Rates and totals
| Home | Carpet | Essential | Premium | Luxury |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1BHK | 380 – 520 sq ft | ₹6.7 – 9.2 L | ₹9.1 – 12.5 L | ₹11.6 – 15.8 L |
| 2BHK | 600 – 820 sq ft | ₹10.6 – 14.4 L | ₹14.4 – 19.7 L | ₹18.2 – 24.9 L |
| 3BHK | 950 – 1,300 sq ft | ₹16.7 – 22.9 L | ₹22.8 – 31.2 L | ₹28.9 – 39.5 L |
| 4BHK or duplex | 1,400 – 1,950 sq ft | ₹24.6 – 34.3 L | ₹33.6 – 46.8 L | ₹42.6 – 59.3 L |
Carpet area × the band: essential ₹1,760, premium ₹2,400, luxury ₹3,040 per sq ft. Ex-GST. A kitchen-and-wardrobes-only scope lands 20–25% below. These are costed from Chembur fit-outs we have delivered and invoiced, brought up to October 2026.
What a corpus actually covers
A redevelopment corpus in this suburb commonly falls between ₹6 and ₹14 lakh depending on the scheme and the flat size. Set against the figures above, that is the honest position.
| Corpus | On a 620 sq ft 2BHK | On a 780 sq ft 2BHK | On a 1,050 sq ft 3BHK |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹6 lakh | Kitchen and one wardrobe | Kitchen only | Kitchen only |
| ₹8 lakh | Kitchen and two wardrobes | Kitchen and one wardrobe | Kitchen and one wardrobe |
| ₹10 lakh | Kitchen, wardrobes, basic ceiling | Kitchen and two wardrobes | Kitchen and two wardrobes |
| ₹12 lakh | Essential full-home scope | Kitchen, wardrobes, ceiling | Kitchen and three wardrobes |
| ₹14 lakh | Premium full-home scope | Essential full-home scope | Kitchen, wardrobes, basic ceiling |
Ex-GST. ‘Full-home scope’ means kitchen, all wardrobes, beds, living and entrance joinery, ceilings, lighting, electrical and painting.
A corpus, a first fit-out, and a household doing this for the first time
Specifying from the carcass outward
- Board first. BWP 710 throughout, from a known brand, with the grade stated on the quotation. This is the decision that determines whether the joinery is still sound in year eight, and it is 5–9% of the joinery cost.
- Hardware second. Hettich, Hafele or Ebco soft-close with the series named. A cheap hinge fails first and is the most visible failure in a home.
- Internals third. Drawers rather than shelves, pull-outs in the corners, a proper hanging arrangement. This is what makes storage usable rather than merely present.
- Edge banding and construction fourth. 2 mm PVC on exposed edges, housed shelves, a grooved back panel, levelling feet.
- Shutter finish last. Laminate now and acrylic in ten years on the same carcass is a perfectly good plan. Acrylic now on an MR-ply carcass is not.
- Lighting is the exception. It is cheap, it is built into the ceiling and it cannot be added later without opening it. Four circuits in the living room for about ₹11,000 is the best value in the whole budget.
A worked budget: 720 sq ft 2BHK, RC Marg
A premium fit-out at ₹18.5 lakh, which is ₹2,569 per sq ft — the upper half of the Chembur band.
| Line | Cost | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Modular kitchen — 11 running feet | ₹4,29,000 | ₹39,000 per running foot; BWP, membrane, granite, tall unit and loft |
| Master bedroom — 8 rft wardrobe with loft, bed with hydraulic storage | ₹3,77,000 | Drawers rather than shelves; full hanging arrangement |
| Second bedroom — 7 rft wardrobe with loft, study | ₹2,86,000 | — |
| Living and dining — media wall, crockery, entrance unit | ₹2,74,000 | Ventilated shoe storage; matte finish for the refinery side |
| Ceiling and lighting | ₹1,64,000 | Peripheral cove; four living circuits; two bedroom scenes |
| Electrical rework and new points | ₹71,000 | New tower; additions rather than a rewire |
| Two bathrooms — vanity, mirror, storage | ₹1,07,000 | Developer sanitaryware retained |
| Painting | ₹75,000 | Washable matte emulsion; one coat over developer paint |
| Design and supervision | ₹67,000 | Includes a full BOQ walkthrough, which takes longer here |
| Total (ex-GST) | ₹18,50,000 | ₹2,569 per sq ft on 720 sq ft carpet |
18% GST adds ₹3,33,000. Excludes the developer fit-out deposit, appliances, loose furniture and flooring, which is retained.
