Price guide
Interior design cost in Dubai
Every design fee and design-and-build band UAE firms publish, with the firm and the month beside each figure. Read a proposal against it before you sign.
Published fees
Interior design cost in Dubai: what do firms publish?
The interior design cost in Dubai depends first on how the fee is worked out, and only then on taste. Firms publish three methods. Every figure below carries the company that published it and the month we read it, September 2026. None of them is our own price: they are the market's, laid out so a proposal can be tested against them.
How much does interior design cost in Dubai?
Design-only fees in Dubai are published at 10 to 20 percent of the project value, at AED 120 to 200 per square metre on larger homes, or as flat fees of AED 20,000 to 150,000 and above. With the build included, a studio starts near AED 10,000, part of a villa near AED 80,000 and a full villa design and fit-out from AED 250,000. Our design service puts these bands beside every proposal we collect.
Published design-only fees
Design only buys drawings, specifications and advice, with the build priced separately by a contractor. Couture Luxury Interior Design publishes a full rate card, tiered by the size of the home. The same table appears on AI Designs' site as well, so we count it once.
| Method or scope | Published figure in AED | Firm |
|---|---|---|
| Share of project value | 10% to 20% | AI Designs; Euphoria Interiors |
| Per sq m, villa of 1,000 sq m or more | AED 120 per sq m | Couture Luxury Interior Design |
| Per sq m, home of 750 to 1,000 sq m | AED 130 per sq m | Couture Luxury Interior Design |
| Per sq m, home of 500 to 750 sq m | AED 140 per sq m | Couture Luxury Interior Design |
| Per sq m, home under 500 sq m | Quoted on request | Couture Luxury Interior Design |
| Per sq m, project over 800 sq m | AED 150 to 200 per sq m | Amitis Design |
| Flat fee, by size and scope | AED 20,000 to 150,000+ | AI Designs |
| Whole apartment, design only | AED 15,000 to 60,000+ | Bestimate |
| Large villa, design only | AED 40,000 to 150,000+ | Bestimate |
| 1,500 sq ft apartment, professional fees | AED 35,000 to 135,000+ | Algedra |
| One-off consultation | AED 2,000 to 6,000 | Algedra |
| Half-day consultation | AED 2,500 | AI Designs |
| Site visit with concept suggestions | AED 5,000 | AI Designs |
| Hourly, junior designer | AED 150 to 300 per hour | Dehleez Studio |
| Hourly, mid-level designer | AED 300 to 600 per hour | Dehleez Studio |
| Hourly, firm rate | AED 500 to 1,000 per hour | AI Designs |
The percentage is the one figure that three sources state identically (AI Designs, Euphoria Interiors and Google's AI Overview), which makes it the safest single anchor in this market. It is also the only method where your own choices move the fee. Every upgrade you approve raises the project value the percentage is measured against.
For the short version, with single-room and consultation fees set next to the three methods, see what designers charge.
Get three proposals on one scope
Design and build package bands
Once the build sits inside the price, the number stops being a fee and becomes a project budget. Apartment bands are set by bedroom count. Villa bands turn on how much of the villa changes.
| Home and scope | Published band in AED | Firm |
|---|---|---|
| Studio, design and basic scope | AED 10,000 to 25,000 | Pine Tree Lane |
| One-bedroom turnkey package | AED 10,000 to 15,000 | AI Designs |
| One or two bedrooms, design and basic scope | AED 25,000 to 60,000 | Pine Tree Lane |
| One-bedroom apartment | AED 25,000 to 120,000 | Ray Fitout |
| Two-bedroom apartment | AED 100,000 to 200,000+ | Ray Fitout |
| Villa, partial design and build | AED 80,000 to 150,000 | Spazio |
| Villa, budget interiors | AED 80,000 to 250,000 | Ray Fitout |
| Villa, full design and fit-out | AED 250,000 to 1,000,000+ | Spazio |
| Villa, mid-range | AED 250,000 to 600,000 | Ray Fitout |
| Villa, luxury turnkey | AED 600,000 to 2,000,000+ | Ray Fitout |
| One room, living room design | AED 40,000 to 120,000 | Studio 11 |
Read the villa rows together. Spazio's AED 80,000 floor for a partial villa project is also the figure Google's AI Overview gives for basic villa packages, a figure two unrelated sources agree on to the dirham. The spread above it is wide because the scope is: a partial project may cover two rooms, while a turnkey villa covers every surface, fitting and chair.
