In short: A French interior designer works on space itself — its layout, proportions and light — before any furniture or decoration enters the picture. The process runs from initial brief to final handover, coordinating architects, craftsmen and suppliers along the way.
More than choosing colours
The first thing I tell people: interior design is not decoration. A decorator selects furniture, fabrics and objects to dress a space that already exists. An interior designer works on the space itself — its proportions, its circulation, the way light moves through it at different times of day. I work on rooms before anything goes into them. Sometimes before the walls are even built.
Starting from a brief
Every project begins with a conversation. I need to understand how you live, how you use each room, what matters to you — and what you find intolerable. A family with three children and a passion for entertaining has completely different needs from a couple who travel eleven months a year and want their apartment to feel calm the moment they open the door. The brief is everything. Without it, I’m guessing.
Space planning
Once I understand the brief, I work on the plan — the layout of the space. Where walls go, how rooms connect, where natural light comes from and how to make use of it. This is the most technical part of the work, and in my view the most important. A beautiful room with a bad plan is a beautiful room that doesn’t work. I’ve visited enough of them to know.
Materials and craftsmen
French interior design has a strong tradition of working with exceptional craftsmen — cabinet makers, upholsterers, stone cutters, metalworkers. A significant part of my job is knowing who they are, understanding what they can do, and directing their work toward a coherent result. The material palette — stone, wood, plaster, metal, fabric — is chosen not for visual effect alone, but for how it ages, how it feels, how it changes with the light.
Managing the project
On a full project, I coordinate architects, contractors, suppliers and craftsmen. I review technical drawings. I make sure what’s built matches what was designed. I visit sites. I chase deadlines. None of this is glamorous — but it’s the difference between a project that comes together and one that doesn’t.
Working internationally
A large part of my work is with clients outside France — in Europe, in Asia, in the Americas. Distance changes nothing fundamental about the process, but it requires more rigour in documentation and more precision in communication. A well-documented project can be built anywhere.
What makes it French
People sometimes ask what makes a French interior designer specifically French. What I can say is that my training and references come from a tradition that values proportion above all else — the relationship between the height of a ceiling and the width of a window, between the scale of a piece of furniture and the room it inhabits. Light is treated as a material in its own right. And there is a preference for things that age well over things that impress immediately.
A decorator works with what exists — furniture, textiles, objects. An interior designer works on the space itself: its layout, proportions, light and architecture. The two roles can overlap, but they start from different points.
A single room can take two to three months. A full apartment or house typically takes between six months and two years, depending on the scope of construction work involved.
Yes. A significant part of my practice involves international projects — in Europe, Asia and the Americas. The process is the same; the documentation simply needs to be more precise.
Fee structures vary. Some designers charge a percentage of the total project budget; others work on a fixed fee or an hourly rate. I work on a fee basis agreed at the start of the project, based on its scope.