An interior designer in Italy costs roughly €50 to €150 an hour, or works on a fixed-fee basis: on average €1,500-2,500 for the design of a single room and €3,500-8,000 for a full flat. In hotel contract work, the logic changes: fees are calculated per square metre, per room or as a percentage of the works, and the design is often included in the furniture supply itself.
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The four rate models used by interior designers
There’s no single standard fee: every professional chooses the compensation model that best fits the type of assignment. The four most common in Italy in 2026 are these.
Hourly rate
This is the typical model for short consultations: choosing colours, reviewing a layout, accompanying a client on purchases. Rates average from €50 to €100 an hour for an experienced professional, rising to €150-250 for established studios in the major cities. It works well for one-off interventions, much less so for entire projects, where the total number of hours becomes unpredictable.
Rate per square metre
For complete projects, many studios quote by surface area: roughly €30-80 per square metre for residential interior design, dropping to €15-40 per square metre on the large surfaces typical of hotels and accommodation businesses. A furnishing design for a 1,500 sqm hotel therefore costs, for the design work alone, between €25,000 and €60,000, depending on the level of detail required.
Percentage of the value of the works
This model is inherited from architectural fee structures: the designer receives a share of the overall cost of the works, on average between 8% and 15% for full assignments including artistic direction. On a €500,000 room renovation, the fee sits between €40,000 and €75,000. The advantage is that it stays aligned with the real complexity of the job; the drawback is the incentive, at least in theory, to let the budget grow.
Fixed fee
The professional quotes a closed figure for a defined scope: for example, €1,500-2,500 for the complete design of a hotel’s standard room, renders included, or €5,000-15,000 for the concept of the lobby and common areas. This is the most transparent model for the hotelier, provided the scope is clearly written: number of revisions, deliverables, presence on site.
Table: 2026 prices compared
| Fee model | Indicative 2026 range | Suited to |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly | €50-150/hour | One-off consultations |
| Per sqm (residential) | €30-80/sqm | Houses and flats |
| Per sqm (contract) | €15-40/sqm | Hotels, residences, large B&Bs |
| Percentage of works | 8-15% | Complete renovations |
| Fixed fee per standard room | €1,500-2,500 | Hotel room refurbishment |
| Common areas concept | €5,000-15,000 | Lobby, breakfast room, bar |
These figures are market averages: a studio with a well-known name can charge considerably more, while capable young professionals work below the stated minimums. Price alone should never be the selection criterion: choosing an interior designer for a hotel means weighing references, portfolio and the right questions before signing the assignment.
Why contract work is a different trade
Fees for a hotel project follow their own logic, because the nature of the work changes. A hotel project has to account for demanding technical constraints: fire safety regulations and material fire-reaction ratings, resistance to intensive use, fast cleaning, coordination with building services and site works, and repeatability of the standard room across dozens of units. A single mistake in a measurement or a specification gets multiplied by 40 rooms, so it has to be caught at the design stage.
That’s why a contract project always starts from the real building’s actual figures: measurements, out-of-square walls, the position of building services. This is the site survey and measurement stage, which no serious quote can skip. And it closes with specific technical documents: a technical specification, furniture schedules, and material data sheets with certifications.
What a properly done project includes
Be wary of “projects” that amount to a couple of appealing images. A professional assignment for an accommodation business includes, as a minimum:
A survey of the existing state, with measurements taken on site rather than drawn from archive plans, the position of building services, and structural constraints. Out of fifty apparently identical rooms, there are always six or seven that are off by three or four centimetres, and if the wardrobe has been designed to the nominal measurement, the problem only surfaces on installation day. Then the concept, with mood boards, palette and materials consistent with the property’s positioning, and functional layouts room by room, checking clearances, wardrobe door swing, space in front of the bathroom door and accessibility. Photorealistic renders are there to validate choices before spending money, and 3D rendering for hotel furnishing is most valuable on the sample room, the one that will then be replicated fifty times over.
