The honest answer is that nobody can quote a luxury interior design project from a web page, and any page that gives you one number is selling something.
What can be explained, and what almost nobody explains properly, is how the fee is structured. Once you understand the four models and what each one is actually paying for, you can read any proposal you receive and tell whether it is reasonable.
These are market ranges for South Florida, gathered from published industry data. They are not any one firm's rates.
The four fee structures
1. Hourly
Market range in Miami: $100 to $300 per hour. General residential work across the wider market runs $50 to $200, with most designers clustering between $100 and $225. Senior designers on high-end work sit at the top of that range and above.
What it suits: consultations, a single room, phased work, or a project whose scope genuinely cannot be defined yet.
What to watch: hourly with no cap on an undefined scope is the structure most likely to surprise you. If a designer proposes hourly for a full-home project, ask for an estimated total and a notification threshold.
2. Flat fee
A fixed price for a defined scope.
Market range for the initial phase of a luxury Florida project: $5,000 to $15,000. That covers consultation, direction, and preliminary plans. Full-project flat fees scale from there with the size and complexity of the home.
Per room: $2,000 to $10,000, depending on complexity and how much is custom.
What it suits: most owners, most of the time. You know the number before you start.
What to watch: what happens when you change your mind. A flat fee is priced against a defined scope, and revisions beyond it are usually billed separately. That is reasonable, but it should be written down.
3. Percentage of project cost
The fee is a percentage of the total construction and furnishing budget. Published ranges reach up to 30%, with high-end residential typically well below that ceiling.
What it suits: large projects where scope is genuinely fluid.
What to watch: the obvious tension is that the designer's fee rises with your spend. Firms that use this model well disclose it plainly and are transparent about specification decisions. Ask how it is handled.
4. Cost plus, or markup on goods
The designer purchases furnishings at trade pricing and adds a markup. Market range: 15% to 25%.
What it suits: furniture-heavy projects where the designer is doing significant procurement.
What to watch: ask whether trade discount is being passed through. In many cases the trade price plus markup lands at or below retail, which is why the model persists. It is worth asking directly.
And one more number
Design fee expressed per square foot: $5 to $17, with most projects landing between $7 and $12. Comprehensive service in Miami, meaning design plus procurement plus management, is quoted at $200 to $350 per square foot including the goods themselves.
What actually drives the number
Two homes of identical size can be quoted very differently, and the reasons are consistent.
Scope. Furnishing an existing home is a different project from a gut renovation with new kitchens, bathrooms and millwork.
Custom content. Custom millwork, bespoke furniture and specified stone all require drawing, detailing and shop review. A specification of catalogue items does not.
Condition of the building. In a tower, coordinating with the association, working within restricted hours and detailing around fixed risers is real work that does not exist in a single-family home.
Procurement and management. Whether the designer is specifying only, or also purchasing, tracking, receiving, inspecting and installing.
Documentation. A full drawing set that a contractor can build from is substantially more work than a concept package.
What a luxury project actually costs, all in
The design fee is a fraction of the total. What owners really need is the whole number.
| Market range in Miami | |
|---|---|
| Condominium renovation | $80 to $220 per square foot |
| Single-family home renovation | $100 to $300 per square foot |
| Comprehensive gut renovation | $175 to $250+ per square foot |
| Coastal luxury | frequently above $250 to $300 per square foot |
| 1,200 sq ft condo, full renovation | $175,000 to $270,000 |
| Luxury project, typical starting point | from $100,000 |
| Smaller projects | $15,000 to $50,000 |
The number nobody publishes
Renovating in a condominium costs 10% to 20% more per square foot than the equivalent work in a house.
Not because of finishes. Because of administration: restricted work hours, elevator scheduling, protection of common areas, association compliance, and trades that cannot simply park and unload.
Two line items that appear on every tower project and on almost no published cost guide:
| Item | Range |
|---|---|
| Association architectural review fee | $500 to $2,500 |
| Elevator deposit | $500 to $1,500 |
If you are budgeting a tower renovation from a general Miami cost guide, you are budgeting low.
How to read a proposal
Is the fee structure stated plainly? Hourly, flat, percentage or cost plus. If you cannot tell which one you are being offered, that is the first question.
What is included, specifically? Concept, drawings, specification, procurement, site visits, installation. Each is separable and each costs money.
What is excluded? Furniture, fixtures, appliances, construction, permits. These are usually not in the design fee and they are the majority of the spend.
How are revisions handled? Every project has changes. The reasonable position is that reasonable revisions are included and substantial redirections are billed. Both should be written down.
What is the payment schedule? Retainers and phased payments are standard practice.
Who holds the trade discount? Directly relevant in a cost plus arrangement.
What is the timeline, and what happens if the building delays it? In a tower this is not theoretical. If your building is heading into a recertification cycle, the schedule is not entirely yours.
Where the money actually goes
Owners are often surprised by the split. In a high-end residential project the design fee is typically the smallest of the three major categories.
| Category | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Construction | Demolition, millwork, stone, tile, plumbing, electrical, paint, labour. Usually the largest |
| Furniture, fixtures and equipment | Furniture, lighting, rugs, appliances, art, window treatments. Frequently rivals construction in a furnished project |
| Design fee | The smallest of the three in most projects |
The practical consequence: optimising the design fee is the least effective way to control a budget. A designer who specifies well, avoids rework and prevents a wrong decision on stone or millwork saves more than the entire fee difference between one firm and another.
The short version
| Structure | Market range in Miami |
|---|---|
| Hourly | $100 to $300 |
| Flat fee, initial luxury phase | $5,000 to $15,000 |
| Per room | $2,000 to $10,000 |
| Percentage of budget | up to 30% |
| Markup on goods | 15% to 25% |
| Design fee per square foot | $5 to $17, most $7 to $12 |
Judge a proposal on what is included, what is excluded and how revisions are handled. Not on the headline number.
Want a real number for your project?
Tell us the building or address, the approximate square footage, and whether you are furnishing or renovating. We will tell you the fee structure that fits and what the project realistically costs, before you commit to anything.
Figures in this article are published market ranges for South Florida, gathered in 2026. They are not any single firm's rates, and every project is quoted on its own scope.
Jorge Castillo Design designs high-end residential interiors across South Florida, offering both hourly and flat rate design fees. Meetings are by appointment.