Living Room Renovation Cost in Dubai: What a Lounge Renovation Really Costs in 2026

What do the three lounge renovation scopes cost?

A cosmetic lounge refresh costs AED 6,000–15,000 in an apartment, a mid-range upgrade AED 20,000–45,000, and a full strip-out AED 50,000–110,000 or more. The line between them is simple: cosmetic work leaves the floor, ceiling and wiring alone, a mid-range job replaces the floor and adds a ceiling, and a strip-out also moves services.

These bands line up with published Dubai benchmarks. Individual contractors put a basic living room at roughly AED 100–300 per sqft, and whole-home cosmetic work at AED 150–300 per sqft, but whole-home rates include kitchens and bathrooms, which are far more expensive per metre than a lounge. For a whole-flat budget, the apartment renovation cost guide is the better starting point.

What does each part of a lounge renovation cost?

Flooring and the false ceiling are the two biggest lines in almost every lounge quote, followed by the TV or media wall. The table below gives 2026 Dubai rates, supplied and installed unless the note says otherwise, drawn from published local price guides and supplier rate sheets.

Rates exclude 5% VAT. AC outlet and pelmet work depends too much on the existing ducts and window widths for a fair published rate, so ask for these as separate itemised lines.

Two quick rules help when reading quotes. First, painting is priced on wall and ceiling area, which in a lounge is roughly three to four times the floor area, so a 25 sqm room carries around 80–90 sqm of paintable surface. Second, a false ceiling priced per sqm rarely includes the lights that go in it; check whether cove strips, drivers and downlights sit inside the ceiling rate or in the electrical section. Deeper breakdowns are in our guides to flooring costs, false ceiling costs and interior painting costs.

Apartment lounge vs villa living room vs formal majlis: what changes the cost?

Floor area and ceiling height change the cost most, followed by the finish level each room is expected to carry. The same specification costs about twice as much in a villa living room as in an apartment lounge simply because there is twice as much floor, ceiling and wall.

Apartment lounge

In a tower, the building sets the pace. Many Dubai buildings allow renovation work Monday to Saturday from about 9am to 5pm, limit noisy work such as tile breaking to a narrower window in the middle of the day, and restrict material deliveries to service-lift slots. Shorter days mean more labour days for the same job. Most towers also run on district cooling, with the fan coil unit hidden above the lounge or corridor ceiling, so a new false ceiling has to keep access to it.

Villa living room

Villas give you more freedom and more area. Ceilings of 3 metres and above need mobile scaffolds, walls take more paint, and owners are more likely to move AC outlets or add circuits because nothing stops them. Double-height living rooms add a second layer of cost: taller scaffolds, longer cove runs and chandeliers that need a secure fixing point.

Formal majlis

A majlis is the most expensive of the three because it is built to impress guests. Stone flooring, layered gypsum ceilings with decorative cornices, carved or mashrabiya screens, fitted floor seating and a dedicated AC zone are all common. Published majlis renovation packages in communities such as Arabian Ranches, Jumeirah Islands and Jumeirah Park are quoted at roughly AED 95,000–320,000 including design, approvals and MEP work, with four to six weeks on site after approvals. If you are planning one, our Arabic majlis design service page covers layout and seating options.

Worked example 1: what does a 25 sqm apartment lounge upgrade cost?

A mid-range upgrade of a 25 sqm one-bedroom apartment lounge comes to about AED 24,685 before VAT, or AED 25,919 with it. The scenario: old 60x60 tiles out, large-format porcelain in, a gypsum ceiling with a cove around the edge, downlights, a textured wall behind the TV and a wall-mounted TV unit. Electrical points stay where they are apart from two new sockets for the TV.

That works out at roughly AED 990 per sqm of lounge, or about AED 92 per sqft, before VAT. The TV unit is a third of the budget, so it is the first line to revisit if the total is too high: a slimmer floating console or an open shelf saves several thousand dirhams without touching the floor or ceiling. Switching porcelain for vinyl plank floated over the old tiles saves the removal line and part of the flooring line, but it changes how the room sounds and feels underfoot.

Worked example 2: what does a 50 sqm villa living room strip-out cost?

A full strip-out of a 50 sqm villa living room with a 3.4 metre ceiling comes to about AED 75,980 before VAT, or AED 79,779 with it. The scenario: Turkish marble on a new screed, a two-level ceiling with cove lighting, eight moved or new electrical points, AC outlets converted to linear diffusers, and a floor-to-ceiling built-in media wall with fluted panels.

