Spaces · Kadıköy, Istanbul
Residential Interior Design
Turnkey Design & Construction
Residential interior design is the reworking of an existing apartment or house — its layout, materials, lighting and storage — around the daily life of the household that will live in it. Fitting out a newly handed-over flat for the first time and renovating a home lived in for years both fall under the same heading. What they share is this: the work happens inside the shell of an existing building, and within that shell's constraints.
Our Kadıköy-based studio has been delivering residential projects in Istanbul since 2015. Below we set out which decisions are actually made in an apartment project, and which of them cannot be undone. For a fuller account of the process and the cost items, see our Turnkey Interior Design Guide.
Our approach
- We begin by listening to the habits of the people who will live in the space — not a standard layout, but one that fits that household's daily rhythm.
- Storage and circulation matter as much as appearance: a beautiful but unusable space is, to us, a failure.
- We put natural light at the centre and choose the material palette according to the light the space actually receives.
- We separate decisions into those that can be reversed and those that cannot; plumbing, wet areas and flooring — the expensive ones to undo — are settled first.
What you can change in a flat, and what you cannot
In an apartment, the limit of design is drawn not by taste but by the load-bearing structure and the shared services. Settling this distinction before the project starts removes the most common reason for redrawing later.
- Untouchable: columns, shear walls, beams and slabs. Even where they sit inside your own unit, they belong to the building as a whole; removing them, or drilling them in a way that reduces their section, is not an option.
- Conditional: the position of wet areas. Moving a bathroom or kitchen depends on the distance to the soil stack serving the flat and on the fall that can be given to the waste pipe; not every layout can go everywhere.
- Requires a collective decision: the façade, window frames, enclosing a balcony, the position of an air-conditioning outdoor unit. These concern the common parts of the building and should not be carried out without a resolution of the owners' assembly.
- Free to change: non-load-bearing partitions, door positions, floor and wall finishes, joinery, the lighting and socket layout, and the internal arrangement of the kitchen and bathrooms.
How the process runs
- 01 · Survey and assessment. The existing layout is measured; the structure, shaft positions, age of the services and window orientations are recorded.
- 02 · The brief. How many people live here, who does what and where at which hour, how much storage is needed. The conversation is about use, not square metres.
- 03 · Concept and layout options. Several layouts, a material palette and an atmosphere are presented together.
- 04 · Construction drawings. Demolition and construction plans, services and lighting layouts, joinery details, tiling and grout setting-out. The details are finished here so that nothing has to be decided on site.
- 05 · Construction and site supervision. The build sequence is set, the trades are coordinated, and every item is checked in place.
- 06 · Handover. A snagging list is drawn up and closed out; care and maintenance information is handed over.
In most projects the schedule is governed not by demolition but by manufacturing: bespoke joinery, window frames and stonework all require production time measured in weeks once ordered. When material approvals slip, the site slips with them.
Materials are chosen for the light of the space
The same timber tone reads grey and cool in a north-facing living room, and reddish in a west-facing one in the afternoon. North light is steadier through the day; south light is strong and needs shading; west light enters at a low angle and creates uncomfortable reflections on glossy surfaces. Samples are therefore assessed not in a showroom but inside the flat itself, at different times of day.
With natural stone, the choice is as much about maintenance as appearance: travertine is sedimentary and its pores are usually filled, while marble has a denser structure. We have written about the difference separately in Travertine or marble?
Lighting is not solved with a single pendant
Lighting in a home is built in layers: the layer that fills the room generally, the layer that lights where work happens — a kitchen worktop or a reading corner — the accent layer that brings out texture and surface, and the decorative layer that becomes an object in its own right. In homes a warm white of roughly 2700–3000 K is generally preferred; keeping the colour temperature consistent from room to room matters more than the brand of the fitting.
Most of these decisions must be made before the electrical first fix: fitting positions, the need for dimming, switch locations, bedside and above-worktop sockets. We set out the layered approach in detail in lighting layers.
Storage is a question of dimensions
What determines storage is not the number of cupboards but depth and access. For a hanging rail to work comfortably in a wardrobe, an internal depth of around 60 cm is generally taken as the basis; in shallower units the hanging direction is changed. In kitchens, worktop height is resolved in most projects in the 85–90 cm band, with roughly 55–60 cm between worktop and wall units. In galley kitchens, leaving at least 100–120 cm between the two runs is necessary so that drawers and oven doors do not clash.
