How much does an interior design project cost for Horeca in Romania
For a Horeca project in Romania, the indicative benchmarks are clear: concept and technical project usually cost between 40 and 90€/sqm, the complete service with project management reaches 60 to 120€/sqm, and the complete arrangement, with installations and equipment, is in typical commercial scenarios ataround 1,500€/sqm. These figures are a starting point, not a fixed price. The complexity of the space, the quality of the contract furniture and the number of approvals required are rapidly changing the budget, so a reserve of 10 to20%remains mandatory.
In summary:Costs for Horeca projects vary between 40 and 90€/sqm for concept and technical project and are around 1,500€/sqm for complete fit-out, depending on the complexity.Design fees are calculated by four main models: rate per square meter, percentage of the value of the works, hourly rate and fixed package, it is essential to compare offers with the same checklist of deliverables.The total fit-out budget includes costs for infrastructure, furniture, equipment, décor and must provide for a 10-20% reserve for contingencies to avoid bottlenecks and additional costs.A correct financial plan requires a breakdown of the budget by chapters and strict allocation of the amount for each, including the designer's fee, with the phased payment on delivery.The price differences between designers are explained by the specialization on specific regulations and the level of project management, not just by the area of the space.
SelfDezign
Horeca projects tailored to your business
SelfDezign creates interior concepts, technical projects and coordinates the implementation for customized Horeca spaces.
Horeca interior design cost: what do you actually pay
The first confusion we see in restaurant and café owners is the overlap between the design fee and the total fit-out budget. They're two separate things with different computational logic.
The design fee covers intellectual work: visual concept, technical plans, renderings, coordination. The fit-out budget covers everything that is actually built and bought: walls, installations, furniture, kitchen equipment, decor. A designer can correctly bill a fee of several thousand euros for a project whose total work budget reaches hundreds of thousands of lei, because there are amounts that answer different questions.
On the Romanian market, fees are calculated by four main models:
- Rate per square meter— the most common for Horeca projects, because it reports the direct cost to the usable area.
- Percentage of the value of the works— frequently used for large projects, where the fee increases with the execution budget.
- Hourly Pay— suitable for punctual consultancy or adjustments to an existing concept.
- Fixed package— useful when the deliverables are clearly defined from the beginning, without the risk of unlimited hours.
The project management included in the package increases the fee, but reduces the risk of re-examination and costly delays, according to market analyses ofinterior designers pricing. What does the cost add to any model you choose: custom furniture, multiple photorealistic renderings, prototypes for unique parts and additional technical approvals. A "cheap" offer that omits these chapters is not more economical, but incomplete.
How much does it cost to set up a Horeca space in 2026
The figures vary by the type of project you contract, not just by area. Here are the indicative 2026 milestones:
- Concept + technical project: between 40 and 90€/sqm, suitable for owners who only want the design documentation and manage their own execution.
- Full service with project management: 60 to 120€/sqm, includes site coordination and supplier supervision.
- Complete layout(plant, finishes, equipment, furniture): around 1,500€/sqm in typical commercial scenarios, with large variations depending on the level of finish.
Practical landmark:for a 40 sqm cafe, a full service package at €90/sqm means a design fee of approximately 3,600€, while the complete fit-out at 1,500€/sqm raises the execution budget to about 60,000€. For a 150 sqm restaurant, the same milestones bring the fee to 13,500€ and the full fit-out budget towards 225,000€.
A detail that frequently changes the final offer: the fluctuation of the EUR/Ron exchange rate at the time of the purchase of imported furniture and equipment. Many contract-degree furniture and professional kitchen equipment suppliers bill in euros, and the availability of materials, especially for custom parts, can delay delivery and increase the cost of production by several weeks of necessary anticipation. Always check if your offer includes VAT of21%or is displayed without it, because the difference changes the actual comparison between two offers.
How to correctly calculate the budget of a Horeca project
A fair budget is not built from a single figure per square meter, but through a four-step process that helps you compare different offers on the same basis.