Lines marked as an allowance are the ones a contractor can only price after seeing the existing ducts, windows and ceiling void, so expect them to move once a site survey is done. The marble choice has the biggest swing here. Indian marble would cut the floor line by around AED 5,000, while an Italian stone at AED 600 per sqm supply would add around AED 20,000. Swapping the built-in media wall for a wall-mounted unit brings the total down towards AED 60,000.

What pushes a Dubai lounge renovation cost up or down?

Material choice and whether you move services are the two biggest cost levers, ahead of room size. A lounge that keeps every point where it is can often be done for half the price of one where the sockets, lights and AC outlets all move.

• Floor material. Across the same 25 sqm, vinyl plank at AED 55–160 per sqm and Italian marble at close to AED 1,000 per sqm installed differ by more than AED 20,000 before a single other change.
• Ceiling height. Anything above about 3 metres needs scaffolding or mobile towers for the ceiling, cove and painting, and every wall has more area to finish.
• AC changes. Swapping grilles is cheap. Moving outlets, adding linear diffusers or relocating a fan coil unit means duct work, ceiling redesign and, in towers on district cooling, sign-off from the building. Full AC replacement runs about AED 8,000–15,000 per ton of cooling, which is a separate budget altogether.
• Moving electrical points. A replaced socket is a small job. A new or moved point means chasing the wall or running cable through the ceiling, re-plastering and repainting, and the work must be done by a DEWA-compliant electrician.
• Working hours in towers. Short permitted hours, noise windows and lift bookings stretch a job over more days, and labour is charged by the day whether the team works five hours or eight.
• Joinery. A floating TV console and a full-height media wall with lighting and veneer can differ by AED 25,000 on the same wall.
• Condition behind the finishes. Hollow tiles, an uneven slab or old wiring found after demolition add screed and electrical work. A contingency of 10–15% covers most of these surprises.

How long does a living room renovation take, and can you stay at home?

A cosmetic lounge refresh takes one to two weeks on site, a mid-range upgrade three to five weeks, and a full strip-out five to eight weeks, plus about one to two weeks for the building NOC beforehand. Custom joinery such as a media wall is usually built off site over three to five weeks while the floor and ceiling are done, then fitted near the end.

1. Approvals, 1–2 weeks. Building NOC, plus longer if electrical or AC changes need extra approval.
2. Strip-out and floor preparation, 2–5 days. The noisiest and dustiest phase.
3. Electrical first fix and ceiling frame, 3–7 days. Cables and new points go in before the gypsum boards close.
4. Flooring, 3–7 days. Marble takes longer than porcelain and needs polishing at the end.
5. Ceiling boarding, jointing and paint, 5–10 days. Includes drying time between coats.
6. Joinery fit, lights and snagging, 3–5 days. Media wall, pelmets, fittings, final clean.

You can usually live in the apartment during a cosmetic refresh and a mid-range upgrade, provided the lounge is sealed off with dust screens and you plan around the two to five days of tile removal. A full strip-out is harder in a one-bedroom unit, because the lounge is often the only route between the bedroom, kitchen and front door. In that case, most owners stay elsewhere for the strip-out and flooring weeks and move back once the ceiling is closed.

Do you need a NOC to renovate a living room in Dubai?

Yes, most buildings require a no-objection certificate from building management before any lounge renovation starts, but cosmetic work usually needs nothing more than that. Painting, new flooring, a false ceiling and swapping light fittings on existing points generally sit within the building NOC. Moving electrical points, changing AC ducts or diffusers, or taking out a wall can trigger additional approvals from the relevant authority, which adds time and a fee. Tenants also need written landlord consent first. Our renovation NOC and permit guide explains which approvals apply to which kind of work.

How do you get a lounge renovation quote you can compare?

Ask every contractor for an itemised quote with the same line items, quantities and named materials, so you compare rates rather than totals. For a living room, that means the floor finish by brand and size with its sqm rate, the ceiling type and area, a count of lights and points, the paint system, and the joinery drawn and specified. Check whether removal, screed, protection, disposal and VAT are included. If one quote is much lower, the gap is almost always a missing line rather than a better price. To request an itemised lounge quote, see Renovel's apartment renovation and wider renovation services pages.

Frequently asked questions