Interior design cost in Dubai per square foot: what is the rate?
Per-area pricing is where most comparisons break, because firms mix units as well as scopes. Put everything into one unit first. One square metre is about 10.76 square feet, so Couture's AED 120 per square metre is roughly AED 11 per square foot, and Xworks' AED 1,500 per square metre is roughly AED 139.
| What the rate covers | Published rate in AED | Firm |
|---|---|---|
| Design only, per sq m | AED 120 to 200 per sq m, about 11 to 19 per sq ft | Couture; Amitis Design |
| Full-service design, per sq ft | AED 175 to 550 per sq ft | Algedra |
| Agency design, per sq ft | AED 75 to 400 per sq ft | Fajr Interiors |
| Fit-out, basic standard | AED 240 to 400 per sq ft | Algedra |
| Fit-out, mid-range | AED 400 to 680 per sq ft | Algedra |
| Fit-out, high-end and luxury | AED 680 to 1,400+ per sq ft | Algedra |
| Turnkey base rate, furniture included | About AED 1,500 per sq m | Xworks |
| Design and fit-out, whole market | AED 250 to 2,000+ per sq ft | Dream Heaven Decoration |
What moves the design fee?
- Floor area. Rates fall as homes grow. Couture charges AED 140 per square metre between 500 and 750 square metres and AED 120 from 1,000 upwards.
- The fee method. A percentage rises with every upgrade; a flat fee or an area rate stays where it was agreed.
- Deliverables. A AED 2,000 consultation and a full design differ in drawings, 3D views, furniture schedules and site visits, so price the list rather than the title.
- Whether the build is inside. Adding the build turns a fee into a project budget: Spazio's design and build for part of a villa starts at AED 80,000.
- Community approvals. Emaar charges AED 1,000 or 2,000 to approve a modification and deducts its AED 500 review fee from that total. Tilal Al Ghaf charges AED 5,000 plus AED 250 VAT to review alteration plans.
The arithmetic behind each method, from what a percentage is taken of to when each stage is invoiced, is worked through in how fees work.
What must a design quote show?
- The fee method and the figure, and for a percentage, what it is taken of.
- The area a rate applies to, with its unit: square metres or square feet.
- Each deliverable by name: concept, layouts, 3D views, working drawings, furniture and finishes schedules.
- The revision rounds included, and the price of one more.
- Procurement, site visits and supervision, each marked in or out.
- Community and authority fees, and who pays them.
- Payment stages tied to deliverables, and who owns the drawings once they are paid for.
That is the shape we ask every studio to quote in, so three proposals can be read line against line. It is the core of how we compare design firms before anything reaches you.
Interior design cost in Dubai, emirate by emirate
| Emirate | Price band | Permit cost to plan for |
|---|---|---|
| Dubai | The bands above, published for Dubai | Emaar NOC: AED 1,000 or 2,000, the AED 500 review fee deducted from the total |
| Abu Dhabi | Confirmed per emirate | Maintenance permit AED 2,000 where Tasareeh reviews the plot |
| Sharjah | Confirmed per emirate | Modification fees set per application, plus a refundable deposit |
| Ajman | Confirmed per emirate | Maintenance permit AED 1,000 |
Each emirate page sets out its permits in full: Dubai permits, Abu Dhabi rules, Sharjah rules and Ajman fees. The Abu Dhabi figure comes from Tasareeh, Aldar's delegated permit reviewer, whose published fee schedule covers the plots in its scope rather than the whole emirate.
