Interior design in USJ
USJ’s 1990s terraces, bright all the way through.
Double-storey terraces from USJ 1 to 27, and new serviced apartments. One fixed fee per room, agreed before we begin and paid in stages. We gather and compare contractors’ quotes for you.
Prefer to talk? Book a free call.
Price your home- The fee
RM3,565 per standard room and RM5,485 for the open-plan living and dining. Fixed in writing before we begin, never a percentage of your build.
- An older USJ terrace
Four bedrooms, two of the three bathrooms redone, the kitchen and the open-plan living and dining come to RM30,440. Keep the bathrooms and it’s less.
- The building work
Done by contractors, from quotes we gather and compare with you. We design, draw and manage the project; we don’t build it.
- When to call
Before you book a contractor, and ideally before a purchase completes, so the wiring, pipes and roof are checked while the design is still on paper.
What should you plan first in an older USJ terrace?
Plan what the house can’t show you first: the wiring, pipes and roof, and the wall between kitchen and dining. Most USJ terraces were finished in the early 1990s, for the way a family lived then.
Sime UEP began building USJ in 1988, and most of its zones are freehold double-storey terraces. The usual one has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and about 1,650 sq ft inside.
How far to go. In a USJ terrace, each room is still designed and priced on its own, so you choose how far to go. A full renovation is worth walking through on the call first, since the scope varies from house to house.
Start behind the plaster. Have the distribution board, the wiring, the water pipes and the roof checked before any carpentry is drawn. A new power point is easy before the cabinets go in, and messy after.
The porch. It’s where shoes come off and the car sleeps. If the grilles and auto-gate are original, redesign them with the front of the house. Give the shoe cabinet vents: closed boxes grow mould in this humidity.
Opening the kitchen. Many older terraces keep the kitchen behind a wall. Opening it to the dining works if the wok stays in a wet kitchen, behind a door with a ducted hood. Ask whether the wall is structural before you plan around it.
The back of the house. If yours has been roofed over or extended, ask to see the approved plans. Anything that adds space needs building plans, not just a small works permit.
Light from two ends. A terrace on a 22 by 75 ft lot gets daylight only at the front and back. Find the west-facing end before you place the sofa, and let the middle of the house borrow light through glass or an open stair.
A room for parents. A ground-floor bedroom beside a bathroom can matter more than a bigger master suite. Keep its bathroom step-free.
Storage the house never had. Built-in wardrobes upstairs, and a store for folding chairs and festive boxes. Then the open house at Raya, Chinese New Year or Deepavali doesn’t take over the living room.
If yours is a new serviced apartment. The same fee per room applies, and the brief turns on storage, light and the management’s renovation rules. Our condo guide walks through them.
How much does it cost to renovate a home in USJ?
For an older four-bedroom USJ terrace of about 1,650 sq ft, with new floors and two of its three bathrooms redone, renovation and furniture come to about RM141k–219k at Essential finishes (Ikea, SSF Home, Harvey Norman), before the Sundays in Bed design fee.
Choose your kind of home, then set the rooms. The design fee is exact. The three ranges are what renovation and furniture typically cost at each finish level, until your contractors quote. It all runs in your browser and sends nothing.
4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and the kitchen: 7 rooms at RM3,565, plus the open-plan living and dining at RM5,485. The foyer and utility yard are designed free.
Within each level, the low end is the essentials; the high end adds extras such as a feature wall, LED strips and a kitchen island.
What the three levels mean
Essential. Melamine carpentry, quartz tops, a simple plaster ceiling. Furniture from Ikea, SSF Home, Harvey Norman, Fortytwo.my, Heesz, Kinsen Home, Neo Livin, Ruma Home, Joy Studio and Mumu Living.
Curated. Melamine or laminate carpentry, quartz or sintered stone tops, the existing ceiling kept or a new plaster ceiling. Furniture from Commune, Cellini, Fella Design, Dezign District, Poet Living, Big Brain, Gudang, Crown Livin and Dadswood.
