How an interior design project runs

What are the stages of an interior design project?

Seven stages run in order, as shown in the table above. The first four happen on paper and in sample form, where a change is quick. The last three happen on site and in workshops, where a change means remaking something. A well run project therefore spends longer at the start than clients expect, and makes most of its decisions before a single tile is lifted.

Each stage ends with a sign off. That is not bureaucracy. It records what was agreed, so that the joinery workshop, the electrician and the painter are all building the same room.

What happens at the brief and the site survey?

The brief is a conversation about how the home is used, not about colours. It covers who lives there and who visits, where the family actually sits in the evening, how formal guests are received and if the majlis needs to work separately from the family rooms, where children do homework, what must be stored and how much of it, and which pieces of furniture and art are staying. Pets, staff routines and anyone with limited mobility all shape the plan.

The survey is the designer measuring what exists. Room dimensions and ceiling heights are taken, along with the positions of beams and columns, AC grilles and access panels, the distribution board, sockets, water and drain points, and the direction each window faces. A west facing living room in Dubai takes hard afternoon sun, and that one fact affects the window treatment, the fabrics and where the television can go.

What do the concept and detailed design stages include?

Concept design answers the large questions. Scaled furniture layouts test how each room is arranged, often in two or three versions, and mood boards and reference images set the character, the palette and the main materials. It is deliberately loose, so that the direction can be argued over and changed without anyone redrawing a cabinet.

Detailed design turns the chosen concept into instructions. It produces dimensioned plans, elevations of every wall that is being worked on, a ceiling plan with lighting positions and switching, an electrical layout, joinery drawings for wardrobes, media units and vanities, and schedules listing each finish, fitting and piece of furniture. Rendered 3D views show the result, but the drawings and schedules are what the site builds from.

Why are samples signed off before anything is ordered?

Screens and printed images do not show a material truthfully. A paint colour shifts with the light that falls on it. Dubai daylight is strong and white at noon and deep gold by late afternoon, and the lamps chosen for the evening can be warm white or cool white. A stone that looked cream in the showroom can read yellow at home. Samples are therefore looked at in the actual room, in daylight and under the planned lighting, laid next to each other: the floor beside the wall paint, the fabric beside the timber.

Natural stone and veneer vary from slab to slab and leaf to leaf, so for large areas the actual slabs or a range sample are approved, not a small tile from a catalogue. Imported furniture, stone and light fittings can have long lead times, which is why ordering begins as soon as the samples and the quotation are approved, and why a late change of mind moves the finish date.

What do Dubai conditions change in a design?

• Sun. Unshaded glazing brings heat and glare and fades fabric, timber and artwork. Sheers, blackout linings, blinds or window film are designed in from the start.
• Air conditioning. Return grilles need free air, supply grilles should not blow onto a bed or a dining table, and every unit and valve above a ceiling keeps its access panel, even where it interrupts a feature.
• Humidity. Wardrobes and vanities are built from stable, moisture resistant boards with sealed edges, and closed storage is ventilated, so that a home shut for the summer does not come back to mould on leather and linen.
• Dust. Open shelving and deeply textured surfaces collect fine dust within days. Doors on storage and smoother finishes cut the cleaning.
• Hard surfaces. Marble and porcelain floors with glass and plaster walls make rooms echo. Rugs, lined curtains, upholstered pieces and acoustic panels bring the sound under control.
• Outdoor areas. Terrace furniture and fabrics have to stand heat, strong sunlight and, near the coast, salt air.

How is the work managed on site?

Site work follows a set sequence: protection and strip out, first fix of electrical, plumbing and AC changes, gypsum ceilings and partitions, flooring, the first coats of paint, joinery installation, second fix of lights, sockets and sanitary ware, final paint, then furniture, curtains and styling. Changes to walls, services or the outside of a property may need building or community approval. That is identified at the site visit, and the forms and drawings requested are prepared before work is booked.

Design and build by one team removes the usual argument between designer and contractor over a detail that cannot be built as drawn. At The MELLS the home is surveyed at a site visit, the works are set out in a written quotation, and the same directly employed team builds them, with a supervisor checking each completed job. At handover the rooms are walked together, a snag list is written, and the items on it are closed out before final sign off.