A portfolio can show you the kitchen you want. It cannot show who will resolve a cabinet that does not fit, whether the quotation includes removing the old units, or how an extra charge will reach you for approval. Those details help distinguish firms whose designs look equally appealing.
If you are comparing HDB flats for sale or condominiums for sale, note what you would retain and replace during viewings. That gives you a clearer renovation brief and helps you assess the work a home may need alongside its purchase price.
Choosing an interior designer in Singapore means judging how well a team can deliver your particular project. Use a common brief to compare its experience, proposed costs and way of managing the work.
Start With a Brief You Can Give Every Firm
Write down your priorities before asking for proposals:
- What needs to change: Separate essential repairs or replacements from design preferences. Include furniture and fittings you want to keep.
- Your spending limit: Give every firm the same contract budget, using the calculation below.
- When you need the home: Share your expected access date and move-in target, including any period when you need alternative accommodation.
Decide whether you need design advice, project coordination or design and renovation together. Compare the services included, rather than assuming packages offer the same support.
Set a Contract Budget Within Your Total Spending Limit
Keep the designer’s contract budget separate from your total move-in budget. Allow for appliances, furniture, moving, storage and temporary accommodation where needed, plus a reserve for unforeseen work. Check whether design and coordination fees are already included before adding them separately.
Illustration only: If your total budget is S$60,000, with S$10,000 allocated to purchases outside the contract and S$5,000 kept in reserve, your contract ceiling is S$45,000. These are example allocations, not recommended market prices or a standard contingency percentage.
Look for Experience That Fits Your Project
Shortlist interior design firms by the work you need, then assess the design style. Two firms may show similar kitchens but have different experience with the property, scope and coordination involved in yours.
- Property and scope: For a resale-flat renovation, request examples showing how the team handled existing fittings and site conditions. For a limited refresh, look for work that retained parts of the home rather than replacing everything.
- Budget fit: Give each firm the same priorities and ask what it would change first if the proposal exceeds your budget. Compare the materials or work being removed, not just the revised total.
- Coordination: If you will buy appliances or appoint separate trades, establish who checks dimensions, sequences the work and resolves clashes. A firm handling the whole project and one providing drawings only are offering different services.
Ask whether the designer assigned to you worked on the examples shown. Completed photographs and, where the owner agrees, a visit or reference call can help test the proposal. Look at cabinet alignment, edges and door movement, then ask how the team dealt with defects and follow-up work.
When two firms meet the brief, focus on the service you need most. If you cannot coordinate trades yourself, compare their site oversight and response process. Use this to judge whether a higher fee buys support you will use.
Check the Firm and the Contractor Doing the Work
Ask for the contracting company’s name and who will carry out the renovation. Clarify any difference between the names on the proposal, contract and payment request before transferring money.
For HDB flats, HDB’s MyNiceHome renovation guidance states that the renovation contractor must be listed in the Directory of Renovation Contractors (DRC). If you engage a designer who appoints another contractor, ask for that contractor’s details. Owners remain responsible for required HDB permits and can authorise the contractor to apply.
Separately, CASE’s CaseTrust renovation accreditation requires accredited businesses to use a standard contract and provide deposit protection. CASE describes a deposit performance bond protecting against events including business closure, winding up and liquidation.
Check the exact business against the linked accredited-business list. Request proof of protection showing your details and the protected sum, and confirm the applicable coverage and claim conditions. Do not assume every delay or workmanship disagreement entitles you to a refund under that protection.
DRC listing concerns HDB renovation contractors; CaseTrust is a separate consumer-protection accreditation. Assess project suitability through completed work, references and your contract as well.
Compare Interior Design Quotations With the Same Scope
The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore’s renovation guidance recommends clear, itemised pricing and accurate descriptions of the goods and services.
Give each firm the same scope and specifications, then use the breakdown below to find differences:
| Item | What to compare |
| Carpentry | Dimensions, internal layout, boards, finishes, hinges, drawer fittings and installation |
| Floors and walls | Area, materials, preparation, removal or overlay, and disposal |
| Electrical work | Point numbers and locations, fittings, installation and separately quoted work |
| Site costs | Protection of retained items, debris removal, cleaning and compulsory charges |
| Fees and extras | Design fees, drawings, revisions, coordination, applicable taxes and separate purchases |
For example, one kitchen quotation might include removing old cabinets and disposal, while another covers new cabinetry only. Price the missing work before choosing between them.
This illustrative comparison assumes the same required scope, specifications and tax basis. The additions are priced items excluded from the initial quotations:
Initial quotation
S$40,000
S$44,000
Required excluded work
S$6,000
S$1,000
Comparable contract cost
S$46,000
S$45,000
Designer B’s higher initial quote becomes the lower comparable cost and fits the earlier S$45,000 contract ceiling. Separate purchases and the reserve sit outside these totals.
Separate fixed prices from estimates. For each provisional sum or allowance, get the adjustment method in writing. A tile allowance may change with your product choice and the area covered; check whether it includes installation, delivery and any mark-up. Keep unresolved amounts visible and request revised proposals when selections are confirmed.
Understand Who Handles the Work Day to Day
Identify the person responsible for site checks, trade coordination and progress updates. Confirm the designer’s ongoing involvement, cover for absences and how you will receive updates.
Consider a delayed tile selection. The project contact should be able to explain when your choice is needed, which work depends on it and whether another task can proceed. A useful update identifies the decision deadline, revised sequence and effect on handover.
For coordination, use an appliance example: who checks its specifications against the cabinet drawing before fabrication, and who resolves a mismatch? You are looking for named responsibility rather than being passed between the designer, carpenter and supplier.
Discuss these examples against a proposed schedule covering selections, site work and handover. For a condominium, include a check on the management’s renovation procedures before settling the programme.
Agree on Payments Changes and Defects in Writing
Read the contract alongside the final quotation and drawings. Check that it records:
- Payment milestones: What work triggers each payment and how you can check it before paying.
- Changes: How additional work, material substitutions and their cost or timing effects will be approved before proceeding.
- Handover and defects: How outstanding items are recorded, who rectifies them and the agreed warranty coverage and exclusions.
- Cancellation and disputes: What happens if either party ends the arrangement and how disagreements will be handled.
For example, adding drawers after approving a cabinet design should trigger a variation order showing the revised specification, price and any agreed timing effect before the extra work proceeds. Update the quotation and drawings together.
Warning Signs Worth Pausing Over
Look for behaviours that make the commitment difficult to understand, rather than judging by price or portfolio size alone:
- Pressure to pay immediately before you receive or review the documents.
- Unexplained differences between the contracting company and the requested payment recipient.
- Starting chargeable extra work before you agree to its cost.
- Promising that proposed alterations will be approved without checking the applicable requirements.
Ask for clarification in writing. If the answer remains vague, leave the commitment open while you compare alternatives.
Take the Next Step and Request Comparable Proposals
Prepare your floor plan, spending limit and must-have list, then send the same brief to two or three shortlisted firms. Request itemised proposals and a meeting with the person managing the work. Use their answers to resolve missing costs and responsibilities before deciding who to appoint.
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