Bespoke. Detailed joinery, sintered stone tops, a plaster ceiling with detailing. Furniture from Space Furniture, Tekni, BoConcept, King Living, Ambient Living, Stanzo, Forest Furniture, Roche Bobois, XTRA, Urban Edge, Molteni&C, Nostaloft, Flexform, Janine and Chesters Collection.
| Home | Essential | Curated |
|---|---|---|
| Older terrace 4 bedrooms, 2 of 3 bathrooms redone, new floors; about 1,650 sq ft | RM141k–219k | RM250k–428k |
| Small terrace 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms redone, new floors; about 1,200 sq ft, the smaller homes of USJ 3 and USJ 6 | RM127k–196k | RM225k–386k |
| New condo 3 bedrooms, open kitchen; floors and bathrooms kept | RM74k–118k | RM141k–260k |
At Essential, furniture comes from Ikea, SSF Home and Harvey Norman; at Curated, from Commune, Cellini and Poet Living.
Priced for a home kept to its layout. For an older home the ranges include new floors and the bathrooms you choose to redo. They also cover carpentry, ceilings and paint, lighting and wiring, air-conditioning, kitchen appliances and loose furniture. They leave out a television, roof repairs and structural work.
We haven’t found published renovation costs for USJ homes, so the ranges come from typical costs for each part of the job, not from USJ projects. Estimates as of September 2026, not a quotation: your contractors’ quotes are the real number.
How much does an interior designer cost in USJ?
For an older four-bedroom USJ terrace with two of its three bathrooms redone, the Sundays in Bed interior design fee is RM30,440: 7 rooms at RM3,565 and the open-plan living and dining at RM5,485, fixed in writing before we begin.
| Home | Interior design | Interior styling |
|---|---|---|
| Older terrace 4 bedrooms, 2 of its 3 bathrooms, the kitchen, living and dining | RM30,440 | RM14,640 |
| Terrace refresh 4 bedrooms, the kitchen, living and dining; bathrooms kept | RM23,310 | RM11,210 |
| Older semi-D 5 bedrooms, 3 of its 4 bathrooms, the kitchen, living and dining | RM37,570 | RM18,070 |
| New serviced apartment 3 bedrooms and an open kitchen, living and dining; bathrooms kept | RM16,180 | RM7,780 |
Rates as of September 2026. A dry kitchen and a wet kitchen count as two rooms.
We’ve assumed not every bathroom needs designing. Count only the ones you’d change.
Design or styling? Interior design is for when something is being built or changed: carpentry, lighting, a kitchen, a bathroom. Interior styling is for rooms that stay as they are; it’s the furniture, art and finishing layer.
You pay for rooms, not square feet. A bathroom counts as a room only if it’s being redone, so a terrace that keeps its bathrooms costs less to design.
With interior design, the foyer and utility yard are designed free when your home has a bedroom and a living and dining space. A site visit is RM200, waived if you go ahead with us.
Why not a percentage? When design is charged as a share of the build, the fee rises every time you choose a better tile. Ours is fixed per room, and paid in stages as the project progresses.
What about “free design”? It’s usually paid for inside the build price. Ours is a separate fee, so the same drawings can go to more than one contractor and their quotes can be compared like for like.
What happens between the first call and moving in?
We design, draw and manage the project; contractors build it. You choose them from quotes we gather and compare, and your rooms and fee are agreed in writing before work begins.
- The discovery call FreeYour house, your zone, how you live, your budget and when you want to start.
- The site visit RM200, waived if you go ahead with usWe measure and photograph every room, and note what needs a closer look behind the walls.
- The designLayout, lighting, built-ins and materials, room by room, with one designer from the first call to handover.
- The drawingsWhat your contractor builds from, so the quote and the work match the design.
- The quotesWe gather and compare contractors’ quotes and show you where your budget works hardest. You choose.
- Checks before workIn an older house, wiring, pipes and roof are checked before the design is fixed. In a new home, report defects to the developer in writing first: the defect liability period runs 24 months from vacant possession.
- The permitYour licensed contractor obtains MBSJ’s renovation permit; we help gather the documents it needs.
