Know your priorities to determine the furnishing cost for your new home
This is Furnishr’s guide to help you make decisions about how to balance your goals, timeline and budget. If you want a turnkey solution to furnish a house stylishly on a reasonable budget, we are here to help! Just submit a design request and book a consultation with us, and we will show you design packages that fit you, your space and your budget.1
Is this house for you or for someone else?
This is an important question to determine how important personalization is for this home. If this home is for you and your loved ones, you want to create comfort that makes the space feel customized to your preferences and needs. Now, if this home is for someone else, you likely want to prioritize the ease of maintenance and durability of the products along with style. Otherwise, if you are furnishing a short-term rental home or vacation home ( for Airbnb or VRBO), we have another furnishing guide here for rental usages.
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What are the priorities between style, budget and timeline?
From the thousands of design consultations we have done, we find that our customers often have one weighted priority and have some flexibility between the other two priorities.
Time as the priority
If you are relocating to a new city for a new job or moving out for school, time is usually more limited. Often, the cost to furnish a house increases as your time is more limited. That said, there are areas to accommodate to a quick turnaround time in these situations, often prioritizing essential items to help you ease your transition. 
Prioritize the essentials
Nobody wants to move into a new place and sleep on an air mattress! In this case, our recommendation is to start by furnishing your home with key essentials and worry about personalizing later. Check out the list of furniture from the basic tier below.
Over time, you will start collecting items from experiences in this new city, travels and friends. Therefore, bringing any items you already have into the design, especially sentimental pieces and artwork, will dramatically personalize your space.
Style as the priority
Now, if you are moving within the same city or have more time to work on this project, you would likely prefer to focus more on a personalized space that extends your identity. You’re now ready to live life on your own terms. Certainly, this is now going to be YOUR space. That said, personalizing your space can take time, especially if you aren’t sure what your style is. Also, the furnishing cost increases as you want more personalization. If you have been struggling with this, we would love to help! Try going through this design request questionnaire and talk to our design consultant.
Budget as the priority
Certainly, budget is always a consideration no matter where style and timeline stand. Therefore, we see budget as more of a conversation about your flexibility in time and style. However, this can vary greatly depending on your life stage, priorities, style and the quality you’re looking for. Because this is so personal, we have created a furnishing cost calculator to help give you an idea of what it would cost to furnish a house of different sizes, different rooms and quality levels.
Cost of furnishing a house by tiers
If you have done any furniture shopping, then you probably felt overwhelmed by the number of choices on the market. You can always find furniture and decor in the aisles of big box stores, but their prices and quality are often questionable. There are brands that specialize in home furnishings, but they might not have everything you need for setting up a home and it’s always nice to have pieces from many places. However, nobody wants their home to look like they just copied it from a store display. At the same time, we know you have a timeline and budget and still want to achieve a stylishly furnished home.
Cost of furnishing a major room in a house
To help you navigate this complex job, we have summarized the cost for furnishing each major room in a house. The costs can have a wide range because of a number of reasons:
- The rooms vary in sizes greatly. The more products you can fit into a room, the higher the cost.
- The location of the house also indicates the prices of products. The more variety of shopping options available, the more competitive the prices.
- The style of products also vary in prices. More intricate details you want in the furniture, the higher the costs. Styles like coastal and shabby chic call for natural imperfections and less polishing and may cost less.
Many other reasons will come from your personal situation. The table below is a summary of estimated costs assuming you need to furnish an empty room from scratch with standard furnishings.
| Room | Cost Range (USD) |
|---|---|
| Living Room | $4,280 - $6,400 |
| Dining Room & Kitchen | $1,700 - $3,450 |
| Bedroom | $2,850 - $5,750 |
| Home Office | $1,650 - $3,100 |
Costs of furnishing a house by type
A house mostly likely has multiple bedrooms. With the cost ranges above and the level of importance for each room, we have summarized the cost of furnishing a two-bedroom house, three-bedroom house and four-bedroom house below.
| Type of House | Cost Range (USD) | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Two Bedroom Apartment | $12,880 - $25,450 | Luxury living room, dining room; standard master bedroom, home office |
| Three Bedroom House | $19,380 - $36,950 | Luxury living room, dining room; standard master bedroom, 2 guest bedrooms, home office |
| Four Bedroom House | $22,910 - $43,750 | Luxury living room, dining room, master bedroom; standard two guest bedrooms, two home offices |
| One Bedroom Apartment | $12,030 - $22,350 | Luxury living room, dining room, standard master bedroom |
Too overwhelming? Let us help.
Furnishr specializes in a turnkey solution to furnish a few rooms or the entire house of any size. We have a team of designers and professional installers who will assemble all the furniture in one day. Check out how we work here.
To get started, just submit a design request.
If you enjoy the design and shopping experience, we totally understand the fun. Read on to see our recommendations on how to find your tier and style.
How to find the tier for you?
In addition to the room breakdown, we’ve broken down the essential furniture and accessories you need for each room based on three tiers of needs: basic, standard and luxury. Aesthetic differences between tiers is minimal. The difference is in the build quality and materials used. Hence, the cost to furnish a house varies based on these key differences.
Example of style for each tier
From our experience of designing for thousands of houses, we have also compiled the list of essential products needed for each key room of a house. While there are different tiers for each product type (sofas, coffee tables, etc.), we often recommend mixing products from different tiers to create a balanced and practical design that makes the home comfortable.
