Interior Design in Al Bateen, Abu Dhabi

Updating a home with history

Established homes often have qualities worth keeping: generous rooms, solid construction, a staircase or a set of doors the family is attached to. The job is usually to update everything around them. That means lighting, bathrooms, kitchens, air conditioning and storage, and reconnecting rooms that were planned for a different way of living.

We start by recording what is there and deciding, with you, what earns its place. A well-proportioned reception room might only need new lighting, joinery and furniture, while a warren of small service rooms at the back could become one bright family kitchen. Keeping what works is often the most economical decision in the whole project, and it keeps the house recognisably yours.

Formal rooms and family rooms

Homes in established districts are often expected to host: relatives on a regular basis, larger gatherings for occasions, and visitors who should be received well without walking through the private side of the house. A clear separation between formal and family areas does most of that work. Our villa interior design service plans those zones first and dresses them second.

• A majlis with its own entrance, cloakroom and serving route from the kitchen
• A dining room that seats a large family without feeling empty when it is just a few of you
• A relaxed family room close to the kitchen, where children can spread out
• Bedroom suites with dressing areas and bathrooms that feel like a hotel's
• Discreet storage for extra chairs, linen and serving pieces used on busy occasions

Bringing inherited furniture and art into a new scheme

Families in long-established homes often own pieces with real meaning: a carpet, a carved chest, a set of chairs, paintings or calligraphy passed down. A new interior should make room for them rather than tidy them away. We photograph and measure the pieces you want to keep at survey stage, then design walls, lighting and joinery around them so they look intended, not squeezed in.

The same care applies to anything you want to replace. Where a new piece is needed, we specify it to sit comfortably beside the old, in scale, colour and finish.

Gardens, courtyards and outdoor rooms

Outdoor space in an established villa can be the most neglected part of the plot. A shaded seating area, a courtyard with planting and water, or simply better lighting can bring it back into daily use. Our exterior and landscape design service handles these spaces as part of the house, choosing finishes that stand up to heat, glare and humidity.

Design only, design and build, and approvals

If you already have a builder you trust, our design-only package gives them what they need: mood boards, 3D renders of every key room, drawings and a full finishes schedule. If you would rather have a single team responsible, design and build adds procurement, construction, supervision and handover. We work from Dubai and have no office in Abu Dhabi, so site visits are scheduled in advance and progress is reported in writing between them.

Depending on the property, approvals may involve a master developer or community management where one exists, the building's management in the case of an apartment, and the relevant authority. Abu Dhabi's authorities and approval processes stand apart from those in Dubai, and for a home in Al Bateen we confirm the right route for the specific address before design is fixed. We prepare the drawings and handle the submissions inside the programme, and we do not guess at timescales that belong to the reviewers.

Budget, disruption and handover

Projects begin at AED 150,000. Above that level, cost responds to the size of the home, the extent of bespoke joinery, the finishes you select, any replacement of MEP services and the furniture specification. Give us a working budget when we first talk and the scheme is shaped around it.

Some families move out for a full renovation, while others stay and let us work through the house in stages behind dust screens, at hours agreed in advance. Before any order is placed, you review each room in 3D. At the end, we walk the house with you, snag it room by room, and any defect in our work is then dealt with under a 12-month defects liability period set out in your contract.

Elsewhere in Abu Dhabi

Our Abu Dhabi page explains how we handle projects across the city, and we also take on offices and apartments on Al Maryah Island. When you are ready to share your plans, the online estimate form is the place to start.