It’s time to get down to brass tacks. Time to get down to the nuts and bolts, the nitty-gritty, and any other cliché we find ourselves turning to when something uncomfortable is looming.
In our Instagram world, we’re accustomed to seeing the end result, but not necessarily the work, the time, the effort, or the cost that went into the final product. And that’s why it’s time to pull back the curtain on pricing and budget.
We realize that budget numbers can seem quite mysterious and even arbitrary when looked at in total, so let’s delve into the specifics of a hypothetical space and it’s corresponding budget.
First, let’s consider the floor plan of a hypothetical family room:
Next, let’s look at the corresponding estimated price list, with three expense tiers:
With client guidance, we’ll often pull from the three different tiers to complete a space. Do you have young kids? A Tier-3 sectional probably isn’t your best bet right now—it might never be—so Tier 1 it is. But maybe you think the chandelier for your foyer is a once-in-a-lifetime purchase that people will see both inside and outside your home—Tier-3 fixture, here we come.
Again, the scenario above was for a hypothetical family room (a powder room, for instance, would certainly have a different tier system), and that’s why the living spaces pictured on our website were furnished with per-room budgets ranging, for the most part, between $55,000–$90,000. That’s also why we ask that clients have a minimum budget of $150,000 when signing up with us. You could of course furnish a room for less, but we wouldn’t be able to recreate the looks you see on this website for less.
We hope that these figures now seem neither mysterious nor arbitrary with the curtain pulled fully back, but please reach out to us if you have any questions or if you’d like to discuss further. Thanks!
—Nicole & Mike
PS If you’d like to delve a bit deeper…
You likely noticed a design fee and a commission in the table above. Our design fee varies based on the space and the scope of the work.
As for our 30% commission, we generally receive 30–50% off the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP), and our commission is charged on top of the reduced (trade) price.
As an example, a $1,000 chair might be purchased by us for 40% off, or $600.
30% commission on $600 is $180, so the chair would cost the client $780, rather than the initial $1,000.
If the same $1,000 chair were purchased for 30% off MSRP, with a 30% commission, it would cost the client $910, i.e., less than the original $1,000 MSRP.