If you are starting out in a three-bedroom house, then you are going to need furniture and accessories to make it feel like a home and somewhere that belongs to you. Here we look at the cost of furnishing a 3-bedroom house.
Average Cost of Furnishing a House
The average cost of furnishing a three-bedroom home in the United States is $16,000, though, of course, this is a figure that can vary dramatically depending on your style, taste, and the quality of items you buy.
If you are happy to buy second-hand furniture and hit some thrift stores, then you could furnish a three-bedroom home for under $1500.
If you have expensive taste, you could easily spend in excess of $50,000 to furnish your three-bed home. For someone with an average-sized three-bedroom house, who intends to buy mid-range furniture, then you will be looking at a rough estimate of $16,000.
Itemized House Furnishing Cost Per Room
Here we look at the average cost of furnishing each room in a three-bedroom house, along with an itemized list so you can see where the bulk of the money is being spent or where you could cut back to save some dollars.
Living Room
The average cost of furnishing a living room in a three-bedroom house is $4000. This figure does not include the basic pieces of furniture that you will need to be comfortable, such as a sofa and a coffee table, but it also includes furnishings that make a house feel more like a home, such as rugs and lamps.
- Sofa = $1200
- Two chairs = $600
- Coffee table = $300
- Two side tables = $200
- Large rug = $250
- Pendant light = $200
- Two lamps = $300
- Curtains = $300
- TV unit = $250
- Four sofa cushions = $80
- Mirror = $150
- Wall art = $150
- Shelving = $120
- Accessories = $200
- Total = $4000
Dining Room
The typical cost of furnishing a dining room in a 3-bedroom house is $3000. Though you will typically need less furniture in a dining room compared to other rooms, the furniture tends to be more expensive.
Different types of dining tables can vary in cost from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars for a high-quality solid wood piece, and dining chairs can also be very expensive.
- Dining table = $1000
- Six dining chairs = $1000
- Chandelier = $300
- Mirror = $200
- Two lamps = $300
- Accessories = $200
- Total = $3000
One Bedroom
One bedroom costs, on average, $3000 to furnish. This means in a three-bedroom home, you will be looking at a total cost of around $9000 to furnish all of the bedrooms.
However, this is based on all of the bedrooms having the same amount of furniture, whereas, in reality, you may be using one of the bedrooms as a home office or as a nursery, and therefore the amount or type of furniture is going to be a little different.
The size of furniture is also going to affect the price, for example, a king mattress in your master bedroom is going to cost a lot more than the twin mattress in your second bedroom, so these figures could be more precise if you devise a list using more specific items of furniture.
But if you want a rough estimate of how much you can expect to spend on furnishing your three bedrooms, this works as a good guide.
- Bed = $800
- Mattress = $600
- Dresser = $500
- Two nightstands = $500
- Two lamps = $150
- Ceiling fan = $200
- Bed linen and accessories = $250
- Total = $3000 per bedroom ($9000 for three bedrooms)
Furnishing with an Interior Designer
If you want a really stylish look in your three-bedroom house, then you can hire an interior designer to select all of the pieces for you. This is also a good option if you simply lack the time to design your interior style or if you lack confidence when it comes to choosing furniture and furnishings.
An interior designer will work with you to find out what sort of style you like and the colors you are drawn to. Typically, they will create a mood board to give you a clear idea of the design they intend to accomplish in your house before they begin the project.
Using an interior designer to furnish your property will result in a high-end look, and since interior designers know all about tips and tricks for creating the illusion of more space or how to achieve a particular atmosphere, you will have a dream home that is both functionally and aesthetically perfect for you.
The drawback of hiring an interior designer to furnish a home, for most people, is the cost. The price an interior designer charges will vary depending on their experience, their reputation, and the city you are located in. More cosmopolitan areas will typically have interior designers who charge higher rates compared with rural locations.
On average, an interior designer will charge a fee of between $100 and $150 per square foot of the home, and this will include their design fee as well as the cost of the furniture and accessories purchased.
For a three-bedroom home, the typical square footage of a living room, dining room, plus three bedrooms will amount to 950 square feet. This means that you would be looking at a total cost of between $95,000 and $142,500.
Alternatively, you could hire an interior designer to furnish one room in your home to get a taste of what they offer. If your budget allows it, you could then proceed to use the interior designer for the remaining rooms or take inspiration from the work they did in your first room and try to design the remaining rooms yourself in the same way.
Below is a list that breaks down the average costs you can expect to pay an interior designer to furnish your home per room. The room sizes are the average room sizes of a three-bedroom house.
- Living Room at 300 square feet will cost between $30,000 and $45,000
- Dining Room at 200 square feet will cost between $20,000 and $30,000
- Master Bedroom at 200 square feet will cost between $20,000 and $30,000
- Second Bedroom at 150 square feet will cost between $15,000 and $22,500
- Third Bedroom at 100 square feet will cost between $10,000 and $15,000.
Furnishing on a Budget
Most people who own a three-bedroom house will not have hundreds of thousands of dollars spare to have an interior designer furnish their home for them, and in fact, many homeowners would be dismayed at the prospect of spending more than $10,000 furnishing their home.
Fortunately, there are so many ways you can save money if you are trying to furnish your home on a budget.
Here we look at some popular ways to furnish your home on a budget without sacrificing on style.
Online auction sites
There are several online auction websites where you can pick up furniture and home accessories for a fraction of what they are actually worth if you’re happy to put in the time.
Be sure to never bid more than you want to pay, and don’t get carried away with the excitement of bidding against other users. Set a budget and stick to it, and know when to move on.
Free items
There are a variety of ways you can get furniture and home accessories for no cost at all. Let friends and family know that you are looking to furnish your home on a budget, and they may have items they are willing to give you that they no longer use.
Keep an eye out for unwanted furniture that neighbors put out on the street with ‘free to a good home’ signs, and scour online websites where people list items for free that you can go and collect.
This is great because it saves you money, prevents unwanted furniture from ending up in landfills, and the person getting rid of the item clears up a bit of space without any hassle.
Thrift stores and garage sales
Thrift stores and garage sales can be a treasure trove of items for furnishing a house. This might take some imagination. For example, could you paint the ugly brown dresser to make it work with your decor, or change the old-fashioned handles on a chest of drawers to make it more modern?
The price at garage sales is always negotiable, so feel free to make an offer, but try not to be offensive and secure a price you and the seller can both be happy with.
Upcycle
Upcycling is key to creating a stylish home on a budget. You can completely transform old unloved items into something beautiful with a lick of paint or some different hardware.
You can even try to save money on upcycling projects by getting old half-used tins of paint for free from friends and family and recycling dated pieces of furniture that nobody wants anymore.