- Estimate the total budget per sqm, using the above milestones as a starting point.
- Break down the budget by chapters: structure and installations, furniture, kitchen and bar equipment, decor, audio/video and IT systems.
- Assign your fee to the designer separately, regardless of the pricing model you choose.
- Book 10 to 20% of the total for contingencies.
The scheduling of payments usually follows the deliverables: an advance on the signing of the contract, a tranche on the delivery of the concept, another on the delivery of the complete technical plans and the rest on the completion of the site coordination. This model protects both parties, because payment follows the work delivered, not the calendar.
Professional advice: Ask any designer for a minimum checklist in the offer: the exact number of deliverables, how many revisions are included free of charge, how many site visits are foreseen and what costs are explicitly excluded from the fee. A bid without these four points is incomparable to another, no matter how close the final figures are.
What deliverables justify the cost of an interior design project
The price of a Horeca project is reflected in the deliverables you receive, not just in the final figure on the invoice. A complete project typically includes:
- Initial brief and analysis of the operational context of the space.
- Visual concept with material palette and brand direction.
- 2D plans and technical execution details.
- Specifications for Contract Furniture and Purchase Lists.
- 3D renderings for visualizing the finished space.
- Technical documentation for the necessary approvals.
Multiple photorealistic renderings and prototypes for one-of-a-kind furniture increase the fee but reduce the risk of costly re-execution on site. The coordination of implementation, i.e. the presence of the designer during execution, is the chapter that most often prevents unbudgeted additional costs, because it catches deviations from the initial technical plan early on. You can see the complete stages of such a process in apractical guide about the Horeca fitting workflowement
SelfDesign Perspectives: what I learned from Horeca projects
The specialization on Horeca is not a marketing detail, but a direct cost and risk factor. ISU, DSP and DSVSA norms are not an administrative form, but constraints that change the technical plan. A designer who doesn't know them well exposes you to costly redesigns after submitting documentation.
At SelfDesign we structure the estimate into clear stages, with named deliverables and explicit revision policies, because a customer who knows what he expects negotiates better with contractors. In execution, cost control is basically done: samples of approved materials before ordering, mock-ups for repetitive furniture pieces and partial acceptances at the end of each stage.
A well-budgeted Horeca project is not the cheapest on paper, but the one where each cost chapter is documented before it reaches the site.
Where owners go wrong when budgeting a Horeca project
The most common mistake is not choosing an expensive designer, but comparing incomparable offers. An owner puts together an hourly rate, a fixed package and a percentage of the value of the works, without understanding that the three models respond to different needs. The result is a decision made on the smallest figure, not on the real value.
Conventional advice says “ask for three offers and choose the most advantageous one”. The reality in Horeca projects shows something else: ask for three offers with the same checklist of deliverables, otherwise compare apples with pears. The reserve of 10 to 20% for contingencies is not an excess of caution, it is the difference between a project completed on time and one blocked halfway through its execution.
The real priority for a restaurant or cafe owner is not to find the minimum price per square meter, but to understand exactly what they buy at that price and who is responsible when the plan collides with the reality of the yard.
Toni
How to choose the right package for your Horeca project
For small or medium-sized spaces where the owner can manage his own suppliers, the concept and technical project package covers the essential need without additional coordination costs. For complex restaurants and venues with professional kitchens and tight opening deadlines, full service with project management significantly reduces the risk of delays and re-executions.
SelfDezign works transparently: step-by-step estimate, number of site visits established from the beginning and clearly named deliverables in the contract, exactly the criteria we recommend above for any comparable offer. Before you ask for an estimate, checkcomplete checklist for an interior design projectand clarify your goals using thispractical guide to defining project objectives. With these two documents ready, a personalized estimate discussion with the SelfDezign team takes a few days, not weeks of exploring.
Surse
In order to validate the figures in this guide, we recommend consulting the Romanian guides on the pricing of interior designers by project typologies,restaurant amenity checklistand analysis of pricing models used in Romania. Use them as market benchmarks, not as a replacement for a custom estimate for your space.
