For example, if your new home needs replacement windows then it’s advisable to budget for those separately. The main reason for this is that you don’t really have a choice about these tasks whereas you do with your interior design options.

A reasonable approach would be to add the cost of these to the purchase price of your home (since they are essential updates). Then allocate 10% of the cost of the update to your interior design budget.

Setting a budget of 10% may sound high. If you think about it, however, it is intended to cover all materials and labor for your whole new home with room to spare. If you already have furniture, you may be able to nudge down the budget by reusing what you have. Even if you don’t, you may choose to update your home in stages to make the costs more manageable.
Allocating your budget
​
Once you’ve set your budget, your next step is to allocate it. Generally, this is best done in two stages. Firstly, you’ll set a broad allocation. Secondly, you’ll finesse this broad allocation to suit your particular needs and wants. There are a couple of ways you can set a broad allocation. The first is by category and the second is by room.

If you’re setting a budget by category, then a good guideline to follow is:

Furniture 40%
Floorcoverings 15%
Wallcoverings 15%
Lighting 10%
Window treatments 10%
Accessories 10%

The reason wallcoverings and floorcoverings get a relatively high allocation is that you will often need professionals to install them for you. Even if you’re handy at DIY, the convenience and quality of work you get from professionals are often well worth the money. Remember, your time and energy both have a value.

Setting a budget by room can be a lot more challenging because there are so many variables. There are, however, two guidelines you may find helpful. The first is to think about the practicalities of the room (including its size). The second is to think about how much you will use the room.

These considerations should help to guide you to what percentage of your budget you should allocate to each room. You could then subdivide your budget into purchase categories based on your needs in that room. For example, a “living room” could also function as a dining room and office. This could justify it having a relatively large share of the budget.

Realistically, a lot of the time, you will probably need to use a combination of these two approaches. For example, you might have floorcovering and wallcovering budgets for the whole home but assign your budget for the other categories per room.
Picture
Photo by Emre Can Acer from Pexels
Prioritizing your budget
​

Prioritizing your budget is also best done in two, if not three, stages. Your first stage is to work out how much commitment each purchase involves. For example, you generally want to pick your furniture first because this typically has the biggest impact on a room’s functionality. Once you’ve picked your furniture, you can make all further design decisions with it in mind.

Your next priority should generally be your floorcoverings. Ideally, you’ll choose them immediately after you’ve chosen your furniture (or at least the main pieces). This is because floorcoverings can be disruptive to install. Even if you’re sticking with your existing floorcoverings and just adding rugs, it’s preferable to put down large area rugs before you add furniture.

After this, your priorities are essentially your preference. As guidance, however, a practical order would be lighting, window treatments, wallcoverings, and accessories. This essentially reflects both how much impact each category tends to have in a room and also how easy it tends to be to make changes.

As before, once you have a basic plan in place, you can then fine-tune this to suit your own situation. Essentially, you should be guided by the principle of allocating your budget according to where it makes the most difference. For example, if you don’t have a guest room, you might choose to pare back on accessories so you can afford a really high-quality sleeper sofa.
Splurging and saving
​

Unless you’re lucky enough to have an unlimited (or at least very high) budget, you’re going to need to get to grips with the concept of splurging and saving. The lower your budget is, the more important this concept will become.

As a rule of thumb, if you lie, sit or stand on it, you should splurge on it. You can save anywhere else. Saving can mean either going without (if only temporarily) or buying affordable pieces as “placeholders” until you can afford something better.

Paying close attention to this principle can lead you to unexpected but effective buying decisions. For example, if you need a new bed, then you generally want to spend your money on the mattress rather than the frame. Even though the frame is a lot more visible, it’s less important to the overall functionality of the room (and your comfort).

By contrast, you might want to spend extra money on furniture such as poufs. These are typically used either as footrests or for seating. Either way, investing in quality will give you a more comfortable experience. This in turn will create more flexibility. For example, you might even be able to use your poufs as backup dining chairs.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Design Services
    ​

    ​Looking for interior design help? Offering design consultations and online design for anyone, anywhere. Happy to help with any of your design needs!

    About

    Jill Seidner is a Los Angeles based Interior Designer specializing in commercial & residential interior design, design consultations, & online design services. She is active in the design community & also the Los Angeles blogger for the Material Girls Blog. For media kit and blog sponsorship info, click here.

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018

    Categories

    All
    City
    Design
    Designer
    Event
    Interior Design
    Lifestyle
    Party
    Products
    Travel

    Offering sponsored blog posts + social media campaigns, details here.

    RSS Feed

      Subscribe!

    Subscribe to Newsletter
    Picture
    Gift Cards E-Cards for Design Consultations, more info here.
    Picture
    Online Design: complete flat rate room design, for anyone, anywhere. More info here.
    Picture
    Book A Design Consultation On-Site or Online for anyone, anywhere! Details here
    Picture
    Window Treatment Consultations
    Picture
    Moving Day Services
    Picture
    Design Layouts, details here
    Picture
    Color Consultation for Interior/Exterior
    Picture
    Shopping Services
    Picture
    Flat Rate Kitchen Design here & Bathroom Design Package. Details here
    Picture
    Flat Rate Home Office Design, just $375 here.
    Picture
    Flat Rate Outdoor Design, $450. Details here.
    Picture
    Flat Rate Room Design for Kids! $500 per room, details here.
    Picture
    “Work with what you got!” - Room Makeovers. Details here.
    Picture
    Room Refresh! - Room accessorizing services. Details here.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Services
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • ONLINE DESIGN