How Much Does It Cost to Furnish a House with Luxury Home Furniture?
Your dream home is soon to be a reality. You’re drawing up blueprints and budgeting for the construction or renovation of your forever home. Please don’t forget to plan and budget for your interior decoration--furniture, art and accessories. While you may think you should focus on construction first and furniture later, construction and interior decorating budgets should be created simultaneously.
This is your dream home, after all, and you want to leave enough room in your budget to make a house your home. When I first meet clients about their furnishing project and ask what the budget is, more often than not, the client looks at me blankly, looking for guidance. That is where this article comes in. We want you to know what to expect so you can plan and prioritize accordingly.
In addition, selecting luxury home furniture is a process and once ordered it can take months to manufacture and ship. We want to avoid waiting in a partially furnished space and wasting money on temporary furniture and unnecessary moving costs. Ideally, your furniture should be at the receiver and ready for delivery the day construction is complete. Then installation and styling can take place within a few days, and when you move in, this ambitious project you have undertaken will be ready for you to live in and enjoy.
Calculating the Cost to Furnish a House
Every furnishing project begins with a space plan. For our clients, we draft the floor plan and consider different arrangements to see which pieces best fit the room and accommodate all of the activities they want to take place there, from relaxing and watching their favorite show to entertaining a crowd. We determine what size and style of furniture works best and then proceed to source the perfect pieces.
Finding the perfect piece is partially determined by the budget. Furniture pricing varies tremendously, from “temporary” pieces to get by in college or a first home, to artisan-crafted upholstery that is a serious investment. In this article, we are focusing on luxury home furniture, which in itself has a wide price range.
What Does “Luxury” Mean?
McGuire lounge chairs on heated custom terra cotta tile floor. Arteriors table and custom bench cushions. Pottery Barn and custom throw pillows. Seagrass rug from Home Depot.
Before we dig into the numbers, let's chat about what we mean by the word ‘luxury’. Luxury isn't about buying a certain label or brand. When we say luxury furniture, we mean pieces that are made to be utilized and enjoyed day after day, and year after year. The ultimate luxury furniture feels as if it was custom tailored just for your taste. It not only looks beautiful and stylish, but is also very comfortable and perfectly suited for the space. Luxury means walking into a room that makes you smile (at least inside), knowing you will always be delighted to be there and share it with your family and friends.
Luxury design also doesn’t mean just buying the most expensive option . . . it means selecting the right mix of pieces that will give you lasting enjoyment, not a temporary fix. It means creating a space that feels authentically you, and not something that just reflects current trends. We always incorporate a mix of price ranges in our designs. That is why we show a high and low estimate in our samples below. We have put together budgets for several rooms, showing both the high and lower range pricing for our typical projects, even though none of them are typical.
Actual costs will vary
Remember, every house is different; therefore, every budget is different. Everything from your personal style and aesthetic, to the square footage of your home will influence the decorating costs. We advise clients to wait, or work in phases, rather than buy subpar generic furniture. As with any budget, it’s also a good idea to allow for the extras. Not only do you want to invest in quality that will last, but you want to be able to splurge a bit on pieces that really make a statement and express your style.
Luxury furniture has virtually no limit on the high end and we have had projects come in much higher than we show here. But most of our projects are a mix of high, low and mid and the average budget falls somewhere between these sample budgets. Keep in mind, “low” does not imply low quality; it usually means fewer fabric and finish options, no customization, and no fill choices or re-sizing for upholstery.
These sample budgets are generalized to serve as a guide for homeowners across the country. Please note, since shipping costs vary widely depending on both the location of the client and the manufacturer, they are not included in these estimates. If you would like more detailed pricing, you can download our complete guide with itemized cost breakdowns. (The link is at the end of this post.)
Living Room
Since it’s typically the largest room in a home, the living room has the most furniture and takes the biggest chunk of the overall budget. The larger the living room, the larger the budget you need. Not only will you need more pieces, but you will also need larger-scale items.
One of the reasons the cost to furnish a home can surprise us is that we forget all of the elements that go into making a room feel complete and welcoming. We think: sofa, table and chairs. When in fact it’s sofa, table, chairs, rug, lamps, art, accessories, side tables, console, media cabinet, and maybe an ottoman or bench to round it out.
Again, there is a vast variation in pricing for each of these items and it was a bit of a struggle to come up with the “average” high and low range for any particular piece. A room-sized rug is a perfect example. Rugs are a bit of a wild card when it comes to pricing. I’ve had clients spend over $25,000 on a handwoven silk rug from Tibet, but we also have discovered amazing bargains with exceptional high-quality rugs. So, it’s hard to put a single number at either end, though most high quality room size handwoven rugs fall in the $9,000-$16,000 range.
Living room: High | low
Furniture: $25,800 | $13,100
Lighting: $2,700 | $1,200
Rug: $12,000 | $4,000
Art & Accessories: $7,500 | $3,000
Window Coverings: $7,000 | $3,000
Total Cost: $55,000 | $24,300
Dining Room
When it comes to planning dining room furniture costs: Remember the lighting! We remind clients that the right light fixture adds so much to a dining room, or entry, or really any room at all. It is so important and so often overlooked.
