A cosmetic room redesign runs roughly €1,200 – €4,500 for an average 15 – 20 m² room. The spread is almost entirely furniture and labour; the finishes that change how a room feels are the cheapest part of the budget.
What sits in each band
€400 – €1,200 — paint and light. Repainting walls and ceiling, replacing light fittings, adding lamps, changing switch plates and handles. No trades beyond an electrician for a few hours. This band produces the largest visible change per euro spent.
€1,200 – €4,500 — cosmetic redesign. The above plus soft furnishings, one or two significant furniture pieces, window treatments, and rugs. Still no structural work.
€4,500 – €12,000 — heavy cosmetic. Adds flooring, built-in storage, full furniture replacement, and possibly moving a light circuit or a radiator.
€12,000+ — structural. Moving walls, windows, plumbing or the ceiling line. At this point you are renovating, not redesigning, and you need drawings and probably permission.
Line by line
| Item | Typical range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Paint (15 – 20 m² room, DIY) | €180 – €400 | Coats needed; dark→light needs more |
| Paint (with decorator) | €600 – €1,200 | Ceiling height, prep work, coving |
| Ceiling fitting + dimmer | €90 – €400 | Whether a new circuit is needed |
| Floor and table lamps (×2) | €120 – €500 | Brand more than function |
| Sofa | €600 – €2,500 | Frame construction and fabric, not size |
| Bed frame | €300 – €1,400 | Solid timber vs upholstered vs flatpack |
| Rug (200 × 300 cm) | €200 – €900 | Wool vs synthetic |
| Curtains + track, per window | €150 – €600 | Lined vs unlined; made-to-measure |
| Engineered wood floor, supplied + laid | €55 – €110 / m² | Board width, underlay, subfloor condition |
| LVT / vinyl, supplied + laid | €30 – €60 / m² | Subfloor levelling |
| Built-in storage, per linear metre | €600 – €1,600 | Carpentry vs modular carcass |
The three variables that actually decide the total
- Whether you replace the seating. A sofa is usually the single largest line and the easiest to defer. Reupholstering a good frame costs €400 – €900 against €600 – €2,500 to replace.
- Whether you touch the floor. Flooring turns a two-day job into a two-week one and adds skirting, thresholds and often a repaint.
- Whether anything needs a trade. Every circuit moved, radiator relocated or wall chased brings a day rate and a return visit.
Where people overspend
- Buying furniture before settling the layout, then buying again.
- Replacing a floor that only needed cleaning or a refinish (€25 – €45 / m² to sand and seal real timber, against €55 – €110 / m² to replace).
- Made-to-measure curtains on a window that a €90 blind solves.
Getting a number for your room
Homie’s Cost Estimate gives a ballpark for the specific redesign it generated from your photo, broken into the same categories as the table above. It is a starting figure to brief trades against, not a quote — but it stops you from discovering the flooring line halfway through.