An interior designer in Australia costs about $200 an hour on average, excluding GST, according to Bark’s 2026 analysis of more than 440 residential projects, with Sydney near $275 and Melbourne near $210. Fixed full-service fees run from about $3,500 for a small zone to $20,000 or more, and percentage fees take 10% to 20% of the project budget.
The short answer from LeadsNow AI: LeadsNow’s worked Melbourne example puts a full-home design fee at $22,000 to $33,000 including GST on a $200,000 renovation and furnishing project, before any furniture is bought. The line that moves the total most is the procurement fee: at a 20% fee, the designer’s trade discount has to beat about 16.7% off retail or you would pay less buying the furniture yourself.
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- Hourly: $200 an hour national average, $275 Sydney, $210 Melbourne, $165 Queensland, all excluding GST (Bark, 2026).
- Paid consultation: $440 for a 90-minute in-home visit at TLC Interiors; $530 for a two-hour session at Lúrae Studio (both Melbourne).
- Fixed fee: about $3,500 for smaller zones up to $20,000 or more for larger jobs (TLC Interiors’ published Melbourne range).
- Percentage: 10% to 20% of construction and furnishing budgets (Bark; TLC Interiors; Lúrae Studio).
- Procurement: a separate 10% to 30% commonly added to the trade price of furniture you buy through the designer (Lúrae Studio); Kaiko Design in Sydney publishes a 20% procurement fee.
How much does an interior designer cost in Australia, by fee model?
An Australian interior designer charges in one of five ways, and the same home can cost $20,000 or $40,000 in design fees depending on which one the studio uses.
| Fee model | Published Australian figure (excl. GST unless stated) | Who publishes it | On a $200,000 project | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paid consultation | $440 (90 minutes, in home); $530 (2 hours); $400 to $550 for two-hour sessions | TLC Interiors; Lúrae Studio; Bark | $440 to $550, once | DIY renovators who want direction only |
| Hourly rate | $200 national average; $275 Sydney; $210 Melbourne | Bark 2026 (440+ projects) | $24,000 at 120 hours (assumed) | Small or unclear scopes billed as you go |
| Fixed fee | $3,500 for smaller zones to $20,000+ for larger jobs | TLC Interiors (Melbourne) | Quoted after the consultation | Defined full-service scope needing cost certainty |
| Percentage of project | 10% to 20% of construction and furnishing budgets | Bark; TLC Interiors; Lúrae Studio | $20,000 to $40,000 | Large builds with the designer through to completion |
| Procurement fee | 10% to 30% added to trade price; 20% at Kaiko Design | Lúrae Studio; Martina Hayes; Kaiko Design | Depends on the trade discount (see below) | Big furniture budgets where trade discounts are deep |
Many studios mix these: TLC Interiors describes “hybrid pricing”, a fixed fee for the concept plus hourly billing for changes, sourcing and meetings. Kaiko Design in Sydney prices every project on a fixed fee, says it does not charge by the hour and does not take single-room scopes.
Rules of thumb
- Add 10% to any Bark figure if your designer is registered for GST: GST is a 10% tax on most services (ATO), and a business must register once its GST turnover reaches $75,000 (ATO).
- On a $200,000 project, every 5 points of a percentage fee is $10,000 (arithmetic).
- The same 120-hour scope costs $33,000 at Bark’s Sydney average and $19,800 at its Queensland average, a $13,200 gap before GST (city table below).
- The one-in-six rule: at a 20% procurement fee, buying through the designer only beats retail when the trade discount is more than one sixth (16.7%) off the retail price (procurement table below).
- Regional designers often charge 20% to 30% less than capital-city designers, but travel fees can wipe out the saving (Bark).
How it works
How to cost an interior designer in Australia
Define the scope
List the rooms, the renovation budget and the furniture budget at retail. Decide whether you want documentation only or on-site project management.
Book a paid consultation
Two Melbourne studios publish $440 for 90 minutes and $530 for two hours. Use it to get a written fee proposal.