Basic Tier
This tier includes essential furnishings at an affordable price point. These items are typically made from manufactured or synthetic materials and will be more simple in design. We recommend this tier for a starter apartment, or a lower traffic space. Comparable brands in this category include Target, World Market and Ashley Furniture.
Standard Tier
These pieces are typically made with solid wood frames, denser foam, natural and synthetic materials. This tier can include some accessories and decor pieces to make your space feel like home. If you’re looking for quality furniture at a reasonable price point this is for you. Comparable brands in this category include Article, Crate and Barrel and West Elm.
Luxury Tier
If you’re looking for high quality furnishings and a fully accessorized space, this is the tier for you. These pieces are typically made with solid wood frames, higher quality finishes, denser foam, performance materials and leather. This tier can include a full selection of accessories and decor pieces to give you a complete design. Comparable brands in this category include Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn and Room & Board.
Basic Tier
moodboard
Living room
Sofa
Accent chair
Coffee table
Media unit
Area rug
Floor lamp
Kitchen
Counter stools x2
Bedroom
Queen bed frame
Mattress
Nightstands x2
Small dresser
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Table lamps x2
Standard Tier
moodboard
Living room
Sofa or sectional
Accent chair
Coffee table
Media unit
Area rug
Floor lamp
Side table
Wall art
Throw pillows
Dining Room
Dining table
Dining chairs x4
Bedroom
Queen bed frame
Mattress
Nightstands
Dresser
Table lamps
Wall art
Area rug
Luxury Tier
moodboard
Living room
Sofa or sectional
Accent chairs x2
Coffee table
Media unit
Area rug
Floor lamp
Side table
Wall art
Throw pillows and blankets
Tabletop decor
Dining Room
Dining table for six
Dining chairs x6
Sideboard or bar cart
Area rug
Tabletop decor
Wall art
Bedroom
King bed
Mattress
Nightstands x2
Large dresser
Area rug
Table lamps x2
Mirror
Wall art
Throw cushions
Bench or accent chair
Try our turnkey furnishing solution
It is always a challenge to gauge quality and comfort online, especially from brands you aren’t familiar with. Because of that, we source from many of the same suppliers as brands you already shop from so that you can feel confident in your purchase. Moreover, our team of experts is trained and experienced in furniture selection so that you can sit back and relax without worrying about reading reviews and testing out what seems like hundreds of sofas in store.
When it comes to furniture installation, there is no easier way than a white glove furniture assembly team who will assemble every piece of furniture in each room of the house. The team will be provided the layout so they know exactly where to place the furniture. Let us take the pressure off!
Just submit a design request to get started. Remember to book a design consultant right after!
See our detailed cost breakdown
for all the products you need and their cost to furnish a house
You can type the room (eg. Living Room) in the search bar to see all the products for that room only.
| Room | Furniture and Accessories | Basic Tier | Standard Tier | Luxury Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Living Room | Sofa / Sectional Sofa | $1200-$2200 | $1700-$2400 | $2300-$3200 |
| Living Room | Accent Chair | $300-$650 | $650-$800 | $800-$1200 |
| Living Room | Coffee Table | $200-$450 | $450-$600 | $500-$800 |
| Living Room | Floor Lamp | $180-$300 | $180-$300 | $250-$500 |
| Living Room | TV Stand | $350-$700 | $700-$1000 | $1000-$2200 |
| Living Room | Area Rug | $200-$500 | $300-$600 | $550-$1000 |
| Living Room | Side Tables (Set of 2) | n/a | $200-$400 | $300-$550 |
| Living Room | Wall Art | n/a | $100-$300 | $200-$400 |
| Living Room | Throw Pillows & Throws | n/a | n/a | $80-$250 |
| Dining Room / Kitchen | Counter Stools (Set of 2) | $150-$400 | $300-$600 | $400-$800 |
| Dining Room / Kitchen | Dining Table | $250-$500 | $400-$750 | $750-$1000 |
| Dining Room / Kitchen | Dining Chairs (Set of 2-8) | $150-$800 | $500-$1200 | $900-$2000 |
| Dining Room / Kitchen | Sideboard / Bar Cart | n/a | $500-$900 | $850-$2000 |
| Dining Room / Kitchen | Wall Art | n/a | n/a | $200-$400 |
| Dining Room / Kitchen | Tabletop Decor | n/a | n/a | $100-$300 |
| Bedroom | Queen Bed Frame | $400-$600 | $500-$1000 | $800-$1700 |
| Bedroom | Queen Mattress | $450-$650 | $550-$850 | $750-$1500 |
| Bedroom | Nightstands (Set of 2) | $300-$500 | $400-$800 | $500-$900 |
| Bedroom | Dresser | $500-$800 | $750-$1500 | $800-$2000 |
| Bedroom | Table Lamps (Set of 2) | $100-$200 | $150-$400 | $250-$500 |
| Bedroom | Wall Art | n/a | $100-$300 | $200-$400 |
| Bedroom | Area Rug | n/a | $300-$600 | $550-$1000 |
| Bedroom | Bench or Accent Chair | n/a | n/a | $600-$800 |
| Bedroom | Mirror | n/a | $100-$300 | $200-$400 |
| Bedroom | Throw Pillows & Throws | n/a | n/a | $80-$250 |
| Home Office | Desk | $350-$650 | $450-$800 | $750-$1500 |
| Home Office | Desk Chair | $200-$350 | $300-$600 | $500-$1200 |
| Home Office | Bookcase | n/a | $450-$850 | $800-$1600 |
| Home Office | Filing Cabinet / Sideboard | n/a | $450-$850 | $800-$1600 |