Phasing, when the corpus does not stretch
Where the money covers two thirds of the flat, the right answer is to do two thirds properly rather than all of it thinly. Phase by room, and in this order: the kitchen, because it is used three times a day and it is the hardest thing to live without; the master bedroom, because it holds most of the household’s storage; then the second bedroom; then the living room, which can carry loose furniture in the meantime. Two rules make phasing work. Do the electrical first fix for the whole flat in phase one, because chasing a finished wall later costs three times as much and creates dust in a home you are living in. And keep the carcass specification identical across phases, so that phase two matches phase one two years later. Expect phasing to add 10–16% overall in repeated mobilisation and supervision.
A Tilak Nagar family had eight lakh of corpus and a three-bedroom flat. We did the kitchen and the master bedroom properly and left the rest. Two years later they came back for the second bedroom and we matched it exactly, because the specification had been written down.
Greenbox principal designer
Local notes
- Refinery-side air quality. On Mahul Road and the Govandi-facing elevations a fine deposit settles on everything. Matte laminate and washable emulsion outperform gloss and texture by a wide margin here.
- Diamond Garden and Chembur Colony are a different job. 1960s–80s co-operatives with generous plans and old services; those flats need a wiring check and run at the upper half of the band.
- Basant Park and the Union Park side carry a higher finish expectation and larger carpet areas, and sit at the top of the range.
- The Eastern Freeway changed the market. South Mumbai is twenty minutes away, which has pulled both prices and finish expectations upward over the last decade.
- First-time clients need a longer BOQ walkthrough. We budget more design time here than anywhere else, and it prevents almost every later dispute about what was and was not included.
- Deposits are moderate — ₹25,000–₹60,000 in most buildings, with developer fit-out deposits on possession flats at the higher end.
Questions a first-time client should ask
- ‘What board are you using, and what grade?’ The answer should be a brand and a grade, written on the quotation. ‘Good quality ply’ is not an answer, and the difference between BWP 710 and MR-grade in a Mumbai kitchen is two monsoons.
- ‘Which hardware, and which series?’ Hettich, Hafele, Blum or Ebco with the series number. ‘Imported soft close’ names nothing and warrants nothing.
- ‘Is this quoted per running foot or as a lump sum?’ A real kitchen quote states the running feet; a real wardrobe quote states width by height. A lump sum for ‘bedroom joinery’ hides the quantity, which is the only thing you can compare between two quotes.
- ‘What is excluded?’ Ask for the list in writing. Appliances, loose furniture, curtains, flooring, the society deposit and GST are the usual six, and any of them arriving as a surprise later is a dispute.
- ‘What happens if something is wrong in month four?’ A named person, a stated response time and five per cent retained for sixty days after handover.
Related
For the service and the local building stock, see interior designers in Chembur. For citywide bands, interior design cost in Mumbai; for the possession process, the redevelopment flat interior guide; and for the neighbouring market, interior design cost in Powai.
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
What does interior design cost in Chembur?+
₹1,760–₹3,040 per sq ft of carpet area, ex-GST. A 720 sq ft 2BHK at a premium finish is about ₹18.5 lakh, and a 3BHK of 950–1,300 sq ft runs ₹22.8–₹31.2 lakh at the same level.
Will my redevelopment corpus cover the whole flat?+
It depends on both numbers. On a 620 sq ft 2BHK, ₹12 lakh covers an essential full-home scope and ₹14 lakh a premium one. On a 1,050 sq ft 3BHK, ₹10 lakh covers the kitchen and two wardrobes and ₹14 lakh the kitchen, wardrobes and a basic ceiling. Below that, phase by room rather than thinning the specification everywhere.
What should I spend on first in a first fit-out?+
The carcass, in this order: BWP 710 board with the grade stated, named soft-close hardware with the series, proper internals with drawers rather than shelves, then 2 mm edge banding and sound construction. Shutter finish comes last, because laminate now and acrylic in ten years on the same carcass is a good plan. The exception is lighting, which is cheap, built into the ceiling and impossible to add later.
How should I phase a Chembur fit-out?+
Kitchen first, then the master bedroom, then the second bedroom, then the living room, which can carry loose furniture in the meantime. Do the electrical first fix for the whole flat in phase one, because chasing a finished wall later costs three times as much, and keep the carcass specification written down so phase two matches phase one. Phasing adds 10–16% overall.
Does the refinery affect material choices?+
On the Mahul Road and Govandi-facing elevations, yes. A fine deposit settles on surfaces, so matte laminate and washable emulsion outperform gloss and textured finishes by a wide margin. On the Diamond Garden and Basant Park side it is not an issue.
Is Chembur cheaper than the western suburbs?+
Marginally — about 4% below Andheri West at a premium finish, and comparable to Borivali. The saving is easier access and a younger housing stock in the redevelopment towers. Diamond Garden and Chembur Colony, which are 1960s to 80s co-operatives with ageing services, sit at the upper half of the band rather than the lower.