When designing or updating your home, you might pour over plans, visualizing the space and how it will look against the gorgeous Arizona landscape. Considering the architecture and fixed details, you’d likely create Pinterest boards for furniture or wall colors because you want the ambiance and style to feel comfortable and perfectly “you.”
Like many people, you’re naturally curious about the process, timeline, and cost of furnishing a luxury home. As interior designers, we know that the furnishing process takes a keen eye and an understanding of color palettes and functional design. It also requires project management skills for all the organization and planning that comes along with it. We want to share what the process of furnishing a luxury home is like and how an interior designer like Alisha Taylor can help you create your dream space.
What Are Furnishings?
First, what are furnishings? Furnishings include more than the furniture you add to a home. Of course, furnishings include that tufted wingback chair you want next to your gas fireplace and the gorgeous mahogany dining set and sideboard for your formal dining room. They also include everything that isn’t fixed or built-in, such as lighting, mirrors, rugs, decorative accessories, and the stunning art collection you’re continuing to amass.
Furnishings are what bring life, making a house a home and welcoming you into tailored perfection each night. Luxury furnishings are those with quality and timelessness — pieces that you can sink into, admire, and surround yourself with. They are attractive and functional, bringing a sense of cohesion to a space.
What Is the Timeline for Furnishing a Luxury Home?
After asking about pricing, people usually ask about how long a project like this will take. It’s a fair question. After all, we are building up your dream space — a space you’re eager to inhabit.
On average, it takes about nine months to a year (due to the pandemic) to furnish a luxury home. However, each project is unique because clients and their visions are unique. Some furnishing projects finish sooner, and some finish later, especially if items aren’t available (more on that soon). Let’s break down the timeline process.
Stage One: Design Vision
The first stage focuses on the vision for the design. This is where you let your creativity run free so that everything you’ve imagined makes its way from your mind to paper. Mind maps and scrapbooks are the first part of the design vision. From here, you start to identify your vision for each room of the home.
By working with us, you can avoid feeling overwhelmed and get expert design insight to bring your ideas to life. We will set up a kickoff meeting to discuss colors, style inspiration, and any focal accents. During the meeting, you share your vision and any documents you’ve generated, such as Pinterest boards or brainstormed notes, to ensure that we include your ideas in the design.
Stage Two: Furniture Investment Estimate
BNow that we’ve gathered your inspiration and ideas for the overall design of the home, we develop a Furniture Investment Estimate, which generates the estimated quote required to furnish your luxury custom home. This estimate also includes the fees of freight/delivery and sales tax to ensure full transparency throughout the process.
Stage Three: Space Planning
Stage three is where the magic happens. Here, we create storyboards with color palettes for each room, including pattern options, complementary fabrics, and furnishing examples. Along with 3D renderings, these storyboards are a vital part of the process because they help you visualize the design.
Stage Four: Shopping Showrooms
Once you love the design, it’s time to shop the showrooms. We take you to showrooms that match your design vision and storyboard plans, explaining the benefits of different fabrics and furnishings. We especially like to take our clients to our custom sofa showroom so that you get the opportunity to sit in and experience the different depths of seating options, fabrics, and sofa heights.
Stage Five: Ordering Furnishings
Before ordering, we compare all plans against the budget and revise according to any changes you make. Upon your approval, we order the furnishings and wait for their delivery.
Stage Six: Receiving Furnishing and Staging Rooms
In the final stage, we thoroughly inspect all items to ensure they meet our and your standards. Each piece must enhance the look and feel of your home for years to come. Items that meet approval are welcomed into your home. Those that do not are either replaced with a different item or reordered if damaged or incorrectly colored.
Finally, we stage each room and fall progressively more in love with the design.
Factors That May Affect the Timeline
It’s important to remember that each design project is unlike any other, including factors that may affect the timeline. These factors could include:
- Items are on backorder. Some items might not be available at the time of order, adding time to the project.
- Furnishings that come in broken or scratched. If furnishings arrive in an unsatisfactory condition, they must be repaired or replaced.
- Construction delays. If you’re building a new home or renovating an existing one, your contractor might run into delays with material deliveries, inclement weather, or permitting approvals.
How Much Does It Cost To Furnish a Luxury House?
Since each project is unique, there is no single cost for furnishing a luxury home. That said, many homes fall into specific ranges depending on the room, with average costs of $100 to $150 per square foot.
Using those ranges, you might expect to pay $30,000 to $45,000 for furnishing a 300-square-foot living room and $20,000 to $30,000 for furnishing a 200-square-foot dining room.
To furnish a primary bedroom measuring 250 square feet, you could expect the cost to fall between $25,000 and $37,500.
Keep in mind that these ranges don’t include taxes, delivery fees, or installation, which can cumulatively add several thousand more to the total. Don’t forget that the final cost of furnishing a home also depends on the materials, styles, and furnishings you choose.
Hiring an interior designer is another cost to factor into your budgeting, but it will be well worth the investment. The cost of interior design services varies depending on the size of your home, the professional’s experience level, and other project-specific factors.
Benefits of Working With An Interior Designer
You may wonder if working with an interior designer is necessary. Working with an interior designer is the best way to ensure you end up with a furnished home that matches your vision. For many people, though, hiring an interior designer becomes the best decision they ever make.
Interior designers are your ticket to total customization, expert guidance, access to better showrooms and pre-vetted brands, and cohesion with your entire home.
Work With Alisha Taylor Interiors To Furnish Your Luxury Home
Instead of wondering, “How much does it cost to furnish a luxury house?” reach out to the design team at Alisha Taylor Interiors today. We will tailor your Phoenix area home to your needs and desires, helping you settle into bliss each and every night.
