What the interior design fee pays for
Founded on the millimetre survey of the existing state, the design of a home develops through the definition of the budget, the regulatory and structural checks, the study of layout, services and light, through to the working drawings and the direction of the site. It is meticulous work, preceding the first image by months and, once the works are complete, no longer visible. The fee rewards this work and the responsibility of safeguarding a significant investment. A design error multiplies costs, a late variation stretches both time and spend, and much of the value resides in anticipating problems while they are still simple to correct.
The variables behind the cost of a project
Every proposal grows out of a dedicated analysis, because no two contexts are alike and no uniform rate card could describe them. These are the variables of greatest consequence:
- Extent of services: from the preliminary design alone to the complete direction of the site, with bespoke furniture, lighting and final styling.
- Depth of intervention: renewing surfaces and redrawing an entire layout are commitments of a different order.
- Timescales: a few concentrated months or a longer arc give the studio different margins for depth and planning.
- The building itself: historic or listed properties demand a technical and bureaucratic sensitivity that recent buildings do not; distance from Milan affects logistics and site presence.
- Outdoor spaces: terraces, gardens and courtyards are projects in their own right, in dialogue with the interiors, and they weigh more when their surface approaches that of the rooms.
- Systems and regulations: adapting existing installations, meeting current requirements, integrating advanced technology.
- Expected impact: how much the intervention will raise, over the years, the value of the home and the quality of living.
Indicative fee ranges per square metre
Fees follow the intensity of the intervention and lie between €150/m² and €450/m². The first figure corresponds to a focused renewal, where surfaces, decoration and lighting are refreshed without building work, the second to a complete renovation, with the layout redrawn, the services overhauled, furniture designed to measure and the site followed from opening to handover. Most engagements come to rest between these two extremes. By way of example, the partial renovation of a 95 m² apartment in the historic centre of Milan, with a medium-high level of detail, carried a fee of around €31,500. The studio’s engagements carry a minimum fee of €10,000, below which our method cannot be applied in full.
From first contact to signed contract
Before formulating an offer, we make sure the conditions exist for the rigour the project demands. The path unfolds in a few steps:
- Preliminary analysis: size of the property, objectives, order of magnitude of the budget.
- First conversation: a direct meeting, at the studio, by phone or on site, to understand priorities and expectations.
- Documents: up-to-date plans, photographs, confirmation of budget and timing. A note of functional priorities proves valuable: the quality of light, a place to work, more storage, a view worth opening up.
- Formal proposal: the document sets out the working phases, the services included and the fees.
- Contract: once the proposal is approved, we formalise the engagement with deadlines, services, payment terms and protections for both parties.
Everything shared at this stage is treated in confidence.
When budget and expectations do not align
Every studio has its own field, and a collaboration works when method, expectations and investment correspond. If the available budget is not equal to what the project requires, we prefer to say so frankly at the first meeting, rather than accept compromises that would end up betraying the client’s vision along with our own criteria.
The fee as protection of the investment
A carefully drafted proposal sets out with exactness the services, responsibilities, deliverables and fees. Within that frame the client knows the destination of every figure and the studio what it is called to hand over, and the project proceeds from engagement to handover without the contract needing to be reopened.
