Interior Designer in New York: 2026 Fees, NY and NJ Rules and Vetted Pros

What interior designers cost in New York

The ranges below take national cost data and apply the New York City construction cost factor of 1.31 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They are design fees only. Furniture, fabric and the contractor's work come on top.

Estimates for 2026, including labor and standard parts. New York prices use the metro's construction cost factor of 1.31 (US average = 1.00) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Area Cost Factors. Your quote depends on access, materials and the condition of the home.

A firm principal in Manhattan bills near the top of the hourly range, and a junior designer or a solo decorator near the bottom. HomeGuide's national average for a whole project is about $5,400, which comes to roughly $7,100 at the New York factor. Jobs on Long Island, in Westchester or in New Jersey can come in lower, and the calculator applies the rate for your ZIP code.

How New York designers bill

Most firms use one of six fee structures, and many mix two on the same job, such as an hourly concept phase followed by cost plus on furniture. These are HomeGuide's national figures:

Charges that catch people off guard

Expect a retainer at signing. HomeGuide puts it at about 10% of the project and says it is usually nonrefundable, though some firms ask for 10% to 50% up front. Product deposits often reach 50% of the furniture the firm orders for you. When a designer manages the trades during construction, a management fee of about 25% is common. Travel is often billed at half the hourly rate, which adds up when a designer based in Manhattan drives out to Suffolk County or Morris County. CAD drawings are often a separate charge.

Here is how cost plus works on a $15,000 order of furniture and trade work with a 30% markup: the designer's fee is $4,500.

New York taxes the design fee itself

This surprises many clients. New York State lists interior decorating and design services among the services subject to sales tax, according to Tax Bulletin TB-ST-400. That covers layout drawings, furniture arranging, staging, lighting design, cabinetry design and choosing and buying furnishings.

Inside New York City, a design fee stated separately on the invoice is taxed at 4 3/8%: the 4% state rate plus the 3/8% regional transportation (MCTD) tax. It is exempt from the city's own local sales tax. If the design fee is folded into the furniture price with no separate line, the whole charge is taxed at 8 7/8%. On $40,000 of furniture bought in the city, the tax is about $3,550. On Long Island and in Westchester, the design fee is taxed at the 4% state rate plus the local county or city rate and the MCTD tax.

New Jersey's sales tax has been 6.625% since January 1, 2018, and it applies to furniture and other goods. Ask any designer how they show tax on the invoice and whether their markup is calculated before or after it.

Who may call themselves an interior designer

New York: a protected title, not a license to practice

New York regulates a title, not the work. Under Education Law Article 161, only people certified by the State Education Department (NYSED) may call themselves a "Certified Interior Designer." The Department says plainly that anyone may use the title "Interior Designer" and offer the same services.

To earn the certified title, a designer needs at least seven years of combined education and experience credit, including two to five years of interior design school with at least an associate degree, plus at least two years of supervised work. They must pass all three sections of the CIDQ exam (IDFX, IDPX and IDIX), be at least 21 and pay a $377 licensure fee.

Few designers hold it. NYSED counted 260 Certified Interior Designers with a New York State address on July 1, 2026, including 55 in Manhattan, 26 in Brooklyn, 19 in Queens, 5 in the Bronx and 2 on Staten Island, with 17 in Nassau, 18 in Suffolk and 13 in Westchester. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted about 7,280 interior designers working in the New York metro area in May 2023. Most of the designers you will meet are not certified, and that is legal.

What the law lets a designer design

Section 8303 of the Education Law describes interior design as planning furnishings, layouts, fixtures, cabinetry, lighting, finishes and interior construction that does not materially affect the building systems. It says the title does not authorize design of structural, electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating, air conditioning or mechanical work. A Certified Interior Designer has to sign every final set of interior design documents by hand.

New Jersey

New Jersey works the same way. Its Interior Designers Certification Act protects the title "certified interior designer." Certification goes through the State Board of Architects' Interior Design Examination and Evaluation Committee and requires the NCIDQ exam. Anyone in Jersey City, Hoboken or Montclair may still practice interior design without it.