None of the firms on this page publishes a separate interior design band for Abu Dhabi, Sharjah or Ajman yet, so prices there are confirmed per emirate from the quotes themselves before we state any difference. The fee questions above apply in every emirate. For kitchens, bathrooms and whole homes, the renovation cost index holds the published bands.
Four numbers to carry into a design meeting
- design fee as a share of the project
- 10 to 20%design fee as a share of the project
- design rate, villas of 1,000 sq m or more
- AED 120 per sq mdesign rate, villas of 1,000 sq m or more
- studio design package
- FromAED 10,000studio design package
- villa design and build, partial
- FromAED 80,000villa design and build, partial
Questions
Questions about design fees
- How much should I pay for an interior designer?
- Start from the fee method, not the total. The published anchors are 10 to 20 percent of the project (AI Designs, Euphoria Interiors), Couture's rate from AED 120 per square metre on villas of 1,000 square metres or more, or AI Designs' flat fee between AED 20,000 and AED 150,000. If a proposal sits above those bands, ask what it includes that the band does not: working drawings, furniture schedules, site visits or procurement.
- What is a normal budget for interior design?
- By home size, the published design-and-build bands run from AED 10,000 to 25,000 for a studio and AED 25,000 to 60,000 for one or two bedrooms (Pine Tree Lane), then AED 80,000 to 150,000 for part of a villa and AED 250,000 to 1,000,000 or more for a full villa (Spazio). For design alone, Bestimate publishes AED 15,000 to 60,000 for a whole apartment and AED 40,000 to 150,000 for a large villa.
- How much do interior designers cost for one room?
- Studio 11 lists living room design at AED 40,000 to 120,000. For advice without a full design, Algedra publishes one-off consultations at AED 2,000 to 6,000, and AI Designs a half-day consultation at AED 2,500 or a site visit with concept suggestions at AED 5,000.
- How do I estimate the design fee for my home?
- Multiply the floor area by a published rate in the same unit, then check what that rate covers. A 500 square metre villa at Couture's AED 140 per square metre comes to a design fee of AED 70,000. The same villa at a fit-out rate gives a project budget, which is a different number for a different job.
- Why do per-square-foot design fees vary so much?
- Because one label covers different work. Couture's design rate of AED 120 to 140 per square metre is about AED 11 to 13 per square foot, while Algedra publishes AED 175 to 550 per square foot for a full-service project, and its fit-out rates start at AED 240. One Dubai fit-out firm quotes design-only rates above its turnkey rates in one paragraph of its cost guide, then below them in a later one.
- When is a percentage fee cheaper than a flat fee?
- On smaller projects. At 10 percent, a AED 200,000 fit-out carries a AED 20,000 design fee, the bottom of the flat-fee range AI Designs publishes. Below that budget the percentage comes out lower; above it, a flat fee in the same range can undercut it, provided the scope behind the flat fee is written down.
- Are community approval fees part of the design fee?
- They are set by the community, not by the designer, so a proposal should say who pays them. Emaar charges AED 1,000 or 2,000 to approve minor or major works and deducts its AED 500 review fee from that total. Tilal Al Ghaf charges AED 5,000 plus AED 250 VAT to review alteration plans, and Town Square charges AED 160 for home improvements such as interior repainting and wallpaper.
- Do interior design prices differ in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman?
- None of the firms on this page publishes a separate interior design band for those emirates yet, so we confirm prices per emirate from the quotes themselves. The permit around the design does differ: Ajman publishes an AED 1,000 maintenance permit, Sharjah sets its modification fees per application, and in Abu Dhabi, Tasareeh, Aldar's delegated permit reviewer, publishes AED 2,000 for a maintenance permit on the plots in its scope.
Who you are dealing with
- OperatorWebsiteOS LLC
- Licence2646567.01
- Cost to homeownerNone
- Figures datedSeptember 2026
Tell us about the space
Rooms, floor area, community and what you want designed. We come back with design firms and contractors who quote against the published bands, and show you where each quote sits against them.