Plan interior design, step-by-step guide, Budget planning with examples, For Every Budget, Primary Planning, and execution, Floor plan, and 3D Design with image, interior designer, architects or contractors or design your interior yourself, pros and cons.
You bought a new home or want to makeover your old house to give it a new modern look, but you have no idea about interior design, like
What to do?
Where to start with?
What is the price involved with it?
How to select furniture and make modular furniture?
And basically, How to plan the entire interior design and fix things?
Interior designing involves a complex set of things and is to be executed by a step-by-step process. From the selection of the right materials to installing it in right place and most importantly the pricing of various materials, home and kitchen appliances, electrical equipment, and sanitary items to its installation cost or overall labor charges.
 So how could you plan interior design for your home and be able to execute all this and the mistakes we should avoid?
we are going to discuss each possible plan to design your home interior efficiently.
Primary Plan for Interior Design
Primary planning is very vital to design your home and interior as it is the basic plan where all the work is to be executed accordingly, or else it may go for a mess and we may not get the desired result and most importantly, can’t be changed afterward. If you, do it properly then half of your job is done, the only thing left is to design the interior and a little exterior part.
If you are going to plan for your new home or new apartment then plan early, even before the construction, and even if you are going for a makeover to your old home then plan before dismantling anything like walls, doors, windows, flooring, furniture, etc. we have to create the basic fame work structure where the interior designing work is to be executed later.
Before going to design your interior, let’s discuss How & what to plan first so that you can execute things properly & efficiently & also save your money & time.
So, what exactly you can do here is
i)Budget planning for interior design:
Budget is the first and foremost thing before going to design your home interior. It’s the right time to plan your budget. How much did you spend for the construction of the new home or expenses related to civil work during the makeover of your old home and how much did you allocate for your interior design, or else you may run short of funds and be unable to execute the things later. So, discuss your budget and expenses regarding various things related to your home construction and design with the architect or a designer. And remember it may vary from 10 to 15% (in some cases it may be 20%) according to the volatility of the market and other reasons.
so how do you allocate funds for your interior design needs and how much?
ii)Budget plan for the interior design of a 1500 Sq. ft home
Let’s check the below table where we can discuss how much you should spend on your interior needs for every budget, and from basic to luxury for a 1500 sq. ft home. you can calculate according to your home size.
Note: The below budget planning includes, flooring to doors and windows, bathroom fittings, colorwork, electrical work and equipment, ceiling, decorative items, furniture making, and other miscellaneous charges. you can say from core house to ready to move in an approximate value.
Rate per Sq. ft | Total expense for 1500 sq. ft | Remarks |
Rs 500/- | Rs 7,50,000/- | Below average |
Rs 800/- | Rs 12,,00000/- | Average |
Rs 1000/- | Rs 15,00000/- | Good |
Rs 1500/- | Rs 22,50,000/- | Excellent |
Beyond Rs 2000/- | Beyond Rs Rs 30,00,000/- | Luxury |
iii) Consult a good architect or designer:
Consult a good architect or designer only for this primary planning. Discuss with them in detail, about your requirement, the of households, and your budget which includes both civil work and interior designing thing. It also can help you to plan your budget, like what it exactly going to cost you to complete all these things.
iv) Floor Plan for interior design:
The floor plan is the basic requirement and most vital.
It’s a drawing provided by your hired architect or designer which shows you the detailed layout from the above, about the size of each room, doors, windows, and other spaces including the furniture alignment as shown in the above picture.
So that you can plan the sizes of each room, placement of rooms and furniture, sizes of your windows and doors, and your other interior design requirements accordingly.
v) 3D rendering plan for interior design:
If you have a little more budget and want to see, how your home going to look after the construction in images or videos then you can avail of 3D render design as shown in the above image.
It can show you the external and the internal part of your home clearly in images or 360-degree videos according to your demand. But what I am going to suggest to you, Is not to avail the internal thing now as it is a huge task to do and too early to decide on each thing of designing. you have to design your home interior later so you can take the benefit, then in detail and we have discussed everything in detail below only regarding interior designing.
vi) Vastu Plan for interior design:
 If you are a believer in Vastu or want to design your home according to Vastu, then this is the right time to do. Consult a Vastu professional (most of the architects and designers have their Vastu specialist), and have a discussion with them regarding your direction and placement of entrance, rooms, furniture, and other things. Even some of the Vastu professionals suggest a soil test before construction.
vii) Pricing involves in Primary Planning for interior design:
Price may vary for different locations. Our aim is to provide you with a basic idea.
Avail Services | Service Charges |
Consulting Architect or Designer | Nil |
Floor Plan | Rs 7/Sq. ft |
3D Render Service (Optional) | Rs10/Sq. ft (Only for the Exterior part) |
Vaastu Consulting(Optional) | Rs 5000/-(Nil if you are consulting Vastu) |
Soil Test Charges(Optional) | 1000/-(Nil if you are consulting Vastu) |
viii)Cost estimate for Primary planning to design the interior of a 1500 sq. ft home
Avail Services | Service Charges | Total |
Consulting Architect or Designer | Nil | Nil |
Floor Plan | Rs 7/Sq. ft | Rs 10500 |
3D Render Service (Optional) | Rs10/Sq. ft (Only for the Exterior part) | Rs 15000/- |
Vaastu Consulting(Optional) | Rs 5000/-(Nil if you are consulting Vastu) | Rs 5000/- |
Soil Test Charges(Optional) | 1000/-(Nil if you are consulting Vastu) | Rs 1000/- |
Total Expenses | – | Rs 31500/- |
As for the above table, your total expense for the primary planning to design a 1500 sq. ft home is Rs 31,500/- if you avail of all the services and you can only spend 10,500/- for the floor plan as it is a must-do thing for a newly built home. it’s purely your call to avail of the optional services or not.
