Free AI-generated interior design proposal — flat vs. hourly fees, procurement markup, and e-design packages. Customize in 2 min, send as PDF or link.
Interior design proposals confuse clients because the pricing model is unlike any other service they buy. A designer might charge a flat design fee, an hourly rate, a percentage of the furniture budget, a procurement markup, or some combination of all four. Clients who've never hired a designer don't know what any of this means, and the proposal that explains the fee structure clearly and shows the math on procurement savings is the one that gets signed. Full-service residential projects run $5,000-$25,000+ in design fees alone, with furniture procurement adding $10,000-$100,000+ depending on the scope. E-design packages start at $600-$1,200 per room. The template below is built for residential designers doing full-service and e-design work.
Proposal from
Meridian Interior Design Studio
Prepared for
Amanda & Chris Sorensen
Full-Service Living Room and Dining Room Design
Full-service redesign of the main living room (approx. 320 sq ft) and adjacent open dining area (approx. 180 sq ft) in a 1940s craftsman home in Portland, OR. Current condition: existing furniture to be removed except a fireplace surround and original built-ins. Goals: cohesive transitional aesthetic, improved traffic flow, seating for 6 in dining room, functional workspace nook in living room corner. Project does not include renovation — paint, trim, and built-in paint colors included in scope.
Phase 1 — Discovery and Programming: $400 flat Includes 90-minute on-site measurement and interview, digital space plan (to scale), and two concept directions with mood board and color palette. Client selects one direction to proceed. Phase 2 — Design Development: $1,200 flat Includes full furniture plan with dimensions, complete specification list (all furniture, lighting, textiles, art, accessories), finish and paint recommendations, and vendor sourcing with lead time estimates. Deliverable: a complete design package in PDF format. Phase 3 — Procurement Coordination: 30% markup on net cost Meridian handles all ordering, vendor communication, delivery coordination, and damage claims. Client pays net cost plus 30% coordination fee, invoiced per purchase order. Estimated furniture and furnishings budget: $12,000–$16,000 at retail; estimated cost through Meridian with trade pricing and markup: $10,200–$13,600. Phase 4 — Installation Supervision: $250 flat (half-day) On-site during furniture delivery and placement. Final styling with art, accessories, and textiles purchased through procurement.
Meridian purchases through trade accounts at 40–50% below retail from vendors including RH Trade, Kravet, Visual Comfort, and Arteriors. All purchases are invoiced at Meridian's net cost plus a 30% coordination fee, which remains at or below retail pricing for most items. Example: Dwyer sofa (retail $3,800) → Meridian net cost $2,090 → Client cost with markup $2,717 → Savings vs. retail: $1,083 Clients may opt out of procurement and source independently. In that case, a $500 flat specification-only fee applies in place of procurement coordination.
Included in scope: — Furniture: sofa, chairs, dining table, dining chairs, side tables, console — Lighting: overhead fixtures, floor lamps, table lamps — Textiles: area rugs, window treatments (design only; installation by others), throw pillows — Art and accessories: sourced and placed during installation — Paint colors: wall color, trim color, built-in cabinet color Not included: — Window treatment fabrication and installation (separate contractor) — Electrical work or lighting rough-in — Furniture moving or disposal (client to arrange) — Renovation, carpentry, or structural changes
Phase 1 (Discovery): 1 week from signed contract Phase 2 (Design Development): 3 weeks after Phase 1 approval Procurement and lead times: 8–14 weeks depending on vendor availability (custom upholstery runs 10–12 weeks) Installation day: Scheduled once all items have arrived Estimated total timeline: 14–20 weeks from contract signing Design fees: $1,850 (Phases 1–2 + Installation Supervision) Estimated procurement total: $10,200–$13,600 (invoiced per purchase order as orders are placed) Total project investment estimate: $12,050–$15,450 Payment terms: 50% of design fees due at contract signing. Remaining design fees invoiced at Phase 2 delivery. Procurement invoices due within 7 days of each purchase order. All custom orders require payment in full before placing.
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Create Your Free AccountFlat fee vs. hourly is the first decision your proposal needs to answer — for you, not the client. Hourly billing punishes efficiency. A designer who can pull together a cohesive living room in 8 hours of sourcing earns less than a slower designer doing the same job in 14. Flat fees reward your skill and give clients a number to say yes to. The right structure: flat fee for full-room projects with defined scope (furniture, textiles, art, lighting), hourly for small consultations and renovations where scope creeps by definition. If you're doing both, charge a flat project fee plus an hourly rate for anything outside the defined deliverables. Write that boundary in the proposal.
