Betway has uncovered the cost of furnishing your living room like five iconic TV sets, from The Crowns mid-century look to Bridgerton’s regency luxury
The cost to furnish your home like a TV set
The influence of TV shows sometimes extends beyond the screen and into our daily lives, impacting viewers’ choices in what they wear, what they eat and even how they decorate their homes. The Friends 1990s New York City living style continues to kindle nostalgia in deep-rooted fans, while during its airing, the Mad Men furniture ignited widespread interest in mid-century modern style.
With so many beloved TV shows out there, have you ever wanted to redesign your living space based on an iconic TV set? If that’s the case, we’ve dived into the world of set design and uncovered the costs of bringing to life the iconic living spaces of The Crown, Bridgerton, Mad Men, Friends and Stranger Things. To do this, we’ve selected 10 furniture and decor items seen in interiors of these five popular shows and looked at real-life products that you can buy for your own living spaces, revealing how much it costs to design your home like your favourite characters. Within this, online slots site Betway looked at more affordable as well as more expensive options for each furniture and decor item and took the average between them. Included in these items are wallpaper and paint so you can fully create each style in your home.
The cost to furnish your living room like five iconic TV sets
The Crown, Bridgerton, Mad Men, Friends and Stranger Things are all shows that have reached icon status for their storylines, characters, and also for their eye-catching set designs. From Recencycore, made popular by Bridgerton in the last few years, to embracing an eclectic mix of colours and patterns, as approved by Monica Geller in Friends, many of us love to take inspiration from our favourite shows when it comes to decking out our own spaces.
It might not come as a surprise to discover The Crown sitting room is the most costly interior to recreate (£2,583.62 on average), meanwhile the Byers living room seen in Stranger Things is the cheapest (£1,751.68).
The design costs for each show reflect the ages and lifestyles of the different characters with some interiors focusing more heavily on stylish decorative elements compared to others. But how can you recreate these styles in your own home and what elements should you focus on to get the right look?
The Crown
Interior style: Mix of mid-century modern and classical
Key product features: Floral patterns, rich jewel tones, dark woods
The 10 must have items for a living room inspired by The Crown:
1. Decor: Retro Rotary Telephone (£40.99)
2. Decor / Lighting: Togo Table Lamp (£61.50)
3. Decor: Artificial Flower Bouquet (£47.50)
4. Decor: Satin / Silk Cushion (£75)
5. Decor / Paint: Deep Blue Paint (£130)
6. Decor: Vintage Portrait (£18.65)
7. Furniture: Pillow Back Sofa (£1,499)
8. Furniture: French Style Coffee Table (£311.50)
9. Furniture: Upholstered Armchair (£242.99)
10. Furniture: Tall Bookcase (£156.50)
The Crown features many scenes of Queen Elizabeth II’s life in Buckingham Palace which were filmed in Wilton House (Salisbury) and Lancaster House (London). The popular historical drama has covered various periods of Queen Elizabeth II’s life, with Claire Foy, Imelda Staunton and Olivia Coleman portraying her across six seasons. Imelda Staunton will be the last to play the late monarch in the show’s final season, set to release in the Autumn of this year.
With ornate style furniture and large sofas, it might not come as a surprise that The Crown is the highest costing set in this study to reproduce. Mixing jewel colours and tones with floral prints and frills will help you to capture this style in your own home, making it fit for royalty.
However, plush sofas and ornate wooden furniture, as well as decorative elements such as tassel lamps and silk cushions make this interior style costly to replicate compared to other styles seen in shows where interiors are more focused on practicality and comfort, such as in Stranger Things. In fact, our research shows that The Crown interior style is 47% more expensive to recreate than Joyce Byers’ living room in the hit Netflix science fiction show.
Nicole Sage, interior designer and interiors writer explains more about the regal style we all know and love from The Crown: “Interiors in The Crown are grounded by a classical design which are deeply influenced by classicism. High ceilings, cornices and fireplaces are a great foundation for recreating this style if you already have them in your home.”
Bridgerton
Interior style: English Regency
Key product features: Chandelier, pastel blues, soft beiges, dark wood, ornate patterned wallpaper
The 10 must have items for a living room inspired by Bridgerton:
1. Decor: Rug (£124)
2. Decor / Lighting: Crystal Chandelier (£242)
3. Decor: Artificial Flower Bouquet (£37)
4. Decor / Wallpaper: Damask Wallpaper (£134.96)
5. Decor: Velvet Square Cushion (£79.50)
6. Decor: Curtains (£77.50)
7. Decor: Framed Vintage Portrait (£114.54)
8. Furniture: French Style Sofa (£1,225)
9. Furniture: Round Side Table (£259.50)
10. Furniture: Round Coffee Table (£145)
With critics giving Bridgerton’s recent prequel (Queen Charlotte, 2023) an average Tomatometer rating of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, many viewers simply can’t wait to return to the original timeline. Inspired by Quin’s fourth book, the third season will explore Penelope and Colin’s relationship and is rumoured a late 2023 or early 2024 release.
