Interior design in Petaling Jaya, from the first terraces to the newest towers
Wherever you live in PJ, we’ll come to your door.
From the towers of Section 14 by Asia Jaya to the villas off Jalan Melor, one council looks after it all. We design across Petaling Jaya in person.
Petaling Jaya at a glance
- Council
- Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ)
- Area
- 97.2 sq km
- City status
- Since 2006, begun on the Effingham rubber estate
- Homes
- Condominiums, villas and houses
- Minor-works permit
- Approved in 24 working hours
On this page
Interior design in Petaling Jaya, township by township
In Petaling Jaya, the Selangor city that began on the Effingham rubber estate and became a city in 2006, Sundays in Bed is an interior designer for condominiums, villas and houses across MBPJ’s 97.2 sq km.
Petaling Jaya is easiest to understand as a set of townships, from SS2 and Kelana Jaya to Bandar Utama, Kayu Ara, Ara Damansara and the Damansaras, all under the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ).
Several have pages of their own, listed below, with their buildings, their dates and what renovating there involves. This page covers what they share, and the homes that belong to the city as a whole.
One thing they share is worth knowing early: where the council’s rules stop and your building’s begin. In a tower, the management agrees first; on a house, MBPJ is the one to ask first.
The city began when the state set aside Effingham Estate, a 1,200-acre rubber plantation on Jalan Klang Lama, for a new settlement; the Petaling Jaya Authority took over at the end of 1954. In January 2024, MBPJ counted 276,793 property holdings.
The photograph near the top, carafes on a travertine block with a linen sofa beyond, is the kind of quiet corner we’d plan into an open living room, whichever township it’s in.
Petaling Jaya condos we’ve written interior design guides for
In Petaling Jaya, Sundays in Bed has guides to four developments outside the Damansara townships: The Atera in Section 14, Sunway Serene in Kelana Jaya, Enso Residences in Kayu Ara and Five Stones in SS2.
If your home is new, the first question is what the developer actually hands over. At The Atera that is a semi-furnished home run by a one-app smart-home system; at Sunway Serene, painted walls with no plaster ceiling, and points for a hob and hood but no kitchen.
So before we draw, we read your sale agreement’s schedule against the developer’s list, and the design starts from what is really there.
Plans tell you the rest. The Atera’s 775 sq ft Type B, as its key plan draws it, has no balcony, an air-conditioner ledge in its place, and living, dining and kitchen in one L-shaped room. For a two-bedroom like that, where the storage goes and where the laundry dries lead the brief, ahead of any finish.
On the way
Before the keys, we’d plan new lights and switches to work with the building’s own controls.
- The AteraDue Nov 2027Two towers by Asia Jaya LRT, 1,632 homes; the four-bedroom dual-key has its own second entrance and electrical board.
- Sunway Serene 2Due Jan 2030Beside Sunway Serene: two towers of 966 homes and 27 superlink houses of 3,499 to 5,906 sq ft.
Dates checked 4 Oct 2026.
Settled
In a home with years behind it, we’d look first at the original kitchen and air-conditioning, which age soonest.
- Five StonesDec 2012377 homes in SS2, every one a corner unit, with ceilings a foot higher than usual and no two-bedrooms.
- Sunway SereneEarly 2023894 homes, ten to a floor around a central core, beside a 15-acre lake that not every home faces.
- Enso Residences2025Twenty four-and-a-half-storey villas off Jalan Melor, each with a private lift and dry and wet kitchens.
What four PJ developments hand over
- The Atera. Semi-furnished, with a smart-home system on one app. Some internal walls in Types B and C are drywall, so a wall-hung television there needs proper backing. Bedroom floors are laminate and the rest tiled; bathrooms are tiled to the ceiling and kitchen walls to 1,500 mm. Every home has water filtration.
- Sunway Serene. Living and dining skim-coated and painted to the slab, with no plaster ceiling; porcelain tiles, with laminated timber boards in the bedrooms; kitchen walls plastered and painted, and points rather than appliances or kitchen cabinets.
- Five Stones. At its 2009 launch: pre-fitted kitchen cabinets with appliances, three air-conditioners for the living, dining and main bedroom with piping run to the other rooms, and living spaces opening onto a balcony 25 ft wide.
- Enso Residences. A private lift, three car parks and both a dry and a wet kitchen in each of the twenty villas, built in five types.
These are the developers’ descriptions. Your sale agreement’s schedule governs what was actually supplied, and we read it before we draw.
Nearby, with their own pages: Damansara Heights Damansara Damansara Jaya Damansara Utama Bandar Utama Ara Damansara Kota Damansara Damansara Perdana TTDI Subang Jaya Selangor
What interior design costs in Petaling Jaya
In Petaling Jaya, the Sundays in Bed design fee for a four-bedroom Five Stones home with its +1 room and the kitchen redone, bathrooms kept, is an estimated RM26,875–34,005, agreed in writing before we begin.
