Alongside "how much will it cost", the question we're asked most often is "how long will it take?". It's a completely fair thing to want to know, especially if you're planning around a house move, a new arrival, or simply life in a home that's about to be a building site for a while. The honest answer is that it depends on the size and scope of your project, but that isn't very helpful on its own, so here's a realistic timeline, stage by stage, so you know what to expect before you begin.
The short answer
As a rough guide:
- A single room, such as a living room or a main bedroom, typically takes around two to four months from the first meeting to the finished space.
- A whole house, or a full renovation, usually runs to nine to eighteen months, depending on how much building work is involved.
- A new build, or a major renovation from the ground up, can be anywhere from twelve months to a couple of years, particularly if we're involved from the architectural stage.
Most of that time isn't us sitting at a desk. A huge part of any project is ordering and lead times, which is the part people rarely expect.
What affects the timeline
A few things make the biggest difference to how long a project takes:
- The amount of building work. Decorating and furnishing is quick; walls coming down, new kitchens and bathrooms, rewiring and replastering all add time.
- Bespoke pieces and lead times. Made-to-measure joinery, upholstery and certain fabrics can take eight to sixteen weeks to arrive, and beautiful things are worth waiting for. It's one reason bespoke joinery is such a worthwhile investment, but it does need planning in early.
- How quickly decisions are made. The projects that fly are the ones where we make confident decisions together and then stick to them.
- How many trades are involved, and whether one studio is coordinating them or you're holding it all together yourself.
The stages of an interior design project
Most projects move through the same phases. Here is roughly how long each one takes.
1. Consultation and brief, week one to two. We meet, walk the space, and get to know how you live and what you're hoping to achieve. Here's what to expect from that first consultation.
2. Concept and design, around four to eight weeks. We develop the overall look, the layouts and the feel of each room, then present it so you can see and feel the whole scheme before anything is ordered.
3. Detailed design and sourcing, four to eight weeks. Once the direction is signed off, we specify every last detail: the finishes, the joinery drawings, the fabrics, the lighting, and pull the full scheme together.
4. Ordering and lead times, eight to sixteen weeks, often overlapping the build. This is the quiet, patient part. Bespoke furniture is made, fabrics come in, joinery is built. It's the least visible stage, and often the longest.
5. Building and installation. Any works happen, then everything is delivered and installed, ideally in one carefully managed sequence rather than piecemeal.
6. Styling and handover, the final week or two. The lovely bit. We dress the finished rooms, right down to the books, the lamps and the flowers, and hand you back a home that's ready to live in.
Why it pays to start early
The single biggest thing you can do to keep a project smooth is to bring a designer in early, ideally before the builders start and certainly before anything is ordered. That's when the decisions that shape everything, the layout, the lighting, the joinery, can still be made freely, without expensive changes later on. I've written more on why the best projects start early, because it genuinely makes the difference between a calm project and a stressful one.
How we keep it all on track
A big part of what we do isn't design at all, it's coordination. Having one studio managing the schedule, the trades and the deliveries is what stops a project drifting, and it's why the whole thing tends to feel calmer, and move faster, than trying to hold it together yourself. We'll always give you an honest, realistic timeline right at the start, and keep you updated at every stage along the way.
If you're planning a project and would like to talk through a realistic timeline for your own home, get in touch, I'd love to hear about it. You might also find our guide to how much an interior designer costs helpful as you plan.
