How a luxury interior design project works in Mallorca, from concept to completion
How a luxury interior project unfolds in Mallorca depends on what you need. A full design project — what the studio calls a Signature project — runs through a brief, the layout and direction, full design development with finishes and photorealistic renders you sign off, on-site supervision during any building work, then ordering and installation; it typically takes six to eight months. Staging a finished or newly bought home is faster and lighter — furniture, textiles, lighting and art, often from stock, set out from mood boards rather than full renders — and lands in two to three months.
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The consultation and brief
It begins with a private conversation — about the property, how you intend to live in it, your tastes, and whether we are the right fit. From there I look closely at the home itself: a detailed discussion of your wishes and the property's constraints, then a full survey — measurements, photographs and video of every room. Whatever the scope, the work starts grounded in the real space, not a guess.
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The layout and the design direction
Next, the direction. I prepare two or three options for the layout and how each room is used for you to choose between, followed by mood boards that set the materials, the palette and the key pieces. This stage is common to every project, from a fast staging to a full design — it is where the home's character is settled, before anything is detailed or ordered.
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Design development, finishes and visualisation
For a full design project, the interior is now drawn in full: wall and floor finishes — stone, timber, tile, paint — selected and approved; working documentation covering dimensions, lighting, electrical layouts and a complete specification; and photorealistic 2D and 3D renders, virtual tours and video. You sign off the finished interior from these before anything is ordered or built. A staging skips this heavier stage — which is much of why it is faster.
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Author's supervision through the build
When there is construction or renovation, a designer is on site through the works — but the role is precise. I do not replace your builders or answer for the quality of their trade; I check the work against the approved design, week by week, so any deviation is caught early, while it is still inexpensive to correct rather than after the rework becomes costly. A staging of a finished home needs none of this.
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Ordering, delivery and installation
Then the home is furnished. Pieces are sourced from an established network of more than 700 European ateliers — for a full project, around 90% of the premium furniture and all of the luxury pieces are made to order, while a staging draws more on what is already available — with quality checked, insurance and logistics handled. Last come delivery, assembly and styling, and a home ready to live in.
Most owners have never run a project like this, and the uncertainty is the hard part: what happens, in what order, and how much of their own time it takes. The honest version is undramatic — and it depends, more than anything, on what you actually need.
Staging, or a full design project?
They are different undertakings. A staging is for a home that is finished or newly bought and simply needs to be furnished and brought to life — furniture, lighting, textiles, décor and art, frequently drawn from pieces already available and set out from mood boards rather than full photorealistic renders. It is lighter on your time and your budget, and it lands in two to three months.
A full design project — what the studio calls a Signature project — is for a home you want genuinely reworked: the layout reconsidered, wall and floor finishes chosen, working drawings prepared, furniture made to order, and the whole interior resolved in photorealistic renders you approve before anything is committed. It is the longer road, and the one the steps above describe in full.
The opening and the furnishing are common to both; the heavier middle stages — finishes, working drawings, full visualisation and on-site supervision — belong to the full project.
How long does it take?
For a full project, the design is the fast part: concept, visualisation and your approval take one to three months. After that, timing is set by two things largely outside the studio’s hands — because most premium furniture and all of the luxury pieces are made to order, manufacture and delivery run from two to twelve months; and where permits and building work are involved, that can add three to twelve months more. Run in parallel, a full turnkey project typically lands in six to eight months. A staging, working largely from available pieces, is finished in two to three.
The European supply calendar matters too, which is the real reason to start early. Much of the finest furniture is made in Italy, and Italy all but closes for August, when the country is on holiday. In April the major houses are preparing for iSaloni in Milan — Europe’s largest furniture fair — and lead times stretch. And from late November the workshops and suppliers wind down shipping until the new year. A project planned around these windows moves smoothly; one that collides with them waits.
What you do, and what I handle
Your part is deliberately small. You set the vision and the things that cannot be compromised, give an honest brief, and approve the work at each stage. Everything between — the drawings, the sourcing, the trades, the logistics, the installation — is mine to carry, and the project is led personally, not handed to a team you never chose.
For the questions owners ask most often, see the studio FAQ; for why coherence matters more than any single expensive object, see how a home becomes truly premium. The studio side of the practice — developments and investor work — is led through CID Studio.
Key takeaways
- The path depends on scope: a full design project (Signature) or the faster staging of a finished home.
- A full project covers layout, wall and floor finishes, working drawings, made-to-order furniture and photorealistic renders you sign off — typically six to eight months.
- Staging furnishes a finished or just-bought home, often from stock and from mood boards rather than full renders — two to three months.
- During a build, a designer supervises on site against the approved design — checking compliance, not replacing your builders or warranting their trade — to catch deviations before they become costly.
- Nothing is ordered or built until you have approved it; your part is a brief and a decision at each stage.
Frequently asked
Staging or a full design project — which do I need?
If the home is finished or newly bought and mainly needs to be furnished and brought to life, staging is usually right: furniture, lighting, textiles and art, often from stock, in two to three months. If you want the space genuinely reworked — layout, wall and floor finishes, made-to-order pieces — that is a full design project, and it runs six to eight months.
Can you run the project while I am abroad?
Yes — most of my clients are international and away for much of the project. You sign off each stage remotely from renders, virtual tours and video, or from mood boards for a staging, and I am on site through any build. Many homes are made ready before the owner first arrives.
When should a project begin?
Earlier than most owners expect, because made-to-order pieces, any building work, and the European supply calendar all set the pace. As a guide, to move in by Easter a full project should begin by the start of October; for Christmas, by early July.