These dimensions can shift according to the user's height and habits; what does not shift is the principle that what the cupboard will actually hold should be discussed in advance — vacuum cleaners, suitcases, ironing boards and seasonal bedding never fit into a plan by themselves.
Wet areas and renewing the services
Bathrooms and kitchens are the two areas in a flat that are hardest to undo. Waterproofing beneath the tiling is carried up the wall within the shower zone, and a slight fall is given across the floor towards the drain. Leaving an access panel so that the shafts can be reached later avoids breaking open a wall years afterwards.
In older buildings, renewing the water pipes and the electrical installation is one of the soundest expenditures even though it changes nothing you can see; doing it while the walls are already open is both easier and cheaper than doing it later. Where work on shared risers and shafts is required, it is planned together with the building management.
Building rules, permits and neighbours
In a building held under condominium ownership, work that stays within the individual unit and does not harm the main structure can generally be carried out on the owner's own decision; any intervention concerning common parts, the façade or the load-bearing structure depends on a resolution of the owners' assembly. Work that touches the structure, or that changes the enclosed area or the appearance of the façade, additionally requires a permit. Because practice varies between municipalities, confirming with the relevant municipal planning department is the shortest route in any case of doubt.
There is a practical side too: most buildings set hours during which noisy work is permitted, lift and stair finishes have to be protected, and rubble removal has to be planned. A schedule shared with neighbours in advance resolves most of the complaints that would otherwise arise later.
Where the budget actually goes
- Demolition, rubble removal and site set-up — invisible, but present in every project.
- Mechanical and electrical installations; waterproofing to wet areas.
- Floor and wall finishes, plastering and decoration.
- Bespoke joinery and cabinetry — in most residential projects this is the single largest item.
- Kitchen and bathroom fittings and appliances.
- Light fittings, loose furniture and textiles.
- A contingency for the unforeseen: in older buildings, this is what the surprises behind an opened wall are for.
From our completed work
Some of the residential projects we have completed: Mesa Çengelköy Residences (Üsküdar), F.Y. House (Bayrampaşa), Four Winds Feneryolu (Kadıköy), K.Y. House (Beylikdüzü) and the Vita Marine show apartment (Beylikdüzü). For detached houses see our villa interior design page, and for other types of space our spaces page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does interior design and construction for an apartment take?
Scope matters far more than square metres: whether the plumbing and wiring are being renewed, whether the wet areas are moving, and how much custom joinery is involved. The design phase begins with a survey and moves at the pace of the approval rounds; on site, the schedule is usually set by the lead times of the items being manufactured. Once the scope is clear we produce a project-specific timeline; the individual cost items are set out in our Process & Budget Guide.
Where does a renovation actually start?
Not with a builder, but with a survey and a decision sequence. First the existing condition is measured and the load-bearing structure and service shafts are identified; then the brief and the layout are settled. Demolition begins only after the plumbing, lighting layout and joinery details have been drawn. When that order is broken, the most expensive corrections end up being made on site.
Can I renovate a flat I rent?
A tenant cannot make permanent alterations without the owner's consent, and anything that cannot be unscrewed and taken away stays with the property. The soundest approach is to put in writing which works will be carried out and who bears the cost. Works affecting common areas, the façade or the load-bearing structure additionally require a resolution of the building's owners' assembly.
Does an apartment renovation require a permit?
Work that stays within the individual unit, does not touch the load-bearing structure and does not alter the appearance of the façade generally does not require a permit. By contrast, interventions in the structure, increases in enclosed floor area, enclosing a balcony, and changes to the façade or window frames are subject to permit. Because practice varies between municipalities, the safest route is to confirm with the relevant municipal planning department before starting.
Can a wall be removed to enlarge the living room?
Non-load-bearing partition walls can be removed; columns, shear walls and beams cannot. Whether a wall is load-bearing is established from the building's structural drawings, not by eye; if no drawings exist, an on-site assessment is required. Where the water, gas and electrical lines running inside that wall will be rerouted has to be resolved at the same time.
Do you only do decoration, or construction as well?
We work turnkey — we manage the process from design through to completion. Because the construction drawings, contractor coordination and site supervision sit with the same team, the question of who is responsible for a given detail never arises on site. The same two people look after your project from the first meeting to handover.