Definition and limits
A complete budget includes all items related to the transformation of the space: building works, services, supplies, installation, labour and taxes. Outside this scope remain the studio fee and any third-party professionals involved in specific phases, such as structural engineers or specialist consultants. Everything connected to the possible purchase or sale of the property follows its own logic. Defining the budget does not mean imposing a limit, but setting the operational course: it indicates the extent to which we can calibrate materials, bespoke solutions and the intensity of the intervention, aligning investment and expectations.
The components of a complete budget
An interior design project requires a view of the budget that embraces every level of the work, not only the apparent cost of furniture and finishes. In a complete framework, among others, the following items are included:
- Preliminary consultancy by other professionals: feasibility studies, structural checks, planning procedures and everything that precedes the opening of the site;
- Building works: demolition, new partitions, screeds, plastering, consolidation works, as well as permits, street occupation, scaffolding and waste disposal;
- Services: electrical and plumbing systems, heating and cooling, mechanical ventilation and any special systems;
- Fixtures, coverings and finishes: windows and doors, flooring, wall cladding, paints, wallpapers and surface treatments;
- Labour and installation: time on site for all trades, from builders to joiners and through to specialist installers;
- Furniture and fittings: bespoke joinery, serial pieces, technical equipment, seating, tables, storage, planting and green elements;
- Textiles and decoration: curtains, rugs, wallpapers, coverings and various decorative elements;
- Lighting: technical and decorative fittings, control systems, accessories and installation;
- Transport, delivery and logistics: complex access, delivery to upper floors, the need for lifting equipment and additional handling time;
- Contingencies, adjustments and sundries: what emerges during demolition and testing, regulatory updates, and the minor corrective works that become necessary along the way.
Artworks and collectible pieces do not fall within this framework: they are treated as a separate investment chapter.
Hidden costs and awareness
The most significant budget deviations rarely arise from a single obvious choice; more often they come from silent, often overlooked items that are not considered at the outset: site charges, waste disposal, temporary works, complex deliveries, demanding installations. Multiplied by the number of suppliers, these components quickly become decisive. The most critical contingencies concern structures and services, particularly in the refurbishment of existing buildings, especially historic ones: the real condition only becomes clear once the site is open and the first inspections have been carried out. Part of our work lies in bringing these variables back into a readable whole, helping the client to build a realistic budget based on current prices and a complete understanding of the items involved.
How we share and control the budget
To retain control over the overall spend, we use a shared digital file, accessible both to the studio and to the client. Its structure is simple, but the content is precise: for each item we record the amount, supplier, status of the quote, approvals, payments and operational notes. We update it whenever a change occurs, so that the client always has an up-to-date picture of the investment. The client can add annotations and comments, while the economic entries themselves remain under the studio’s responsibility, to ensure consistency and traceability. This tool has a direct impact on the atmosphere of the project: it removes blind spots, makes the impact of each choice immediately visible and allows everyone to reason on concrete figures. Transparency is not a rhetorical device, but a working condition: understanding how resources are distributed makes the client more at ease and gives the studio greater freedom to propose ambitious, sustainable solutions.
Allowing for contingencies
From experience, we consider an inherent degree of variability of around 15% of the overall budget. It is not an amount set aside or transferred to the studio, but a safety margin we suggest keeping in mind to absorb:
- additional requests that emerge once the project is underway;
- structural or technical adjustments that could not be foreseen in the preliminary phase;
- possible price fluctuations on raw materials and supplies.
The aim is to prevent inevitable contingencies from turning into tension or frustration. We always work to remain within the agreed budget, and it is not unusual to complete projects in line with or slightly below the initial figure: what matters is that the client is aware of the possible variation from the outset, rather than discovering it at an advanced stage of the site.
Investment bands and budget distribution
Each project has its own scale and story, but we can outline three indicative investment bands for a turnkey intervention with an excellent level of execution:
- Light updating interventions: around €500/m², to update surfaces, colours, some services and part of the furnishings without overturning the layout and the underlying logic;
- Partial refurbishments: around €1,000/m², when several rooms are involved, with targeted building works, service upgrades and a carefully balanced combination of bespoke and serial furniture;
- Full refurbishments: from €1,500/m² upwards, to completely redesign the space, upgrade services, introduce numerous bespoke elements and manage the project through to the delivery of fully furnished interiors.
Within these bands, a broad guideline for distributing the budget might be:
- 25% for building works and services;
- 35% for serial and bespoke furniture;
- 15% for finishes, coverings and decorative elements;
- 15% for technical and decorative lighting;
- 10% for ancillary costs, contingencies and adjustments during execution.
These are indicative values, to be adapted to the character of the property and to the needs of those who will live there: for example, someone who sees the kitchen as the heart of the home may consciously decide to concentrate more resources there and simplify other areas of the house that are less central to their everyday life.
Errors to avoid
The most difficult deviations to manage almost always stem from three factors: underestimating the weight of building works and services by focusing only on furniture; ignoring transport and assembly, which have a significant impact especially in complex contexts; or concentrating a large part of the budget on a few iconic pieces while sacrificing the overall quality of the space. A lucidly set budget allows these to be avoided: planning before starting means not having to stop along the way, not having to renounce parts of the project for having invested disproportionately in a single item, and not being forced to accept compromises dictated by urgency.
A budget aligned with the quality of living
For us, the budget is not a constraint that limits the project, but a tool that allows it to be built with precision. When it is defined with care, the process is linear, contingencies are absorbed without concern and every aesthetic choice rests on a solid financial base. The quality of living is closely linked to the degree of attention, both design and economic, that one chooses to devote to a space. A carefully considered budget does more than keep costs under control: it allows a coherent, complete place to emerge, genuinely suited to being lived in over time.
