What ৳500,000 Actually Buys You When Furnishing a Dhaka 2-Bed in 2026
Every second family we speak to in Mirpur or Bashundhara asks the same question when they hand over their advance: how far does ৳500,000 actually go? The honest answer is “further than Instagram suggests, but nowhere near as far as a decade ago”. Here is where the money actually lands in 2026.
The frame we used
- A 900–1,100 sq ft apartment, two bedrooms, one living-dining, one kitchen, one covered balcony
- Empty on handover — no built-ins beyond the kitchen counter and one wardrobe
- One working couple, no children yet
- No white goods included (fridge, AC, washing machine excluded from the ৳500k)
- Prices sourced in Feb–Mar 2026 from Bashundhara City, Hatirpool, Aziz Super Market, Sheba.xyz and three Facebook Marketplace sweeps per week
Living-dining — around ৳115,000
A 3-seater sofa in decent local upholstery still runs ৳38,000–52,000. A centre table in seasoned mahogany is another ৳12,000. A 6-seater dining set has crept past ৳60,000 unless you buy sheesham second-hand from Elephant Road, where a lightly used set sits around ৳35,000. Add ৳8,000 for a small TV console.
Master bedroom — around ৳95,000
A queen bed frame plus a 78” × 60” spring mattress is ৳55,000–70,000 for something you will not resent in year three. Bedside tables in pair form add ৳9,000. A three-door wardrobe from Hatil or a local carpenter starts at ৳45,000 for particle-board and climbs to ৳110,000 for solid wood — the ৳500k budget assumes carpenter-made, not brand.
Second bedroom / study — around ৳55,000
Single bed plus mattress, ৳25,000. A study desk, ৳9,000. A rolling chair worth using, ৳11,000. One two-door wardrobe, ৳20,000. If you plan to skip a desk, redirect the money to a taller wardrobe — you will regret the storage before you regret the desk.
Kitchen setup — around ৳65,000
A single-door 220L fridge is excluded from the ৳500k as noted, but the setup around it is not. A gas double-burner unit with grill runs ৳18,000. Basic cookware, utensils, cutlery, storage and prep counter tools land around ৳25,000 if you avoid buying twice. A rack tower for the balcony-facing corner adds ৳8,000. Curtains for the kitchen — because Dhaka kitchens face west more often than not — cost ৳6,000–10,000.
Bathrooms — around ৳25,000
You are not renovating, but the geyser almost always is. A 15L instant water heater runs ৳12,000. A bathroom cabinet in aluminium is ৳6,000. Add ৳7,000 for a set of buckets, mugs, mats, mirrors and a laundry basket.
Window treatments — around ৳60,000
This is the line most first-time renters underestimate. A 900 sq ft apartment has around eight windows and one balcony. Even modest fabric roller blinds land at ৳3,500–5,500 per window at 2026 prices, with blackout upgrades in the master bedroom pushing that to ৳8,000. Vertical blinds for the living-dining sliding door are separate again at ৳12,000–18,000 depending on width. Curtains are cheaper per window but shorter-lived and worse for west-facing rooms.
Lighting, fans, small stuff — around ৳45,000
Ceiling fans in three rooms already run ৳21,000. Wall lights, table lamps and a decent set of bulbs takes ৳12,000. Small stuff — shoe rack, doormats, coat hooks, dustbins, a broom set — is ৳12,000 and it disappears without a trace.
What ৳500,000 does not cover
- Air conditioners (budget ৳55,000–85,000 per 1.5 ton unit, installed)
- Refrigerator, washing machine, microwave (budget ৳110,000 for the trio)
- Interior painting if the flat was not repainted by the landlord (৳25,000–40,000)
- Kitchen chimney (৳15,000–35,000)
Rough total
Room-by-room the base furnishing budget lands at roughly ৳460,000. That leaves ৳40,000 as a buffer, which will vanish inside the first month between a curtain rod that broke, a wardrobe handle you did not budget for, and a set of pans you bought a second time because the first set was awful.
What we would change if we did it again
- Spend the wardrobe money before the sofa money. Bad storage compounds daily; a sofa you do not love is a nuisance you notice weekly.
- Buy the mattress last, in person, after two other decisions. Everyone spends the mattress budget too early and then regrets it.
- Do not buy every window treatment on the first weekend. Live in the flat for two weeks and you will discover which two rooms actually need blackout and which do not.
Have a room we have not costed? Email the address on the about page and we will fold it into the next update.