Convert to one total
Turn hourly, fixed and percentage quotes into a design fee including 10% GST. Use the same project budget for each.
Test the procurement fee
Ask for retail price, trade price and fee on each product line. At a 20% fee the trade discount must beat 16.7% off retail.
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Interior designer cost in Australia: FAQ
How much does an interior designer cost per hour in Australia?
Bark’s 2026 analysis of more than 440 residential projects puts the national average at $200 an hour excluding GST, with Sydney at $275 and Melbourne at $210. Designers’ own guides give ranges from about $120 to $400 an hour depending on city and experience.
Is a percentage fee or a fixed fee cheaper?
Neither is cheaper by default. In the worked example above, a $20,000 fixed fee beats a 15% fee on a $200,000 project by $11,000 including GST, but a 10% fee would match the fixed fee. Compare the totals, not the model.
Do I have to pay GST on interior design fees?
If the designer is registered for GST, yes: GST is a 10% tax on most goods and services, and a business must register once its GST turnover reaches $75,000, according to the Australian Taxation Office. Check whether your quote says excluding or including GST.
Is buying furniture through my interior designer worth it?
Only when the trade discount beats the procurement fee. At a 20% fee the break-even discount is 16.7% off retail; at 30% it is 23.1%. Ask to see retail price, trade price and fee on every line.
What do interior designers charge per hour in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane?
Interior designer hourly rates in Australia average $275 in Sydney, $210 in Melbourne and $165 in Queensland, excluding GST, according to Bark’s 2026 residential guide.
| Location | Bark lowest rate | Bark average rate | Bark highest rate | 120 hours at the average (excl. GST) | Same, incl. 10% GST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney / New South Wales | $150 | $275 (Sydney) | $400 | $33,000 | $36,300 |
| Melbourne / Victoria | $100 | $210 (Melbourne); $200 (Victoria) | $300 | $25,200 | $27,720 |
| Brisbane / Queensland | $80 | $165 (Queensland) | $250 | $19,800 | $21,780 |
| Australia, national average | n/a | $200 | n/a | $24,000 | $26,400 |
The 120 hours is an assumption, not a published figure: use the hours in your own quote. Bark does not publish a separate figure for Perth, Adelaide, Hobart or Canberra, and LeadsNow found no other credible public survey for those cities on 2026-10-27, so ask two or three local studios for their hourly rate before you budget. Bark publishes no method beyond the project count, so treat its averages as indicative. Designers’ own guides give wider ranges: Martina Hayes puts Sydney and other major cities at $150 to $400 an hour, and Lúrae Studio puts Melbourne at about $120 to $300 or more.
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What does a full-home interior design cost in Melbourne? A worked example
A full-home interior design in Melbourne costs $22,000 to $33,000 including GST in design fees on a $200,000 project, in LeadsNow’s worked example using published rates and stated assumptions.
The house: a Melbourne three-bedroom home with a $140,000 renovation and $60,000 of furniture at retail, a $200,000 combined budget. Assumptions are labelled; swap in your own quote.
| Line item | Fixed-fee studio | Hourly studio | Percentage studio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid in-home consultation (TLC Interiors’ published fee) | $440 | $440 | $440 |
| Design fee basis | $20,000 flat (assumed, the $20,000+ end of TLC’s published typical range) | 120 hours (assumed) x $210 (Bark, Melbourne) | 15% (assumed, midpoint of 10% to 20%) x $200,000 |
| Design fee, excl. GST | $20,000 | $25,200 | $30,000 |
| GST at 10% | $2,000 | $2,520 | $3,000 |
| Design fee, incl. GST | $22,000 | $27,720 | $33,000 |
| Design fee as share of the $200,000 budget | 11.0% | 13.9% | 16.5% |
| Furniture bought through the designer ($60,000 retail, 25% trade discount assumed, 20% procurement fee) | $54,000 | $54,000 | $54,000 |
| Design-side spend (consult + fee incl. GST + furniture) | $76,440 | $82,160 | $87,440 |
The $140,000 renovation is paid to your builder and sits outside every column. At 10% the percentage studio charges $20,000 plus GST and at 20% it charges $40,000, a $20,000 spread inside one model, larger than the $10,000 gap between the fixed and percentage columns before GST.
