Understanding Office Interior Design Costs

The price tag for a stunning office interior design can be staggering if you don’t know what you want or where to start. It may feel like a gulp, but it’ll be worth it when you walk into your gorgeous new space. Plus, there are options for every budget. At Benhar Office Interiors, we’ve overseen office redesign projects since 2002, and we bring that experience––not to mention confidence––to everything we do. We’ll guide you through the process of determining your office interior design cost and budget so you can feel solid about your office project from Day 1.

Office Interior Design Costs: What to Expect

Interior design is incredibly personal, and so are the associated costs. Setting expectations early in the process can save your team and anyone you invite to work on your project hours of stress.

You’ll encounter per-hour and percent fee structures if you hire an interior design firm. Fee structures span a wide range, depending on your location, desired service level, size of the firm, reputation, and brands they work with. Percentage fees can start as low as 10% of the total budget but soar as high as 45% for some projects. At Benhar, we cap our fees at 20%. Hourly fees tend to sit around $100–$200, but expect some variation here too. 

It’s no secret that furniture will be a large chunk of your budget. Here’s a rough estimate of price ranges per piece for various areas in your office. 

At Benhar Office Interiors, we’re comfortable working with your chosen interior design firm for a fully comprehensive overhaul. Alternatively, our design resource group and in-house project managers can run point on smaller-scale refresh projects. Need something in between? Let’s chat. 

Benhar Furniture Tiers Designed for Your Budget

To make it easy on you, we offer three tiers of products. Make no mistake; all the brands we work with offer exquisitely crafted and thoughtfully designed products. But we know not all companies have multi-million dollar budgets, so we work with you to create an office you love at a price that makes sense for where you are today. 

Some clients mix and match, and we’re happy to help them with that process. Consider stocking up on the basics, like break room tables, and splurging on the pieces that will get the most traffic and attention, like statement pieces and desk chairs.

Tips for Setting Your Office Interior Design Budget

1. Appoint a Team and Set a Plan

The best interior design projects start with a plan and stick to it as much as possible. At this point, you’ll want to meet with your financial advisors, review funding options, and establish a team to oversee the project. If you’re doing a full redesign, consider hiring a construction project management or interior design firm. For smaller-scale projects, you may be able to get away with an internal relocation team spearheaded by Human Resources or other administrative teams. 

Walk your team through the big-picture vision and state how involved you want to be in the process from the get-go. From there, they’ll be armed with all the information they need to make appointments with other vendors, like furniture dealers, electricians, and moving companies.

2. Consider Traffic and Longevity

Some office cultures function best when everyone’s together and collaborating in person. Others only have occasional meetings and rotating guests. Some companies want a timeless office that can grow and evolve with them, while others attract talent through frequent renovations and updates. 

Think deeply about the type of office you want and how you intend it to function. In high-traffic areas with daily attendance, you may need to splurge on durable finishes that can withstand cleaning and constant contact. In lesser-used areas, you may have the flexibility to cut your budget and mix in lower-cost finishes. 

That’s exactly where our expertise comes in. We’ll walk through your space with you and offer our best advice on where to splurge, where to save, and how to optimize what you’ve got going on.

3. Determine Your Good, Better, and Best

When you set your budget, consider the areas of the office that demand the best and those that can settle for a little less. Our team will reference the building’s existing features and recommend finishes that seamlessly blend in and look like they’ve always been there.

Does your reception area welcome industry leaders daily? You might want marble coffee tables and velvet couches. Do you have an office culture where teams frequently collaborate at expansive conference tables? In that case, you might want durable work surfaces with enough space for everyone to work together effortlessly.

4. Leave Some Wiggle Room

Even the best-laid plans can go awry. Overbudget for your interior design project to save yourself stress later. It’s better to have money unspent than to have to reallocate funds at an inconvenient time. 

Throughout the design process, you may fall in love with the luxury and decide it’s worth it, but more likely, the unexpected will happen. Need to install a dozen new outlets to support your selected workstations? Cha-ching. Interested in an architectural feature wall to break up some open space? Expect to see dollar signs here, too. Keeping these unexpected costs in mind from the start can save you from a headache later.

5. Allocate for Delivery, Installation, Assembly, and Final Touches

On top of that, shipping, delivery, and installation all have taxes and fees attached. We recommend saving at least 20% of your total budget for these costs to avoid a bummer of a surprise when you look at your final bill. And, trust us, it’s worth it. We coordinate trained movers and contractors on your behalf, meaning no endless back and forth trying to coordinate delivery and installation. Our partners will stage everything according to your floor plan and other design materials so installers can efficiently––and intuitively––tackle each step, minimizing downtime. Our people are manufacturer-trained to minimize issues, troubleshoot, and ensure an easy move-in process. 

6. Maintain Relationships for Regular Maintenance

Stay in touch! You’ve spent a lot of time, money, and energy creating your dream office. Let’s work together to make it last. Once we conclude your project, don’t hesitate to reach out for maintenance tips, repairs, updates, or additional orders. At Benhar, we love repeat clients so much, they become friends. We’ve helped countless organizations expand their workforce with ergonomic products, set up new offices in new cities, and everything in between.