Here is how the PJ design fee counts a dual-key home. If part of your home has its own front door, as the fourth bedroom of an Atera dual-key does, you might wonder whether we count it as part of the home or as a second one.
Part of the home, counted by rooms. The dual-key room is a bedroom on our list like any other, and we’d settle first who will hold its key, because that decides the locks, the sound between rooms and its pantry corner.
Pick the home most like yours, then adjust the rooms. The figures are worked out on your screen, and nothing is sent.
4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and the kitchen: 7 rooms at RM3,565, plus living and dining at RM5,485.
What Curated and Bespoke include, and why each range is wide
| Home | Counted in the lower figure | Estimated design fee |
|---|---|---|
| Five Stones, four bedrooms and the +1 room, bathrooms kept | 4 bedrooms, the +1 room and the kitchen, plus living and dining | RM26,875–34,005 |
| The Atera, the 1,420 sq ft four-bedroom dual-key, bathrooms kept | 4 bedrooms, plus the open kitchen, living and dining | RM19,745–26,875 |
| An older four-bedroom terrace, two bathrooms and the kitchen redone | 7 rooms, plus living and dining | RM30,440–37,570 |
Estimates at October 2026 rates. The upper figure allows two rooms you may add later.
What Petaling Jaya renovations by other firms have cost
In Petaling Jaya, 14 of the 17 condominium renovations published by other firms with a time on site ran 6 to 15 weeks, and landed records from SS2 to Damansara Jaya ran RM120,000 to RM500,000.
If you’re planning around a move-in date, the condominium records are the steadier guide. The longer jobs were few and named: Armanee Terrace II at 16 weeks, Megah Rise Residensi at 20 and The Nine at 36.
SS2’s four records hint at lower costs a square foot than the Damansara townships, but the cost page itself calls that a hint rather than a rate, and so would we.
A selection of renovations other firms have published in PJ
| Home | Size | Total | Per sq ft | Weeks on site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Five Stones, 4 to 5 bedrooms (3 records) | 2,200–2,909 sq ft | RM120,000–537,000 | RM54–185 | 8–12 |
| Sunway Serene (3 records) | 1,200–2,000 sq ft | RM110,000–300,000 | RM92–150 | 8–12 |
| Terraces, Damansara Jaya and Damansara Kim (3 records) | 1,400–1,600 sq ft | RM120,000–500,000 | RM86–312 | 12–24 |
| A semi-D, Damansara, 5 bedrooms | 2,900 sq ft | RM230,000 | RM79 | 8 |
| Two bungalows, SS2, 6 bedrooms | 1,500–2,800 sq ft | RM245,000–250,000 | RM88–167 | 6–16 |
| A terrace, Petaling Jaya | 1,800 sq ft | RM220,000 | RM122 | 8 |
Other firms’ published projects, updated 1 September 2026. Scope varies widely, so read them as a guide. All 34 records are on the Petaling Jaya and Damansara renovation costs page.
How MBPJ approves a Petaling Jaya renovation, by what you change
In Petaling Jaya, MBPJ approves a minor-works permit in 24 working hours and plans for an addition in about 14 working days, and a condominium’s management agrees first.
Sundays in Bed designs and manages the project; contractors build it.
If you’re changing finishes and joinery, the permit is quick, and the owner can apply for it. If you’re adding to a house, plans come first, with planning permission too if the work raises planning issues; nothing starts until approval and Borang B.
That’s why we’d ask about extensions on the first call: the answer sets the order of everything after it.
MBPJ’s own small-works form spells out the sums: RM250 to process the plan and RM50 for the renovation banner, with RM324 (terrace) or RM810 (semi-detached house or bungalow) for the materials stacked on site. A roll-on bin costs RM300 to rent, with a RM300 deposit for a 3-tonne bin or RM600 for 7 tonnes, though not where a management body runs its own waste arrangements. The form also stops short of breaking a concrete wall: no more than ten partitions may come down on it, all of gypsum or glass, and anything beyond that moves to the demolition form.
Who says yes in Petaling Jaya
At the site visit, we’d tell you which of these routes your brief will take.
- MBPJ’s minor-works permitFloor and wall tiles, roof finish on the existing structure, paint, new wiring and kitchen or room cabinets. The owner may apply, and approval takes 24 working hours.
- MBPJ’s standard plansOpen to terraces for a kitchen extension, with or without a toilet, keeping the original walls. Semi-D and bungalow owners are limited to a gazebo, fence, guardhouse or pet house.
- MBPJ, with full plansAny other addition, drawn by a registered architect, engineer or draughtsperson: about 14 working days. In PJS, SS 7 and PJU 1A, standard plans also need reinforced-concrete plans and calculations.
In a condominium, the management’s consent letter is on MBPJ’s checklist, and the contractor must be CIDB-registered. Each township page adds what is particular to it. The full process
FAQ
Petaling Jaya questions, answered
Is all of Petaling Jaya under MBPJ?