Do trade discounts and procurement fees make an interior designer cheaper?
A designer’s trade discount makes furniture cheaper only when it is larger than the procurement fee added on top, and the break-even point depends on that fee.
The maths is one line: you pay retail x (1 – trade discount) x (1 + procurement fee). Kaiko Design says its clients typically save between 20 and 45 percent against retail on furniture, lighting and soft furnishings bought through the studio, against a 20% procurement fee. TLC Interiors says that where a trade discount exists it shares a portion of it with clients, so they pay less than recommended retail price.
| Procurement fee on trade price | Trade discount needed to break even with retail | You pay on $60,000 retail at a 15% discount | At a 25% discount | At a 35% discount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | 9.1% | $56,100 | $49,500 | $42,900 |
| 20% | 16.7% | $61,200 | $54,000 | $46,800 |
| 30% | 23.1% | $66,300 | $58,500 | $50,700 |
The 15%, 25% and 35% discounts are assumption bands, not published averages; the 10% to 30% fee range is from Lúrae Studio and Martina Hayes. Ask for retail price, trade price and fee on each product line: TLC Interiors says its specification sheet shows the saving off retail on every item.
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What is not included in an interior designer’s fee?
An interior designer’s fee in Australia excludes the furniture, materials and building work themselves, and several studios bill procurement, travel and extra revisions on top.
- Furniture and finishes. TLC Interiors states plainly that there are two fees on a project, the design fee and the product cost, and that most of its full-home projects carry a furnishing budget of about $50,000 to over $200,000 separate from the design fee.
- Procurement commission. Commonly 10% to 30% on the trade price (Lúrae Studio), charged even when the design fee is fixed.
- Revisions. Lúrae Studio says most packages include a set number of revisions, commonly two or three rounds per concept, with anything beyond that billed as extra work.
- Travel. Site visits outside a designer’s area can carry travel fees (Lúrae Studio; Bark).
- Project management on site. Lúrae Studio puts whole-home documentation and specification at $15,000 to $45,000 or more, rising to $75,000 to $100,000 or more where the designer manages the project on site through construction.
How do you compare two interior design quotes?
Two interior design quotes are only comparable once both are converted to the same total: design fee including GST, plus procurement cost on the same furniture list, plus consultation and travel.
- Ask which fee model the studio uses and what each stage covers.
- Turn hourly quotes into a capped estimate of hours.
- Ask whether procurement is charged on trade or retail price.
- Confirm whether figures include GST, then run both through the worked example above.
Bark notes that whole-house design figures in its guide include complete documentation and project management, which is why its whole-house average ($120,000) sits well above the documentation-only range other studios publish.
What does this mean if you are the interior designer?
For an interior designer, a single full-home client on these numbers is worth $20,000 to $30,000 or more in design fees before procurement, so the cost of winning each signed project matters.
The live LeadsNow guide on how to get interior design clients models enquiries through discovery calls to signed projects, and the ranked list of lead generation agencies for architects and interior designers in Australia compares who fills that pipeline. For how other premium services set fees, see how much luxury wedding planners charge. LeadsNow, with 50,769+ AI-booked sales appointments since 2017, books sales appointments for high-ticket service businesses.
Sources
- Bark, How much does an interior designer cost (2026)
- TLC Interiors, What do interior designers charge in Melbourne? (2026)
- Lúrae Studio, How much does an interior designer cost in Melbourne?
- Kaiko Design, Pricing
- Martina Hayes, Interior designer cost
- ATO, How GST works and Registering for GST
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