Bridgerton is praised for its modern twist on the period-specific design elements from the 19th Century Regency era. You’ll find classical elements, inspired by ancient Greek and Roman design, with pastel colours and gold details that plunge viewers into a world of pure luxury.
As a result, recreating the Bridgerton living room can be an expensive choice, with the more luxury option costing around £3,367 according to our study, or £2,439 on average.
Looking at how much it costs to purchase Bridgerton inspired decorative pieces* such as silk pillows, regency artwork and damask wallpaper, the total average cost amounts to £810. This is a whopping 320% more expensive than purchasing decor pieces to recreate Joyce Byers’ sitting room style from Stranger Things (£193), the TV set with the most affordable decor. This is also 213% more expensive than Monica Geller’s apartment, 169% more than Don Draper’s and 117% more than decorative pieces found in The Crown.
Nicole Sage, interior designer and interiors writer explains how we can recreate the Regency style at home ourselves “Regency style is characterised by historical glamour, careful colour co-ordination, regal patterns and exquisite light fixtures.
“Beautiful light fixtures are a defining characteristic of regency style whilst regal patterns feature heavily. You could recreate this with a regency style wallpaper look, window treatments or by upholstering a chaise lounge or similar.”
*Please note this paragraph is looking at the costs for decorative pieces included in the research, minus the furniture pieces. Decorative items include wallpaper and paint costs.
Mad Men
Interior style: Mid-century modern
Key product features: Warm tones, natural materials, uncluttered design
The 10 must have items for a living room inspired by Mad Men:
1. Decor / Lighting: Table Lamp (£20.50)
2. Decor: Cassiopeia Flatweave Rug (£52.50)
3. Decor: Square Cushion (£30)
4. Decor: Magazine Rack (£45)
5. Decor / Paint: Warm Orange Paint (£127.98)
6. Decor: Art / Design Book (£25)
7. Furniture: Left Hand Corner Sofa (£1,149)
8. Furniture: Round Glass Coffee Table (£124.50)
9. Furniture: Footstool / Ottoman (£109.50)
10. Furniture: Leather Manual Recliner (£280.29)
Mad Men is considered one of the greatest TV dramas of all time and applauded for its historical attention to detail, capturing the look of the 1960s in clothing and hairstyles, as well as interior design. Don and Megan Draper’s Upper East Side apartment is a dream for fans of the mid-century modern style which remains one of the most popular interior styles to date.
The Manhattan apartment seen in the show features 1960s mid-century modern furniture pieces that are classics in the world of design. These include a leather lounge chair, L-shaped sofa and ottoman footstool. When it comes to colour palettes, Don and Megan Draper focus on a mix of warm shades of yellows, browns, blues, reds and greens.
With mid-century modern being one of the most popular interior styles at the moment, getting your hands on items to recreate the Mad Men look is slightly easier than recreating other interiors in this study such as Bridgerton’s, for example. Decorative items that are a must for recreating the look include magazine racks, coffee table books and warm lamps.
Nicole Sage outlines: “The use of bold colours and patterns are featured heavily in Mad Men, as are natural materials such as wood and leather that are predominantly used through pieces of furniture.
But how can we recreate this style at home? “Mid-century modern is an uncluttered design, so decluttering your living room is an essential first stage to the process of recreating this look yourself. Use bold colours through textiles such as cushions and throws, mustard yellows, greys and browns are predominant in this decor scheme.”
Friends
Interior style: Mix of eclectic and modern
Key product features: Mix of colours, wall art, focus on comfort
The 10 must have items for a living room inspired by Friends:
1. Decor / Lighting: Brass Double Wall Light (£110.16)
2. Decor / Paint: Lavender Purple Paint (£118)
3. Decor: Artificial Potted Boston Fern (£23)
4. Decor: Friends ‘Jouets’ Maxi Poster (£7.96)
5. Furniture: Armchair (£212.50)
6. Furniture: Ottoman Footstool (£73.50)
7. Furniture: Wooden TV Cabinet (£318.48)
8. Furniture: Shelved Coffee Table (£197.50)
9. Furniture: 3-Seat Sofa (£749)
10. Furniture: Side Table (£69)
Monica’s apartment is arguably one of the most iconic sets in television history, from the purple door frame and walls to the eclectic furniture and decor. Whilst its main occupant was very conscious of mess, coffee rings and ‘crumbies’, the mismatched decor and furniture pieces reveals the more fun and quirky side to her character.
Having housed all the Friends characters at some point in time, the apartment has a bohemian feel with a mix of colours and decor pieces, many with a personal meaning. With an average cost of £1,879, it’s also an affordable style to adopt in your living space.
To recreate the iconic set yourself, you’ll need plenty of seating including a sofa, an armchair, and an ottoman footstool to offer as many seating options as possible for friends to gather. When it comes to decor, there are no strict rules to follow, however if you want to recreate Monica’s look, make sure to include items like a fern plant, her iconic Jouets poster and lilac walls. However, you can also mix colours, patterns and textures to create a quirky space that reflects your personality.