Procurement markup needs to be disclosed upfront, and the disclosure should explain why it benefits the client. Standard markup is 20–35% over your net cost, which is typically 40–50% below retail. That means a client buying a $2,400 sofa retail pays $1,440 through you plus your $288–$504 markup — still $408–$672 below what they'd pay at the store. Show that math in the proposal. Clients who see the comparison don't argue about markup. Clients who see just a 30% markup without context think you're overcharging.
E-design packages only work if you price the time correctly from the start. The typical mistake is underpricing because it feels like 'less work' than full-service. It isn't. An e-design for a bedroom involves the same sourcing, mood boarding, and specification work — you just can't walk the space. Budget 10–15 hours minimum for a single-room e-design package. Price it at $600–$1,200 depending on your rate, and be specific about deliverables: a mood board, a furniture sourcing list with links and dimensions, a paint palette, and one round of revisions. Clients who know exactly what they're getting make faster decisions.
Room refresh pricing should be structured differently from full design projects. A refresh means the bones are staying — you're replacing furniture, adding art, updating textiles. Scope it as a flat consultation fee ($150–$300 for 90 minutes on-site) plus procurement services billed separately. This protects you from spending 3 hours in someone's house for a $400 project. If they want more than a consult and a shopping list, it becomes a full room project with full room pricing. State that clearly in the proposal so the conversation doesn't happen after the visit.
Project minimums aren't optional — they're what determines whether a project is worth your time. A designer billing $125/hour who takes a $800 single-room consult with no procurement will spend 6–8 hours on calls, sourcing, revisions, and follow-up and net less than minimum wage on a project that occupies a full day. Set a project minimum — $2,500 is a reasonable floor for any residential project — and put it in the proposal. Clients who need a $600 refresh are fine; just put them on an e-design package instead of a full-service engagement.
Include lead time estimates for every major item. A stock sofa ships in 2-4 weeks. A custom upholstered piece takes 8-12 weeks. An imported light fixture takes 10-14 weeks. The client who expected everything in a month needs to see these numbers before signing, not after. List the longest lead-time items on the proposal and explain that the project timeline is set by the slowest item, not the fastest.
Show the revision structure explicitly. '2 rounds of design revisions included, additional revisions at $125/hour' is a boundary that prevents the project from becoming an endless mood board exercise. Clients who know the revision limit make decisions faster. Clients with unlimited revisions keep changing their minds because there's no cost to indecision.
Separate the installation day fee from the design fee. Installation day (receiving deliveries, placing furniture, styling shelves and surfaces, hanging art) is 4-8 hours of on-site physical work. It's not design. Price it as a flat fee ($200-$500 for a half-day, $400-$800 for a full day) so the client sees it as a distinct service, not an afterthought.
Every strong interior design proposal covers these elements. Skip one and you'll likely answer for it later.
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Interior Design pricing guide →Hourly rates run $100-$300/hour depending on market and experience. Flat design fees for a single room run $1,500-$5,000. Full-home projects run $8,000-$25,000+ in design fees before furniture. E-design packages start at $600-$1,200 per room. On top of design fees, procurement adds the cost of furniture and furnishings (typically purchased through the designer at trade pricing with a 20-35% markup, still below retail). A living room project might run $3,000 in design fees plus $12,000-$20,000 in furniture.
Interior designers work with space planning, construction documents, and building codes. Many hold professional certifications (NCIDQ) and can stamp drawings. Decorators focus on furnishings, color, and styling within an existing space. For a gut renovation, you want a designer. For a furnished room that needs new furniture and paint, a decorator works fine. The proposal should state which services are included and whether the designer handles construction coordination or just furnishings.
Designers buy furniture through trade accounts at 40-50% below retail. They mark up the trade price by 20-35% and charge that to the client. The client still pays less than retail in most cases. Example: a sofa that retails for $3,000 costs the designer $1,650 at trade. With a 30% markup, the client pays $2,145 — saving $855 versus buying retail. The markup is the designer's compensation for sourcing, ordering, tracking, receiving, and handling damage claims. The proposal should show this math explicitly.
A single room with stock furniture: 6-10 weeks from signed contract to installation day. A multi-room project with custom upholstery: 14-24 weeks. A full home with custom and imported pieces: 6-12 months. The timeline is almost entirely driven by furniture lead times, not design time. The design phase (concept through final specification) is 3-6 weeks. Everything after that is waiting for orders to arrive. The proposal should show both the design timeline and the expected procurement timeline separately.
Yes. Most designers offer a 90-minute in-home consultation for $150-$400. You get paint color recommendations, furniture layout suggestions, a general direction, and a shopping list you can execute yourself. This works well for clients who have taste but need guidance, and don't want to commit to a full-service engagement. The proposal for a consultation should state exactly what's delivered (written summary, floor plan sketch, shopping list) and make clear that it doesn't include procurement coordination or revisions.
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