Can You Design Your Own Apartment? DIY vs Hiring a Designer

Yes, you can design your own apartment, and for a cosmetic refresh you probably should. It gets risky when walls move, the kitchen or bathroom changes place, or several trades work at once: that is when missing drawings turn into on-site decisions, and on-site decisions turn into overspending. The honest rule: decorate yourself, plan a renovation with a project.

We're a design studio, so read this with that in mind. But we'd rather you spent money on us for the part that pays back than for the part you could do on a weekend.

What you can do well yourself

Choosing a style and palette. Pinterest, AI tools and showroom visits are enough. You know your taste better than anyone.

Furniture and decor in a room that stays as it is. Measure twice, draw the room on squared paper or in a free planner, check passage widths (90 cm is comfortable, 60 cm is the minimum), and you'll avoid most mistakes.

Repainting, new flooring in the same layout, new lighting on existing points. The builder needs a list of materials, not a drawing set.

Where DIY usually breaks

The layout. Moving walls, the kitchen, a bathroom — this is where the value of a project sits and where amateurs lose the most. Not because the idea is bad, but because it wasn't checked against risers, structural walls and furniture sizes.

Electrics. People plan sockets for the furniture they have, then buy different furniture. Or forget sockets inside cabinets, at the bedside, for the robot vacuum dock. Changing that after plastering means chasing walls.

Coordination between trades. The tiler needs to know where the plumber puts outlets. The electrician needs the kitchen drawing before the kitchen is ordered. Without a set of drawings, you become the person who holds all of it in their head.

Specification. If a material isn't named by part number, the builder chooses. Usually the one they have in the van.

The money question

A design project typically makes up 8–12% of the whole renovation budget. Renovations without one commonly run 20–30% over, mostly through redoing and on-site decisions. We don't claim every DIY project overspends — many don't. But if yours is a full renovation, the project fee is usually smaller than the mistakes it prevents.

Worked example with our rates: a 70 m² apartment costs €2,450 for layouts and visualizations of every room, or €3,500 with a full drawing set and specification. Compare that with the price of moving one socket group after tiling, or re-ordering a kitchen that doesn't fit.

A middle path

You don't have to choose between "everything myself" and "everything by a designer".

• Layout only. Order the planning stage, do the rest yourself. This is the stage where changes are cheapest and the stakes are highest. We give two or three options and revise up to three rounds.
• Basic project. Layouts and visualizations of every room — you see the result before buying anything, and handle materials yourself.
• Full project. Add drawings and specification when builders will work without you being there every day.

A quick self-check

Do it yourself if most answers are "no":

1. Are any walls moving? 2. Is the kitchen or a bathroom changing place? 3. Will more than two trades work at the same time? 4. Will you be away while the work happens? 5. Is the budget tight enough that a 20% overrun hurts?

Two or more "yes" answers — a project will probably pay for itself.

Frequently asked

Is there a free way to make a floor plan? Yes, there are free online planners. They're fine for furniture layouts. They don't produce construction drawings.

Can I start myself and bring in a designer later? Yes, but bring them in before demolition. After that, the most valuable decisions have already been made.

How long does a project take? For about 100 m², 4–8 weeks. See the interior design process, step by step.