- On site, then moving inWe coordinate the works and deliveries and check what’s built against the drawings. Landed renovations published by other firms in KL and PJ ran a median 19 weeks on site.
Which council, and what it costs. All of USJ is under the Subang Jaya city council (MBSJ), whose headquarters is in USJ 5.
MBSJ’s small works permit covers new finishes, bathroom fittings, built-in cabinets and plaster ceilings. It’s RM200 in fees plus a RM250 construction-waste deposit you claim back within 12 months. Work runs Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm, never on Sundays or public holidays.
Several zones, including USJ 5, USJ 16 and USJ 26, are guarded schemes run by their residents’ associations. Ask how contractors are let through and at what hours before you agree a start date.
Do you cover my part of USJ?
Yes. Sundays in Bed designs homes in person across Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, and all of USJ, from USJ 1 to USJ 27, is inside that area. A site visit anywhere in it is RM200, waived if you go ahead with us.
New developments we’re following
USJ’s new homes are serviced apartments near the LRT. These two complete over the next two years.
- Hype ResidencesDue March 2028USJ 7, beside the LRT and BRT interchange · 961 serviced residences in two towers, by Sime Darby Property
- Alora ResidencesDue 2027USJ 25, Avenue25 · 770 serviced apartments in two towers, by Avaland
Further out, Mosaic Residences in USJ 1 is due in June 2029. If you’ve bought into any of them, start the design before your keys arrive, so work can begin once your defects are reported.
Neighbourhoods we cover
USJ 1 · Taman Subang Mewah · USJ 3 · USJ 4 · USJ 5 · USJ 6 · USJ 7 · USJ 9 · USJ 11 · USJ 13 · USJ 16 · USJ 21 · USJ 25 · USJ 26 · USJ Heights, and every other zone up to USJ 27.
Nearby, with their own pages: Subang Jaya’s SS townships · Putra Heights · Puchong · Petaling Jaya, and the rest of Selangor.
A smooth experience
Really thankful to have had such a smooth experience with Sundays In Bed from start to completion. Angelica & her team are professional, sincere & easy to work with.
View on Google →Actually enjoyable
Along the way, iterations and last minute changes were handled with grace and positivity which made the whole design and construction process actually enjoyable.
View on Google →Transparent about costs
From the beginning, they were transparent about costs and helped me understand where it was worth spending and where we could save.
View on Google →FAQ
USJ questions, answered
Do you do the building work yourselves?
No. We design, draw and manage the project. The works are done by contractors, chosen from quotes we gather and compare with you, so the renovation cost is a separate number from our design fee.
Can you open up an older USJ kitchen, not just style it?
Yes. Reworking a closed 1990s kitchen is interior design rather than styling. We check whether the wall is structural, keep the wok in a wet kitchen with its own door and hood, and draw the new layout for your contractor to quote.
Do I need a council permit to renovate or extend in USJ?
For most work, yes. New finishes, bathroom fittings, built-in cabinets or a plaster ceiling need MBSJ’s small works permit: RM200 in fees plus a RM250 deposit you claim back, obtained by your licensed contractor. Anything that adds space, such as a covered yard or a bigger kitchen, needs building plans from an architect or a registered draughtsperson.
Do you design the new serviced apartments in USJ too?
Yes, at the same fee per room. For a condo or serviced apartment, we submit your renovation plan to the management and book the service lifts for deliveries. Our condo guide covers the rest, and our portfolio shows condos we’ve designed.
Can I keep and reuse furniture I already own?
Yes. Tell us which pieces stay at the start and the design is planned around them. If nothing is being built, interior styling works with what you have and adds the pieces around it.
Is the design fee a percentage of my renovation budget?
No. It’s a fixed fee per room: RM3,565 per standard room and RM5,485 for the open-plan living and dining, agreed in writing before we begin and paid in stages as the project progresses. It doesn’t rise when you choose a better finish.
Let’s talk about your USJ home.
A free discovery call. Pick a time, then bring your floor plan or a few photos, your zone, and when you’d like to start. You’ll know your design fee before you commit to anything.