How Much Does It Cost To Furnish A House? From $100,000 for Luxury

Cost To Furnish A House Per Square Foot (Quick Way To Ballpark)

A practical way to think about it:

• Comfortable baseline: $25 to $50 per sq ft

• High-end: $50 to $100 per sq ft

• Luxury, fully styled: $100 to $200+ per sq ft

Why The Wide Band? 

Because a “luxury” home often has:

• Bigger rugs (12x15 is normal in main spaces)

• Fewer, better pieces (which means each piece costs more)

• Statement lighting that reads intentional, not generic

• Custom window treatments and better textiles

Also, some homes are simply harder to furnish. High ceilings need scale. Waterfront and coastal environments push you toward performance fabrics and outdoor spend that is not an afterthought.

Variables That Move the Furnishing Budget the Most

Nearly every furnishing budget can be traced back to the same core variables. Understand these early, and the numbers stay controlled.

House Size Benchmarks (2,000 sq ft, 3,000 sq ft, 5,000 sq ft)

These ranges assume you are furnishing the home as a cohesive whole (not buying one room at a time over many years).

Cost to furnish a 2,000 sq ft house

• High-end: $100,000 to $200,000

• Luxury, fully styled: $200,000 to $400,000+

This is often where people are surprised – smaller homes still need rugs, window treatments, lighting, and accessories. The baseline categories do not shrink as fast as square footage.

Cost to furnish a 3,000 sq ft house

This size usually introduces more “secondary spaces” that still need to look intentional (hallways, powder rooms, flex rooms, landings).

• High-end: $150,000 to $300,000

• Luxury, fully styled: $300,000 to $600,000+

Cost to furnish a 5,000 sq ft house

At 5,000 sq ft, your budget is less about “more rooms” and more about “more zones.” Multiple seating areas, larger dining capacity, bigger outdoor footprints, and more art.

• High-end: $300,000 to $600,000

• Luxury, fully styled: $600,000 to $1,200,000+

This is also where the cost of doing it properly becomes obvious. You cannot furnish a large home with small furniture. It looks like a staging set.

Room-by-Room Luxury Budget Ranges

If you want the most useful budgeting approach, price by room or zone. Here are realistic luxury-style ranges:

Living Room & Main Entertaining Areas

This is typically the highest-impact spend zone.

A luxury living room often includes:

• A statement sofa with real weight and proportion

• Two substantial chairs (not accent chairs that look good online and disappear in real life)

• An oversized handwoven rug

• Coffee table plus side tables

• Drapery or shades

• Lamps or wall lighting

• Styling layers

Luxury range: $85,000 to $225,000+ for a main living and dining zone combined, depending on how many seating areas you build.

Dining Room

Dining rooms are sneaky because the core pieces are large and the rug has to be even larger.

Typical luxury scope:

• Table sized for actual entertaining

• 8 to 12 upholstered chairs

• Sideboard or buffet

• Rug that allows chairs to slide back properly

• Statement fixture (fixture cost counts as furnishing, install is separate)

Luxury range: $45,000 to $135,000.

Bedrooms (primary vs guest)

Primary suites are where luxury shows up in texture and calm.

Primary suite luxury range: $45,000 to $110,000

• Upholstered bed and headboard

• Mattress and foundation

• Nightstands

• Dresser or wardrobe

• Large rug

• Bench and chair

• Drapery, lamps, and layered textiles

Guest room luxury range: $20,000 to $52,000 You can spend less, but do not strip it bare. A guest room that feels like an afterthought makes the whole house feel unfinished.

Home Office / Library

Luxury offices are usually quiet and grounded. Real wood tones, serious seating, good lighting.

Luxury range: $40,000 to $117,000

• Desk, chair, storage

• Rug and drapery

• Lounge chair and lamp

Outdoor Furnishing

Luxury range: $56,000 to $152,000

• Weather-resistant lounge seating

• Outdoor dining

• Rugs, umbrellas, and cushions

• Covers and protection that keep pieces looking good

Art, Mirrors, Accessories

A practical luxury planning approach:

• Art and accessories often land around 10–20% of your furnishing spend.

• Mirrors and glass accents can add another meaningful layer, even when the line items feel small.

Lighting As A Furnishing Cost

Lighting is one of the fastest ways to make a home feel high-end, and one of the easiest places to underbudget if you do not separate fixtures from electrical work.

Decorative Fixtures (pendants, chandeliers, sconces):

• Smaller statement pieces: roughly $500–$2,000 each

• Main chandeliers or sculptural fixtures: commonly $2,000–$10,000+

Lamps (table and floor):

• Quality designer lamps typically run $400–$2,000 per pair

For a luxury home, decorative lighting alone often lands in the mid-five figures once you cover key sightlines like the entry, dining, kitchen island, primary suite, and main living areas.

Where Custom Cabinetry Fits Into Furnishing Budgets

Cabinetry is often part of what people mentally count as “furnished” even though it sits closer to interior fit-out. Built-ins, bars, mudroom storage, office cabinetry, closets. These are not afterthoughts.

For custom cabinets in Palm Beach, realistic installed pricing often falls into these bands:

• Entry-level custom: $500 to $700 per linear foot

• Mid-range custom: $700 to $1,000 per linear foot

• High-end custom: $1,000 to $1,500 per linear foot

• Ultra-luxury, fully bespoke: $1,500 to $2,500+ per linear foot

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Example Cost: Full Kitchen (around 20 to 25 linear feet):

• Smaller or simpler custom kitchens: $25,000 to $35,000

• Most mid-range custom kitchens: $35,000 to $70,000

• High-end and larger layouts: $65,000 to $110,000+

• Ultra-luxury or multi-space projects: $90,000 to $180,000+

Hidden Costs Most People Miss When Pricing Furnishings

These are the line items that show up late if you do not plan for them:

• Delivery, assembly, packaging removal

• Installation for art, mirrors, shelves, drapery

• Customisation like COM upholstery and custom sizing

• Protection, rug pads, fabric treatment, outdoor covers

• Warehousing and receiving if your home is still in progress