How much does an interior designer cost in the UK?
In the UK an interior designer usually charges £50 to £150 an hour, or about £1,000 to £5,000 to design a single room. Full-service projects with project management run from around £20,000. Online e-design costs roughly £195 to £700 a room, and IKEA's online service starts at £25. With Solved the design is free: you pay only for the pieces you buy.
| What it costs | What you get | What is left to you | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional interior designer | £50 to £150 an hour, £1,000 to £5,000 a room, or a share of the project cost | A designer who visits, plans, specifies and often buys and manages the work | The fee, and usually weeks of back and forth |
| Online e-design | About £195 to £700 a room | A design, a mood board or floor plan and a shopping list, done remotely | Ordering everything yourself |
| IKEA interior design service | £25 to £120 a room (up to 20 square metres) | Online advice, a plan and 3D views using IKEA products | Anything that is not from IKEA |
| Free retailer advice | Free, often with spend-linked discounts | Advice from a store's design team on that store's range | Mixing brands, and the rest of the room |
| Solved | Free design. You pay for the pieces you buy, plus one delivery charge per design | Your own AI interior designer, in a chat: your room designed around what you keep, sized to fit, then ordered for you | Saying yes |
How do UK interior designers charge?
Most UK designers mix more than one way of charging. In a survey by the British Institute of Interior Design, 51% used a combination of methods, 21% charged a fixed fee, 18% charged by the hour and 6% took a percentage of the project cost.
- Hourly: £50 to £150 an hour is the usual range, with around £100 often quoted as typical. Junior designers sit at the bottom of that range and senior designers at the top.
- Day rate: about £350 to £900 a day.
- Fixed fee per room: roughly £1,000 to £5,000 for a single room, more for kitchens and bathrooms.
- Percentage of project cost: often 6 to 10% among BIID members, and 10 to 25% on larger projects where the designer also manages the work.
- Initial consultation: often £50 to £200, sometimes free.
One thing makes this harder than it should be: 80% of designers in that BIID survey did not publish their fees online, so you usually only find out after a first call.
How much does it cost to design one room?
For one room, expect anything from about £1,000 for a straightforward design with a shopping list to £5,000 or more for a detailed scheme with drawings. Checkatrade's guide puts an entry-level package for one standard room at around £3,000 to £7,000.
That is the design fee only. The furniture, lighting, paint and labour are on top.
How much does a whole house cost?
Full-home design typically runs from about £15,000 to £75,000 or more. Full service, where the designer also manages builders and deliveries, often starts around £20,000 and climbs with the size and complexity of the job.
London and the South East are generally more expensive than the rest of the UK, though no reliable figure puts a number on the difference.
Are there hidden costs?
Usually there are a few. The common ones are project management fees, supplier minimums and surcharges, and a markup on furniture: some designers add a percentage to the retail price of what they buy for you, while others pass on a trade discount. Ask which applies before you sign.
Revisions can cost extra too. IKEA, for example, includes one design option and charges the booking fee again for another.
What does online interior design cost?
Online e-design is the cheaper middle ground. You send photos and measurements, and a designer works remotely.
- My Bespoke Room (UK): from £195 for a quick design fix, £295 a room for styling and £495 to £695 a room for a full design.
- Decorilla (serves the UK): packages from $599 a room on its pricing page.
- IKEA: £25 for advice and a shopping list, £60 for a floor plan and 3D view, £120 for a fuller design with a mood board and lighting plan, each for one room up to 20 square metres.
Free advice is available from some retailers. John Lewis offers free appointments in store or online, and My John Lewis members get money off if they spend £1,000 or more after an in-store appointment. BoConcept offers a free, no-obligation consultation. Both are naturally built around their own ranges.
If you are weighing apps against people, see AI room design apps vs an online interior designer.
Is an interior designer worth it?
For building work, a renovation or a whole house, often yes. A good designer saves expensive mistakes that cost more than the fee.
For a single room you live in already, the sums are harder. A £1,000 to £5,000 fee can be more than the furniture budget. That is the gap most people fall into: they want someone's judgement, but not at that price, so they end up doing it piece by piece themselves.
Where does Solved fit?
Solved gives you your own interior designer, in a chat. Send a photo of your room and tell your designer how you live in it. They work around what you are keeping, show you the room finished with real pieces sized to fit, change it until you love it, then order everything for you in one go.
Your designer is AI, built on how working interior designers think. The design is free: you set the budget for the room, and you pay only for the pieces you choose to buy, plus one delivery charge per design.
The one job we leave to others is building work. If you are moving walls or planning an extension, start with an architect or a designer who visits.
What would we do first?
Before you pay anyone, write down three numbers: what you want to spend on the room in total, how much of that you would spend on design, and the three things that are definitely staying. Those answers tell you quickly which kind of help fits.
Sources, checked 13 October 2026. How designers charge and BIID percentage ranges: biid.org.uk. Hourly, day, room and full-home ranges: mybuilder.com, checkatrade.com. My Bespoke Room packages: mybespokeroom.com. Decorilla packages: decorilla.com/pricing. IKEA interior design service: ikea.com. John Lewis Home Design Service: johnlewis.com. BoConcept: boconcept.com.