When you need an architect or engineer instead

Structure and building systems mark the line. NYSED's guidance says that when a project needs architectural or engineering work, the client either hires the architect or engineer directly or signs a three-way contract that separates the design services from the A/E services. A design firm may not pass architectural work through to you, and it cannot advertise architectural services because it employs an architect.

In the five boroughs, the Department of Buildings says no work that needs a permit can start until the owner hires a Registered Design Professional, a New York licensed architect or engineer, to prepare and file the plans. Interior designers cannot file those plans themselves.

State law sets a floor for when an architect's seal is needed. Under Education Law 7307, as NYSED explains it, no seal is required for alterations of $10,000 or less inside New York City, or $20,000 or less elsewhere in the state, as long as they do not affect structural or public safety. A house of 1,500 square feet or less is also exempt. NYSED adds that the local building department has the final say and can require a seal anyway.

In New Jersey, plans for permit work generally come from a licensed architect or engineer. The exception is a single-family detached house that the owner lives in and drew the plans for personally.

In practice, if your New York project moves a bearing wall, relocates a kitchen or bathroom, adds a beam or changes a window opening on the facade, bring in an architect. GOLDGCP's New York architecture team covers that side, and the structural coordination guide explains where the engineer fits.

Co-op, condo and landmark approvals

Only 8.7% of homes in New York City are single-family detached houses, according to the Census Bureau's 2024 survey. For most owners, that puts a board, a managing agent and the building's alteration rules between your design and the contractor.

• Board authorization at DOB: a long-standing DOB policy (OPPN 17/87) lets a condo unit owner or co-op shareholder file a permit application only with a statement that the board authorized it. If the board tells DOB in writing it did not, processing stops and any permit is revoked.
• Board attestation in DOB NOW: since February 2, 2026, the board is listed as a stakeholder on the filing, and a board representative has to log in to DOB NOW and attest that the board authorized the application. Build that step into your schedule, since the filing waits for it.
• Landmarks: if the building is a city landmark or sits in a historic district, interior work that needs a DOB permit usually also needs a Certificate of No Effect from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The fee is $50 for the first $25,000 of work plus $3 for each additional $1,000.

Ask the managing agent for the building's alteration agreement before the designer finalizes anything. Each board sets its own rules for the work, and those rules are building-specific.

Do you need a permit?

Design itself needs no permit, but the work it leads to may. In New York City, the Department of Buildings does not require a permit for painting, plastering, installing new cabinets, swapping plumbing fixtures, resurfacing floors or non-structural roof repair. A contractor licensed by the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection still has to do that work. Anything beyond it, such as moving walls or plumbing, needs plans from an architect or engineer and a DOB filing.

On Long Island and in Westchester, each city, town or village runs its own building department under the New York State Uniform Code, so the rules and fees differ from place to place.

In New Jersey, the Uniform Construction Code lists "ordinary maintenance" that needs no permit. It includes painting, wallpaper, new cabinets and other non-structural built-ins, trim, any flooring material, interior finishes covering less than 25% of the wall area in a one- or two-family home, and replacing a fixture with a similar one without changing the piping. Cutting a bearing wall, adding a beam, changing exits or touching water, sewer, gas or vent piping needs a permit. The local construction office must approve or deny a complete application within 20 business days.

How long design takes in New York

The schedule depends on scope and on how fast you decide. HomeGuide's architect guide gives a yardstick for jobs that need drawings: first concept drafts arrive 2 weeks to 1 month after the first meeting, and a permit-ready set takes 2 to 6 months.

Changes made after the drawings are finished cost the most time, because the board and the city may need to see them again.

Areas we cover

GOLDGCP matches homeowners with interior designers across the New York metro, including:

• Manhattan
• Brooklyn
• Queens
• The Bronx
• Staten Island
• Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk)
• Westchester
• Newark, Jersey City and the rest of northern New Jersey

Enter your ZIP code to see design prices for your area and get matched.