Specific professional questions, answered specifically. Not articles — knowledge you can decide on, from Budapest practice.
COMMISSIONING · CHOOSING
How do you choose an interior designer?
The single best question: what drawing set do you hand over at the end, and can a contractor price from it? The answer tells you whether you are buying design work or a slideshow.
Visualisations are no longer evidence — anyone generates one in minutes. The dimensioned drawing, the junction detail, the schedule and the priceable bill of quantities cannot be generated, so after the portfolio always ask to see a documentation sample. Check too whether the designer states what the fee excludes, and whether there is a procedure for changes after sign-off.
In detail: choosing a designer →
FEES · EUR/m²
What does an interior design project cost?
Our full interior design service starts at 70 EUR/m², with individual pricing above 1,000 m². Elsewhere you will meet three other models: an hourly rate, a flat project fee, or a percentage of construction cost. In the Gulf, design and fit-out are normally quoted together per square foot. Rates vary widely by market, so compare the model first and the number second.
What moves the number is scope, not the value of the property: how much bespoke joinery there is, whether construction-level documentation is needed, and how many site visits are included. Our own figure is indicative, not an offer; it depends on scope and the current exchange rate.
In detail: design fees →
COMMISSIONING · ROLES
Interior designer, decorator or architect — which one do you need?
The dividing line is not the diploma or the licence — it is whether you receive documentation a contractor can price and build from. If the space itself changes, you need an interior architect; structure is designed alongside by a structural engineer. A decorator works with what is already there — colour, textiles, furniture — without touching structure or services.
Ren Design delivers the drawing set and coordinates the engineering designers; drawings are signed by an architect registered with the Hungarian Chamber of Architects (reg. 01-2214), and the FF&E is assembled by our styling lead. Before appointing anyone, ask what drawing set is handed over at the end — and whether a contractor can price from it.
In detail: architect, designer or decorator →
COMMISSIONING · SCOPE
Design only, or full turnkey delivery?
We work design-first: concept, detailed design, construction documentation and site supervision. Turnkey fit-out — one contract for design and build, standard practice in the Gulf — is possible through partner contractors, but the design contract and the build contract stay separate and separately priced.
Why it matters: in a bundled package the design fee disappears inside a per-square-foot rate, which makes offers hard to compare and contractors hard to change later. Ask for the two numbers separately, whoever you hire, and ask whether the team on site is in-house or subcontracted.
Complete answer — no separate page
COMMISSIONING · TIMING
When should you bring in an interior designer?
Before you appoint a contractor — and, where the idea depends on technical feasibility, before you buy. Every later entry point costs more and leaves fewer options open.
The normal entry point is after purchase and before demolition: the space is untouched, the survey is accurate, every decision is open. Documentation is needed before tendering because without it three contractors price three different scopes. Once demolition has started it is rescue rather than design.
In detail: timing →
PROCESS · TIMELINE
How long does a full renovation take?
For a flat around 100 m²: 6–10 weeks of design, then 4–6 months on site. Bespoke joinery accounts for 8–10 weeks of that, which is why it is ordered at the end of the design phase, not at the start of construction.
Joinery is the critical path: if the order slips to the start of construction, those 8–10 weeks do not absorb into the build — they add to it. The design phase therefore ends not at “complete” but at design freeze — the stated point beyond which the design does not change and from which procurement begins.
In detail: renovation programme →
PROCESS · DELIVERABLES
What do you receive at the end of the design work?
An interior construction package consists of drawings, schedules and a priceable bill of quantities — not visualisations. Visualisations exist for the decision; the package exists for the build.
Survey drawings, demolition and construction layouts, layout drawings (floor, ceiling, lighting, power, furniture), elevations and sections, junction details, schedules, the FF&E register and a priceable bill of quantities. Issue is in PDF, with DWG or IFC for the engineering designers and the contractor.
In detail: the drawing set →
TECHNICAL · LUX
How many lux above a kitchen counter?
A kitchen worktop needs 500 lux, or 500–750 lux over an island, at a warm white 2700–3000 K with CRI Ra 90 or above. Placement matters as much as the number: light from the front or the side, never from directly behind, so nobody works in their own shadow.
In detail: kitchen lighting →
TECHNICAL · FF&E
What is FF&E, and what does it contain?
FF&E (Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment) is the itemised register of everything purchasable in an interior project: furniture, light fittings, textiles, sanitaryware, surfaces, equipment and artwork. Type, material, finish, dimension, quantity, source, lead time and status — the document a contractor and a procurement team can both work from without asking a question.
In detail: FF&E →
TECHNICAL · LAYOUT
How much clearance does a kitchen island need?
A kitchen island needs 100–110 cm of clear aisle for one person working, 120 cm where two people work or where the aisle is also a route through the room, and at least 110 cm in front of an oven, dishwasher or fridge that opens into it. 90 cm is the absolute floor: at that point the drawing still works, the kitchen does not.
In detail: kitchen island →
TECHNICAL · NCS
NCS or RAL — which do I give the painter?
Give NCS for wall paint and RAL for metal and industrial finishes. Either way, the code goes in writing — never a photograph of a sample. Colour itself is approved on a sample board of at least A3, painted in the final gloss level and viewed on site.
In detail: NCS or RAL →