Furnishing a New Apartment: A Complete Guide

Measure access before anything else

Lifts, stairwells, corridors and door openings determine what can be delivered. Large sofas, stone tops and tall cabinets may need to be designed in sections. Check access dimensions before specifying.

Build storage into the walls

In apartments, freestanding storage eats floor space. Built-in wardrobes, media walls and window seats with drawers return floor area to living. See custom cabinetry.

Plan rooms for more than one use

A guest room that is also a study; a dining table that is also a desk. Wall-hung desks with shelving above — like the study corners of the Garden Residence — create workplaces without dedicated rooms. See custom home office.

Keep the palette tight

In an open-plan apartment, you see most rooms at once. A restrained palette — one or two timbers, a stone, a metal — makes the whole feel larger and calmer.

Scale furniture to the room

Low, compact pieces with visible legs make rooms feel larger. Made-to-measure pieces avoid the near-misses of standard sizes.

Light, reflection and height

Many apartments have light from one side only. Pale, matt surfaces help it travel further into the room; mirrors and glass-fronted cabinets add depth. Full-height cabinetry and curtains hung close to the ceiling draw the eye upward and make rooms feel taller.

An order for decisions

1. Measure every room and every access route.
2. Plan storage and built-in cabinetry.
3. Choose the largest pieces: sofa, dining table, beds.
4. Plan lighting around the furniture layout.
5. Add rugs, curtains and upholstery.
6. Finish with objects, art and styling.

Building rules

Apartment buildings often have rules for deliveries and works: booking the service lift, protecting corridors, permitted hours and approvals for fixed installations. Check these early — they affect delivery scheduling and, occasionally, the design of large pieces.

When to consider whole-home furnishing

If you are furnishing an apartment from empty, planning every room together is usually faster and more coherent than buying piece by piece. A single furniture plan, one palette and a coordinated delivery also reduce the number of lift bookings and building visits — a practical advantage in managed buildings.

Keeping flexibility

Choose a few pieces that can move between rooms — a pair of chairs, a console, side tables — so the apartment can adapt as your life in it evolves.

Whether it is a first apartment or a penthouse, whole-home furnishing brings every room together. Tell us about your space.