Why a Successful Renovation Project Starts with the Floor Plan

When we think about renovation, we often think first about materials, colours, the kitchen, or furniture.

Yet before choosing tiles or a wall colour, there is a much more important question to ask: does the layout of my apartment truly reflect the way I live?

An interior can be beautiful and still feel uncomfortable or impractical in everyday life. On the other hand, a relatively small apartment can feel surprisingly spacious when it is well designed.

That is why, in my projects, I always start with the floor plan.

A Good Floor Plan Is Not Just About Gaining Square Metres

Optimising an apartment does not necessarily mean removing every wall or trying to create the largest possible room.

It is first and foremost about understanding how the available space is being used.

An oversized entrance, a long hallway, a difficult-to-furnish area, or a poorly positioned door can account for several square metres that exist on paper but contribute very little to everyday life.

Reworking the floor plan makes it possible to redistribute that space where it will actually be useful.

Sometimes, moving a door by just a few centimetres is enough to create an entire wall of storage. Slightly changing the circulation can make room for a larger bathroom. Rethinking the position of the kitchen can completely transform the relationship between the different living areas.

These are often the decisions that have the greatest impact on the quality of a renovation.

Designing the Floor Plan Around Your Daily Life

There is no single ideal floor plan.

A couple who regularly work from home will not have the same needs as a family with three children. Someone who loves cooking will use their apartment differently from someone who frequently entertains guests.

Before I start designing, I therefore try to understand how you live.

Where do you put your belongings when you come home? Do you need a dedicated workspace? Where do you store the stroller, shoes, suitcases, or vacuum cleaner? Do you like to cook while spending time with your guests? Do the children share the bathroom in the morning?

These details may seem very ordinary. Yet they are precisely what allows us to create an interior that is genuinely tailored to the people who live there.

Thinking About Circulation Too

A home is more than the rooms it contains. We also need to consider how we move from one space to another.

Good circulation should feel natural.

You should not have to walk around a dining table to reach the terrace, cross the entire kitchen to get to a bedroom, or move a chair every time you open a cupboard.

On a floor plan, just a few centimetres can make all the difference.

That is why I consider not only the dimensions of each room, but also passageways, door swings, clearance areas, and the relationship between different functions.

Revealing the Potential That Is Already There

This is probably the part of my work I enjoy most.

When I first discover an apartment, I look for what it could become.

I move things around, combine spaces, and test different configurations—a little like a game of Tetris—until every function finds its right place.

The goal is not to transform a space simply for the sake of change, but to find the solution that makes the most of what is already there.

Sometimes, the best solution involves significantly reworking the floor plan. In other projects, a few carefully considered changes are enough.

Aesthetics Then Strengthen the Design

Of course, this does not mean aesthetics are unimportant.

Materials, colours, lighting, and furniture give a project its identity. But when they are built around a coherent and well-designed floor plan, their impact becomes much stronger.

For me, a successful interior is therefore, first and foremost, an interior that works.

A space where everyday routines feel effortless, circulation feels natural, and every square metre has a purpose.

Because before looking beautiful in a photograph, an apartment should above all feel good to live in.