What interior design costs in Mumbai and Delhi in 2026

Three ways a quote is built

Design-only fees pay for the thinking and the drawings; you then buy and build separately. Turnkey quotes bundle design, materials and labour into one rate per square foot. Percentage fees take a share of what is spent on execution. The same home can be quoted all three ways, so always ask for the design fee and the execution cost on separate lines.

Design fees

A Delhi guide for 2026 puts design-only work at ₹50 to ₹500 or more per square foot, and design and drawings at ₹80 to ₹150 per square foot for a typical fit-out. A luxury studio's published guide gives ₹250 to ₹1,200 per square foot, or 8 to 15 percent of project value for high-end work. NoBroker's 2026 cost guide covers the same spread for the country. The fee buys survey, drawings, material plans, furniture drawings and supervision; check that all five are included.

Turnkey ranges in Mumbai

Aecord's 2026 per-square-foot guide gives Mumbai ₹1,200 to ₹4,000. A Mumbai homeowner guide for 2026 narrows the mid-range to ₹2,500 to ₹3,500. The difference is finish level and how much furniture is made to order. Mumbai runs higher than Delhi because labour, transport and parking for deliveries all cost more.

Turnkey ranges in Delhi NCR

Aecord gives Delhi NCR ₹900 to ₹3,200 per square foot. A Delhi turnkey firm's 2026 guide gives ₹1,450 to ₹2,650 per square foot of carpet area and prices a 900 square foot 2BHK at ₹13 to ₹19 lakh. A Delhi fee guide gives turnkey design-and-build at ₹1,500 to ₹2,500 per square foot for most homes, rising to ₹6,000 or more for luxury finishes.

Offices, for context

A 2026 office fit-out guide puts commercial interiors at ₹1,000 to ₹7,000 or more per square foot, with Mumbai at ₹1,500 to ₹6,000 and Delhi NCR at ₹1,400 to ₹5,500. Homes sit below offices because there is less services work per square foot.

What moves the number

Kitchens and bathrooms, because of plumbing and stone. False ceilings and concealed lighting. The share of furniture made to order versus bought. Imported hardware and fittings. Floor replacement. On the other side: keeping the floor, restoring doors and cabinets you own, and using lime wash instead of layered paint systems all bring the rate down without lowering the finish.

A worked example

Take a 900 square foot carpet-area 2BHK in Delhi. At the published turnkey range of ₹1,450 to ₹2,650 per square foot the home costs ₹13 to ₹24 lakh. A design-only fee at ₹150 per square foot is ₹1.35 lakh, with execution bought separately. If the living room is a revamp rather than a redo, with the floor kept and two pieces restored, the living room line drops to a fraction of its turnkey equivalent.

How we quote

After a site visit, with the design fee on one line and execution on another, itemised by room and by piece. We do not publish rates per square foot because the homes we take on are not alike. The ranges above are what a quote should be compared against.

Published 2026 ranges, per square foot