The following estimates are based on a dining table with seating for eight. Pricing will vary depending on the size of the room and how many people you plan to seat:
Dining room: High | low
Furniture: $17,200 | $7,300
Lighting: $4,000 | $1,500
Rug: $6,000 | $4,000
Art & Accessories: $4,000 | $1,500
Window Coverings: $3,000 | $1,200
Total Cost: $34,200 | $15,500
Master Suite
The master suite in your dream home should be a retreat for sweet dreams. Investing in a high-quality bed with a gorgeous headboard and superb mattress elevates the room’s design and functionality. Though, there’s much more to the master suite than a bed and nightstands. A few small pieces, like a bench for putting on shoes, add function and comfort. If you are light sensitive, you also need window coverings with good light control, and adjustable lighting for reading and relaxing.
Master Bedroom: High | low
Furniture: $20,950 | $9,800
Lighting: $3,300 | $800
Art & Accessories: $5,000 | $800
Window Coverings: $6,000 | $2,000
Total Cost: $35,250 | $13,400
Additional Bedrooms
In secondary bedrooms, you can save on costs by purchasing a lovely headboard and using a Harvard frame instead of a complete bed frame.. We also advise clients to save by purchasing a mix of high quality retail linens with custom shams and other accents, instead of custom luxury linens for all of the bedrooms.
Smaller bedrooms will require less furniture, but that can be a challenge in itself. After all, you still want to maximize the space for both function and comfort. Doing so requires thoughtful furniture planning. Plus you can really set the room apart with the right art, lighting, wallpaper, or a beautiful builtin bench that can provide storage, seating and a lovely focal point.
additional Bedrooms: Mid-range
Furniture: $9,500
Lighting: $1,500
Art & Accessories: $2,000
Window Coverings: $2,200
Total Cost: $15,200
Home Office
A Huppe desk style we have used in a home office. Photo: Huppe
We want the home office design to promote productivity without feeling like a corporate office, and foster creativity without being distracting. The challenge is finding the perfect desk that merges the functionality you need with your personal style. It is also crucial to give thought to the electronics--where to locate them and how cords and wires will be hidden, or at least made as discreet as possible.
A portion of the budget for a home office should be allocated to art and accessories to make sure the office reflects your personality, not just your work ethic. We like to add a handwoven rug to emphasize the “home” in home office and it can be the statement piece in the room.
home Office: Mid-range
Furniture: $7,500
Lighting: $1,000
Art & Accessories: $2,000
Rug: $4,000
Total Cost: $14,500
Foyer
When trying to determine the cost to furnish a house, homeowners quickly tick off the list for living rooms, bedrooms, and offices. However, most forget to consider the entry, or foyer. The foyer is actually one of the most important spaces in the design plan since it sets the tone for what to expect in the rest of the home.Here’s a look at how much it will cost to furnish a small foyer.
foyer: Mid-range
Furniture: $3,000
Lighting & art: $4,000
Total Cost: $7,000
Outdoor living
Outdoor Furniture Plan for current project in Lake Oswego.
A few finishes for the furniture above . . . can’t help but share them!
The other “forgotten” space is outdoor living areas. Comfortable stylish outdoor furniture for dining, conversation and lounging is one of the best ways to get that “vacation feeling” at home. Not to mention nice outdoor living space is a necessity these days in order to have any social life at home beyond immediate family. But health crisis or not, outdoor furniture extends the footprint of your home and gives you fantastic options for informal entertaining. Plus, if you have a garden, a view, or a terrace with beautiful planters, it is restorative to be able to be outside and simply take it in. Here’s an idea of what you can expect to spend furnishing the outdoor area.
outdoor furniture: mid-range
Furniture: $10,000
Lighting & accessories: $2,000
Outdoor rug: $2,500
Total Cost: $14,500
Final notes about costs for Luxury Furniture in your forever home
When building or renovating, it’s important to set aside an adequate budget to furnish the home. If you skimp or cut corners, you will end up with a house that is unfinished and doesn’t feel ‘quite right’. We’re not saying you can’t keep some vintage or family pieces (you absolutely can and should), but your overall design should be based on your new home, not your old furniture.
In the end, our figures above are simply a rough estimate of costs to furnish a house with luxury home furniture. Your individual budget will end up being lower or higher, depending on the size of your home, what makes sense economically and your taste in furnishings. For a more precise budget and plan, you should contact a local interior designer. They can help you not only develop a plan, but also use their expertise and connections to get you the best value for your budget.
For the last 20 years, Jenni Leasia Design has been designing dream homes throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond. We combine creative design solutions with meticulous project management and customer care, turning an otherwise overwhelming process into an exciting and deeply satisfying experience. Book a Consultation and find out how we can help you get started on your forever home.