Interior designer Nicole Sage adds: “The Friends living room is an iconic set, yet it doesn’t lean heavily on just one decor influence. The decor of the room would be classed a mix between eclectic and modern. Modern design comes from a time period between the early to mid-20th century, whilst eclectic style blends old and new, characterised by unpredictability and a sense of uniqueness.
“An eclectic style is one of the easiest to recreate as the style is one that’s unique and a blend of old and new. For example, add plenty of wall art in a mix of frames and scales for interest, and don’t forget those cosy details to pull the look together, including plush sofas and bold, colourful cushions.”
Stranger Things
Interior style: Mix of 70s and 80s styles
Key product features: Bold colours and patterns, warm lighting and natural materials
The 10 must have items for a living room inspired by Stranger Things:
1. Decor: Stranger Things ‘Alphabet Wall’ Sticker (£14.99)
2. Decor / Wallpaper: Country Cottage Wallpaper (£114.96)
3. Decor: Knitted Throw (£22)
4. Decor: Unscented Block Candles (£6.50)
5. Decor / Lighting: Multicoloured LED Fairy Lights (£18.25)
6. Decor / Lighting: Table Lamp (£16.50)
7. Furniture: Mid-Century Modern Armchair (£214.49)
8. Furniture: Boston Tall Bookcase (204.50)
9. Furniture: 3-Seat Leather-Style Sofa (£972.50)
10. Furniture: Squared Coffee Table (£167)
Netflix’s popular science fiction series was a hit from its first release, blending 80s pop culture, horror, and government conspiracies within a coming-of-age story. Fans are still eagerly waiting to discover the release date of the show’s final season. In the meantime, if ever you fancied communicating with the Upside Down, you can purchase your own alphabet wall sticker and multicoloured Christmas lights to easily recreate the style yourself, a detail suggested by Winona Ryder herself.
The other decor elements in the Byers family living room (£193 total average cost, which includes decking the room out with a cottage style floral wallpaper as seen in the show) are minimal. The Byers family home also includes more basic furniture items such as a comfy brown sofa and bookcase, which are much easier to purchase at a lower cost than an ornate French sofa as seen in Bridgerton, for example.
“The overall decor takes strong influence from 70s and 80s design, there isn’t one set interior decor style that designs this space, rather it takes influence from these different decades for this archetypal American home” says interior designer Nicole Sage. “Natural wooden elements through furniture are a big feature, as are bold colours and co-ordinating patterns across upholstery and window treatments.
“Natural elements are a big part of this recreating this design aesthetic, so add some high quality wooden furniture to the space – this could be with a coffee table, side table of a shelving unit. Introduce bold colour with some coordinating patterns, use the curtains, sofa, cushions or an area rug to introduce this. Of course, it wouldn’t be complete without a set of colourful fairy lights, if you want to go the whole hog with this design scheme…”
Whether it’s the grandeur of royalty, the warmth of friendship, the eerie unknown, or the Manhattan sophistication, these television sets play an important part in immersing fans in the stories that they love. However, the attention to detail and creativity poured into these sets come with varying price tags. Now that you’ve found them, how much will you be willing to pay to recreate these iconic living spaces in your home?
Methodology & Sources
Using a seedlist of iconic TV sets of all time, we chose to uncover the cost of the five sets from the following TV shows:
Bridgerton Living Room – Image Reference
The Crown Living Room – Image Reference
Friends Whole apartment (focus on living room) – Image Reference
Stranger Things Living Room – Image Reference
Mad Men Whole apartment (focus on living room) – Image Reference
These TV shows were chosen due to their iconic status and influence on interior design.
We then selected 10 items from each room, searching for real-life products the public could purchase. The full price of each item was taken, even if the item was on sale at the time of research.
An average furnishing and decorating cost was then found, taking into account an affordable and expensive option for each item. All the sources for the items can be found here: Data.
Included in these 10 items are wallpaper and paint. To determine the amount of paint and wallpaper needed, we’ve researched the average UK living room size, as well as window sizes. All the sources for the room calculations can be found here: Data.
Amount of paint required – Wall painting calculator
For Friends, The Crown and Bridgerton – All four walls are painted so the specifications for four walls with 1 window and 1 door were inputted into the calculator. Selections for 2 coats and a 10% wastage allowance were applied. This means 9.2 litres of paint are needed. With tins of paint being 2.5 litres, this means 4 tins are needed to cover a full room.
Amount of wallpaper needed in square metres – Wallpaper calculator
For Bridgerton and Stranger Things – all four walls are covered in wallpaper so the specifications for 4 walls with 1 window and 1 door were inputted into the calculator. A 10% wastage allowance was applied. This means 41.63 m2 of wallpaper is needed to cover one room.
The amount of rolls needed was then calculated
Bridgerton budget: The roll is 5.2m2 so 9 rolls are needed.
Bridgerton splurge: The roll is 5.2m2 so 9 rolls are needed.
Stranger Things budget: The roll is 5.3m2 so 9 rolls are needed.
Stranger Things splurge: The roll is 5.33m2 so 9 rolls are needed.
