Fees
Every fee, agreed before we start.
One design fee, $2.50 a square foot of the rooms in scope, agreed in writing before you pay anything, with no hourly rate behind it. What you buy through us is our cost plus 20%, with the published retail price beside it. A $49 monthly membership after your project, only if you want one. Everything outside those is listed below.
Schedule free consultationSide by side
The same house, priced two ways.
| Item | One firm’s written proposal | Stanza |
|---|---|---|
| Design fee | $52,860 flat for about 5,000 sq ft | About $12,500 for the same house, at $2.50 a square foot |
| Work beyond it | $225 an hour | Nothing hourly; a room added later is $2.50 a square foot |
| On what you buy | A 10% procurement fee, plus 20% on furnishings for receiving, inspection and installation | Our cost plus 20%, with the published retail price beside it |
| Paying for what you buy | The total spend, paid in full before anything is purchased | As things are ordered: piece by piece, or from a working fund we draw down package by package |
| Also in their fee | Weekly site visits, construction project management, contractor communications and installation | Not in ours. Your contractor runs the site. |
Their column is taken from a written proposal a high-end Austin design firm gave us in 2026 for a 5,000 sq ft house: one firm, not every firm.
The design fee
By the square foot, once per project.
The fee covers plans, elevations, renderings and selections for the rooms in scope, however many rounds it takes. A whole house is its conditioned square footage; two rooms are those two rooms. It’s paid 80% when you sign and 20% when we deliver the drawings and parts list.
Plans, elevations, renderings and selections for the rooms in scope. As many rounds as it takes, never billed hourly.
Optional, for evolving the house with us: changes to the rooms we designed, product research and replacement pieces, and your file kept up to date. New rooms are $2.50 a square foot.
| A whole house, 3,200 sq ft | $8,000 |
|---|---|
| A living room and primary bedroom, 684 sq ft | $1,710 |
Outside the fee
What isn’t in it, said up front.
- Freight and taxAt cost.
- StorageBilled separately, if you need it.
- Your contractorRuns the site and bills you directly. Site visits and installation aren’t part of what we do.
- An architectIf walls move or the work needs stamped drawings. We design within their plans.
A first conversation
Tell us about your house.
A free 30-minute call with the people who will design it. Walk us through the rooms you want designed, with photos or plans if you have them, and we’ll work out your design fee with you on the call. Nothing to sign.
Schedule free consultationOr text (408) 355-4249