Yes. The Petaling Jaya City Council covers 97.2 sq km, from SS2 and Kelana Jaya to Bandar Utama, Ara Damansara, Kota Damansara and Damansara Perdana. TTDI and Damansara Heights, across the state line in Kuala Lumpur, answer to City Hall instead. Your assessment bill names your council.
How long does MBPJ take to approve a renovation?
For a minor-works permit, 24 working hours. For plans for an addition, about 14 working days, after any planning permission the work needs. In a condominium, the management’s own approval comes first.
My Atera home comes semi-furnished. Do we start from scratch?
No. We start from what the developer supplies, decide what’s worth keeping, and plan new lighting and joinery to work with the built-in smart-home system. The developer hasn’t published an itemised list, so we check your own schedule first.
Which parts of Petaling Jaya have their own page?
Damansara Jaya, Damansara Utama, Bandar Utama, Ara Damansara, Kota Damansara and Damansara Perdana each have one, with their buildings and dates, and our Damansara page gathers them. This page covers the rest of the city, SS2, Section 14, Kelana Jaya and Kayu Ara among it, and what every township shares.
Damansara Jaya Damansara Utama Bandar Utama Ara Damansara Kota Damansara Damansara Perdana Damansara
How much does an interior designer cost per day in Petaling Jaya?
Our fee isn’t counted in days or hours but in rooms, agreed in writing before we begin. For a four-bedroom Five Stones home in Petaling Jaya, with its +1 room and kitchen redone, that comes to an estimated RM26,875–34,005, a sum that doesn’t depend on how long MBPJ or the management take to approve the works.
What is the difference between an interior designer and a decorator?
In a word, scope. A decorator furnishes and dresses the rooms you have, while an interior designer can change the rooms themselves, with drawings the contractors build from. We do both: in a Petaling Jaya terrace that might mean designing a kitchen extension that fits MBPJ’s standard plans, then styling the living room around it.
What is the 70/30 rule in interior design?
It’s a proportion: one main colour or material across about 70% of a room, and a contrast in the remaining 30%. At Sunway Serene in Petaling Jaya, where living and dining are painted to the slab with no plaster ceiling, the ceiling is a large surface in its own right, so we’d count it within the 70 rather than leave it to chance.
Do you do the building work in Petaling Jaya?
No. We design, draw and manage, and the building is done by contractors, CIDB-registered as MBPJ requires, whom you choose after we’ve gathered their quotes and compared them with you. In a Petaling Jaya condominium they start only once the management’s consent letter, which is on MBPJ’s checklist, is in hand.
How much does it cost to hire an interior designer in Petaling Jaya?
The open-plan living and dining is RM5,485 and every other room we design RM3,565; both are agreed in writing before we begin, and neither is ever a share of the build. Across Petaling Jaya, that runs from an estimated RM19,745–26,875 for The Atera’s 1,420 sq ft four-bedroom dual-key, bathrooms kept, to RM30,440–37,570 for an older terrace of four bedrooms, its kitchen and two bathrooms redone.
What is a normal budget for interior design in Petaling Jaya?
For an older four-bedroom terrace of about 1,600 sq ft in Petaling Jaya, with two bathrooms and the kitchen redone, our calculator gives RM250k–428k to renovate and furnish it at Curated (Commune, Cellini, Poet Living) and RM476k–913k with Bespoke (Space Furniture, BoConcept, Molteni&C), with the design fee of RM30,440–37,570 added. Landed renovations other firms have published, from SS2 to Damansara Jaya, ran RM120,000 to RM500,000.
Do I need council approval to renovate in Petaling Jaya?
Yes, from MBPJ, by one of three routes. A minor-works permit, which the owner may apply for, covers tiles, paint, new wiring, kitchen and room cabinets and solar panels; a terrace’s kitchen extension can use MBPJ’s standard plans; and any other addition needs full plans from a registered architect, engineer or draughtsperson.
Can renovation work in Petaling Jaya happen on weekends?
On Saturdays, yes; on Sundays and public holidays, no. MBPJ’s small-works form allows work from 8am to 6pm, and in a tower the management’s rules apply too, though The Atera’s management isn’t formed yet and Sunway Serene’s managing agent has published none, so we ask before booking a Saturday.
What interior design services do you offer in Petaling Jaya?
Across Petaling Jaya we design condominiums such as The Atera, and the older terraces get renovation design. We draw the plans, compare contractors’ quotes with you and manage the works on site, and contractors do the building. We also style rooms and furnish them through our Procurement Concierge, and homes outside Kuala Lumpur and Selangor are designed through Virtual Design.
Interior design Interior styling Condo interior design Virtual Design
Tell us your township, and your street
Send your floor plan or your sale agreement’s schedule, your key date if you’re waiting for one, and a few photos. The first call is free, and the fee is agreed in writing once we’ve chosen the rooms together.
Free · your fee is agreed in writing before we start
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