The document that holds everything else together is the specification with its furniture schedules: the technical list of every piece of furniture, with materials, finishes, hardware and certifications. Without it, quotes can’t be compared, because each supplier is pricing a different piece of furniture, and the correct structure of a hotel furniture specification remains the strongest defence against surprises on delivery. It closes with support during execution: answering suppliers’ questions, checking samples, site visits. This is the part nobody sees, and it’s what decides whether the project arrives as it was designed. Be wary of projects that stop at a couple of appealing images.
If any of these items is missing, the low price gets paid later, in change orders, delays and furniture that doesn’t match expectations.
When the design is included in the supply
In contract work there’s a third way between “paying a designer” and “buying from a catalogue”: working with a partner that both designs and builds. This is our own model: as a contract partner active for over fifty years, we develop bespoke furnishing designs in-house and produce them through a supply chain of selected Italian workshops, with a single point of contact from survey to handover. When furnishing design for hotels is built into the supply, the hotelier doesn’t pay a separate fee and still receives the survey, layouts, renders and specification.
Be wary, though, of the “free design” line used as a sales hook: nothing is truly free, what exists is design included in the price. The difference lies in the quality of what’s included: if the “free” design is just a simple pairing of catalogue products, with no survey and no specification, it isn’t protecting the investment. But if it’s a complete, documented project built into the supply, for an accommodation business it’s often the option with the best overall value for money.
How much the design weighs on the total budget
Let’s put the numbers in perspective. For the complete refurbishment of the rooms in a 30-room hotel, with a furniture investment of €400,000-500,000, design typically accounts for:
An outside studio working on a percentage basis usually charges between €35,000 and €70,000. A designer paid a fixed fee for the standard room plus the common areas comes in between €15,000 and €30,000, because the design is done once and the same room is then replicated across all the identical rooms. When the design is instead built into the contract supply, it doesn’t appear as a separate line item, it’s already inside the furniture price: in that case, it’s worth getting written confirmation in the quote of exactly what’s included, because the gap between a mood-board rendering and a fully quotable execution drawing with schedules and construction details is enormous.
In every case, we’re talking about 4-12% of the budget: a small share compared with the value a good design generates in rates and reviews. A designer’s fee should always be read in proportion to the overall cost of furnishing a hotel, which is calculated per room and varies enormously from the budget segment to luxury. In small boutique hotels, where identity matters more than anything else, designing the furnishing of a boutique hotel hands the designer choices that no catalogue can standardise.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a furnishing design for a hotel cost?
For the design work alone, roughly €15-40 per square metre, or €1,500-2,500 for the standard room plus a concept for the common areas: for a 30-room hotel, that’s typically €15,000-70,000, depending on the assignment model and the designer’s reputation. If you work with a contract partner that designs and builds, the design is normally included in the supply.
Do interior designers charge per sqm or as a percentage?
Both formulas exist. The per-sqm rate, averaging €30-80 in residential work and €15-40 in contract work, is more predictable and suited to large surfaces. The percentage of works, averaging 8-15%, is typical of full assignments with artistic direction. For hotels, a fixed fee on a defined scope also works well: standard room, revisions, deliverables and site visits set out in writing.
Is the design free if I buy the furniture?
The design is never free: when the supply is handled by a contract partner, the cost of the design is built into the price of the furniture. What makes the difference is the quality of what’s included: a survey of the real measurements, layouts, renders and a technical specification are the mark of a genuine design. A simple pairing of catalogue products, with no technical documents, doesn’t protect the investment.
How much does an interior designer cost for a private home?
For a flat, a complete design costs on average €3,500-8,000, with one-off consultations billed at €50-150 an hour. The price per square metre tends to fall as the surface area grows. Residential design generally carries fewer regulatory constraints and lighter technical documentation; specifications and material certifications, by contrast, are a specific feature of the hotel world.
