Proposal structure
Furniture proposal template
Most furniture proposals lose the deal in the same place: a spreadsheet of SKUs with no pictures, or a beautiful deck with the pricing buried at the back. Here is the structure we use — six sections, in this order.
The six sections
01
Cover
Client name, project address or floor, date, and who prepared it. Nothing else — the cover's job is to be forwardable.
02
Floor plan
The plan the pricing is based on, labelled by space. Add full-floor renders after it if you have them.
03
A page per space
One page each for private offices, workstations, conferencing, kitchen/pantry and ancillary. Photos on the page, not in an appendix.
04
Good / better / best per space
Three tiers side by side with product, finish, quantity, unit price and an option total. This is what turns a proposal into a decision.
05
Budget summary
Product total, surcharges, delivery / install, subtotal, tax, grand total — in that order, with the selected option per space listed above it.
06
Terms and contact
Lead times, what's excluded (electrical, data, demo), how long pricing holds, and a name with a phone number.
The budget summary, line by line
Keep the order consistent so a client reading three proposals can compare them. Product total first, tax last, grand total on its own line. Sample figures below are fictional.
Sample page — Pricing summary
| Space | Selected | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Private Offices | Better | $48,200 |
| Workstations | Better | $73,040 |
| Conferencing | Best | $39,150 |
| Kitchen / Pantry | Good | $12,640 |
| Ancillary | Better | $23,800 |
| Product total | $196,830 | |
| Surcharges | $4,250 | |
| Delivery / install | $18,750 | |
| Subtotal | $219,830 | |
| Tax (6.35%) | $13,959 | |
| Grand total | $233,789 | |
Illustrative sample. Client, project and pricing shown here are fictional.
Three things to get right
Price every tier, not just the one you like. A client who can see what $180k buys versus $240k makes a decision. A client shown one number goes to get two more quotes.
Put the photo next to the price. Line items in one document and imagery in another means neither gets read.
Show surcharges and delivery separately. Rolling freight into product cost looks cheaper until someone asks for a breakdown.
Skip the template
OPTN already has this structure built in — you fill in the spaces, options and line items, and the summary math happens on its own. See how the lookbook is put together.
Build the proposal instead of formatting it
Upload a floor plan, lay out good / better / best per space, and send a priced, interactive deck.