There are hundreds of interior design companies in Dubai, and most can show you a beautiful image. Choosing the right one is about what happens between the first meeting and the day you move in.
Whether you are renovating a villa in Dubai Hills or furnishing a new home in Jumeirah or Emirates Hills, the studio you choose will shape how your home feels for years to come.
Here is what we would look for, shown through one of our own recent projects: Villa Alma, a family home in Dubai Hills.
Look at finished homes, not only renders
3D visuals and CGI renders show what a studio intends. Professional photographs and videos of completed homes show what it delivers: how materials meet, how light falls across a room and how a space feels once it is lived in.
Ask to see finished projects, and ask which images are design concepts and which are real. If you can, visit a completed home. You can browse our completed projects to see the difference.
Choose a studio that designs around you
Every studio has a signature. Ours is warm contemporary luxury, shaped by natural materials and finer details. But the best homes reflect the people who live in them, not the studio's portfolio.
Look for a team that asks about your family, your routines and the way you entertain before it talks about style.
A question we often hear: “Will my home end up looking like your portfolio?”
Only if you want it to.
Ask how they will treat what you already have
Not every home needs to be stripped back to its structure. Sometimes the most considered answer is to build on what is already there, and a good studio will tell you honestly which approach suits your home.
Villa Alma had already been renovated when its owner, a mother of two, came to us. It looked complete on paper, but it did not yet feel like her home. Rather than start again, we chose to enhance it.
We kept
- The double-height entrance
- The existing staircase
- The five-metre chandelier
- The layout of the ground floor
We refined
- Bespoke feature steps, a glass balustrade and custom metalwork turned the staircase into the heart of the entrance
- The chandelier, refreshed with a trimless installation and a reconfigured crystal arrangement
- A bespoke media unit, with display niches and discreet storage
- A handcrafted curved chandelier over the dining table, echoing the curves of the furniture
True luxury lies in enhancement, not reinvention.
Understand the process, phase by phase
A good studio can always tell you what happens next. Ask to see each phase, what you will receive at the end of it and when you will be asked to make decisions.
Planning the layout usually takes a couple of weeks. After that, the timeline depends on your requirements, your contractor and the decisions made along the way. What matters is that you always know where you are.
- 01
Space planning
Your brief, measurements and layout, reviewed at life-size.
- 02
Concept & 3D
Mood board, 3D visuals / CGI renders and material selections.
- 03
FF&E
Finishes, materials, furniture and fixtures, specified in full.
- 04
Drawings
Detailed drawings your contractor uses for the shop drawings.
- 05
Supervision
Optional: our team on site, so what is built matches the design.
- 06
Procurement
Optional: ordering, delivery, placement and styling.
Before anything is built, you walk through your new layout at life-size. In a dedicated space in Dubai, we project your plan at 1:1 scale, so you can feel the flow of each room and move forward with confidence. Ask any studio you meet how you will review your layout before work begins.
Know who will work on your project
“Who will actually work on my home?” It is one of the first questions clients ask us, and the right one.
Ask who will design your home, who will visit site and who you will speak to from week to week. Ask to meet them.
At ELE, one dedicated team stays with your project from the first sketch to the final styling, supported by our procurement team for furniture and finishes. Meet the studio.
Be clear on what is included
Proposals from interior design companies in Dubai can look similar but include very different things. Ask whether the fee covers design only, or also supervision on site and procurement of furniture, lighting and accessories.
Design
- Layouts and life-size plans
- 3D visuals and material selections
- Full FF&E specification
- Detailed design drawings
Design, supervision & procurement
- Everything in design, plus:
- Our team supervising on site
- Furniture and lighting ordered for you
- Placement, accessorising and styling
- Minotti
- Lustre Lighting
- Grani Marmo Classico
- Handscarpet
Look for recognition, & real reviews
Awards and press show that a studio's work stands up to independent judges. Reviews and testimonials tell you what it is like to work with them. Read both.
As featured in Vogue, AD Middle East and Marie Claire Maison. See all our awards
Questions to ask at your first meeting
Whichever studio you choose, these six questions will tell you a great deal.
- 1
Can I see completed homes, & visit one?
- 2
Who will work on my project, from concept to handover?
- 3
What happens at each phase, & what will I receive?
- 4
How will I review my layout before work begins?
- 5
Are supervision & procurement included?
- 6
How will you work with my contractor?