Plan interior design in 3 ways
The basic work is done and the structure is ready, now let’s move to the next part.
How to design your interior?
Let’s start.
Basically, there are 3 ways to design your interior
Hire a professional or an interior designing farm to design your home interior.
As discussed above interior designing is a very complex set of things to execute, and almost very difficult for you to execute many things simultaneously. Hired a professional interior designer or architect or a designing farm is the easiest way to go for.
                                     Consult anyone of them, and discuss your requirements, design aspects, furniture, and budget in detail, they will provide you with a detailed estimate with 3D visual images. They will help you out with many things from sanitary material installation to bathroom designing, from doors to windows, from modular furniture making to home and kitchen appliances, from ceiling to flooring, from indoor plants to decorative items, and much more.
But remember one thing it will cost you more but make things easier for you. You just keep an eye on the materials delivered to you as mentioned in the estimate or agreement.
It may be difficult to find out, but what I am going to suggest to you is, to look out for a firm which is professional and budget-friendly.
Let’s discuss the Pros and cons of doing interior through a professional designer or architect or a design firm.
Want to make interior design a full-time career?
Pros and cons of hiring an interior designer or architect
Pros | Cons |
Make things easier for you Save your time Provide all designing services under one roof. They will deliver to you as ready to move. | It may be difficult to select a good design firm or architect according to your budget. May be expensive for you. It is not affordable for a low budget. You are completely Dependent on them. |
Mistakes you should avoid when selecting an interior designer
Hire a contractor to help you design your home
If you have run short of funds or want to design your home on a mid-level budget then you can choose this option. But it needs your involvement, like the entire design and materials. An experienced contractor can help you out with all these things but you are the one to take the call. Basically, they charge you on square feet basis for modular furniture making, ceiling, flooring, doors and windows, painting, and on a round-off basis in some things like 3D design, sofa making, other decorative things, and appliances. You can say they will execute things for you but may not help in the designing aspects.
So, you definitely have some sort of knowledge regarding interior designing, which we will go to discuss later in the DIY chapter briefly.
Here what I am going to suggest to you is to find out a well-experienced contractor or a mid-level interior designing outlet and definitely get a detailed (each and every material detail with make-in brands, payment structure, and other terms and conditions) quotation or estimate for the desired work. You can compare two or three quotations from various contractors or outlets, and looking at their past projects and discussions, you can select one of them to execute further.
Make Interior design a career without a professional degree!
Pros and cons of designing through a contractor
Pros | Cons: |
A good contractor can save you money and time. Not expensive as you hired an interior design professional. It’s good to know various things, basically, if you love to design. Less bothered about carpenters, and laborers. | So much of your involvement is required. You have to do so much research regarding material and designs. Hard to find a professional one. They may not help you with the decorative aspects and things. May not get the desired results. |
Do it Yourself (DIY)
you can’t afford an interior professional or you don’t want to hire a designer or a contractor to design it for you, as many of us want to incorporate our own style of designing and want to make our design decisions by ourselves.
Many of us already have a good imagination and creativity but need to be polished to combine all design aspects altogether into a well-coordinated design.
As discussed, interior designing combines multiple sets of things to be executed.
From 3D design to design selection, from flooring to ceiling, from modular furniture making to wall decor, from sanitary and bathroom fittings to electrical equipment, from door and windows to home and kitchen appliances, and most importantly finding the right dealers for your materials to carpenters and labors or in one sentence we can say from scratch to ready to move.
Do your interior designing is a different chapter altogether and we have already discussed the budget allocation in primary planning, till the basic structure, so we move to the next part and discuss every bit of thing in a step-by-step process.
Click here to learn the DIY process completely to design your home interior. (Too lengthy do discuss DIY here)
A detailed guide to doing your Interior yourself?
Pros and Cons of Designing your interior yourself
Pros | cons |
it saves you money. you learn things. Good for interior enthusiasts. it’s quite an achievement. | you have to research and learn things. it takes too much time and involvement. Difficult to find a good set of technicians, carpenters, and laborers. Difficult to collect materials |
Q & A
How to design my home interior?
you can design your home interior in 3 ways.
1) Assign an interior designer or architect or consult an interior designing studio.
2) Consult a well-experienced contractor or mid-level designing outlets.
3) you can learn things and do it by yourself.
which one is the best option to design my home interior?
Every option has its pros and cons as discussed in the article. you can decide according to your budget and requirement.
when to plan for interior designing?
if you are going to build your home start early, even before the construction, and if you bought a new home or renovate your existing home then you can plan now.
How to get 3D designs for my home interior and exterior and what are the prices to avail of these?
You can use social media or search online. Nowadays these services are available locally. They can charge you square feet basis or they have a fixed price for 2bhk and 3bhk. Price starts from Rs10/- per sq. ft and, they charge Rs 10,000/- for 2bhk and 15,000/- for 3bhk. Price may vary from location to location.
Is the floor plan important and what are the prices?
The floor plan is most vital as the whole thing (both construction and interior) is going to depend upon this and the prices start from Rs7/- to Rs 10/- per sq foot.
what should be my budget to design my home interior?
It completely depends upon you. it depends upon your requirement, the count of designing rooms and areas, the selection of materials, and your affordability.
I can say in a 2bhk or 3bhk Rs1000/- per sq. ft is good which includes flooring, sanitary and bathroom works, color and electrical work, and furniture.