Almost every enquiry we receive opens with the same question, and it is a fair one: what will this cost? The honest answer is that a number given before anyone has seen your flat is a guess, and guesses are why so many interior projects end badly. What we can do is explain exactly what the money goes into, so you can read any quotation — ours or anyone else’s — and understand what you are being charged for.

The four things that actually move the price

Carpentry volume. This is the single biggest line in a residential interior, usually well over half the total. It is measured in running feet or square feet of shutter and carcass, not in rooms. A 2BHK where the client wants a full wardrobe wall in both bedrooms, a TV unit, a crockery unit and a study will cost more than a 3BHK where two bedrooms get a simple wardrobe and nothing else. Count the joinery, not the bedrooms.

Material grade. The same wardrobe, drawn identically, can be built in commercial ply with a standard laminate or in boiling-water-proof ply with an acrylic finish and soft-close German hardware. The design is the same. The cost is not close. Most of the price difference between two quotations for the same drawing sits here, which is why a quotation that does not name the board, the finish and the hardware brand is not really a quotation.

Civil and services work. Moving a wall, shifting a kitchen platform, rerouting plumbing for a new washbasin position, adding circuits for air conditioning, or waterproofing a bathroom — none of this is visible when the job is done, and all of it costs real money. In older Thane buildings this is often where the surprises live.

False ceiling, lighting and electrical. Priced per square foot of ceiling plus per point for wiring. A living room with a layered cove-lit ceiling and twenty light points is a different job from a plain ceiling with four downlights.

What a quotation should tell you

  • Item-wise rates — carpentry by running foot or square foot, ceiling by square foot, electrical by point. A single lump sum for “interior work” tells you nothing and cannot be compared with anything
  • Board and finish specified by name — the ply grade, the laminate or acrylic brand, the edge banding
  • Hardware named — hinges, channels, and whether soft-close is included or an extra
  • What is excluded — appliances, loose furniture, curtains, and civil work are commonly outside the quoted figure, and should be stated so
  • Payment stages tied to milestones, not to dates
  • Whether GST is included in the figure shown or added on top

Where people overspend without meaning to

Three patterns come up again and again in Thane flats.

The first is false ceiling everywhere. It is priced by area, so covering every room adds up fast, and in bedrooms it often buys very little. A peripheral ceiling in the living and dining area, with plain ceilings elsewhere, usually looks better and costs considerably less.

The second is full-height joinery on every wall. Storage is genuinely useful, but a room lined on all four sides in laminate feels smaller and costs more. Storage planned where it is needed, with the remaining walls left free, is both cheaper and better to live in.

The third is changing the scope mid-build. Every change after material is cut costs more than it would have at drawing stage, and it moves the completion date. Decisions made properly at the drawing stage are the cheapest decisions in the project.

Where it is worth spending more

Not everything should be value-engineered. Hardware carries the daily experience of the home — a wardrobe is opened several times a day for a decade, and cheap channels announce themselves within a year. Kitchen shutters and any joinery in a bathroom or utility area face moisture and deserve the better board. Waterproofing is invisible and non-negotiable. Beyond those, spending is a preference rather than a requirement.

Getting a real number for your home

We price after a site visit and a discussion about scope, because those two things are what determine the figure. What we can give you before that is a clear breakdown of how your requirement translates into carpentry, ceiling, electrical and civil quantities — so the number you eventually see is one you can follow line by line.

Frequently asked questions

Why won’t you give a per-square-foot rate over the phone?

Because a per-square-foot rate for a whole flat hides the only thing that matters — how much joinery is in it. Two 2BHKs of identical carpet area can differ substantially depending on how much is built. A rate quoted without seeing the scope is either padded to be safe or low enough to require revision later.

Can the work be done in phases to spread the cost?

Yes, and it is common. The condition is that the full electrical and plumbing plan is finalised at the start, so that nothing finished in phase one has to be reopened in phase two. Kitchen and one bedroom first is the usual split.

Does a lower quotation mean I am getting a better deal?

Not on its own. Compare the specification, not the total. If one quotation names the board grade, the finish and the hardware and another does not, they are not describing the same job even if the drawings match.

Are appliances and loose furniture included?

In our quotations, no — they are listed separately so you can see them clearly and choose your own. Chimneys, hobs, sofas, beds, dining sets and curtains are usually the client’s purchase, and we are happy to advise on specification.

How much should I keep aside as a buffer?

A contingency is sensible on any project that involves opening up an older flat, because plumbing and electrical conditions are only fully visible once work starts. We flag likely risk areas after the site visit so the buffer is an informed figure rather than a round guess.

Next step

Send us your flat layout and a short note on what you want built. We will come back with the scope broken into quantities, and price it after a site visit. Contact Ink Design Studio or see our completed projects.

Related: full home interior design, 2BHK interior design, modular kitchen design, bedroom interior design, TV unit and living room design.