Moving to London From Abroad? How We Get Your Home Ready Before You Land

Most people only think about an interior designer once they have bought somewhere or are ready to renovate. But some of the clients who need us most are the ones who are not here yet. They are being posted to London, or coming home after years abroad, and they are trying to sort out a home from a different time zone while also packing up a life.

We have worked with clients based in Dubai, Denmark, California and Geneva, on everything from a furnished rental to a full renovation that had to be finished before the family flew in. This is what we have learnt about doing it well.

If you are renting: a home that is ready when you land

A rented flat can be hard to make feel like yours, especially if you know you are only here for two or three years. It is tempting not to bother. But you will spend more time in it than anywhere else, and the first few months in a new city are tiring enough without living out of suitcases.

For renters we keep it simple. Send us the floor plans and a few photos, tell us which pieces of furniture you are shipping, give us a rough idea of how much you are bringing, and share some pictures of homes you like. We then buy what is missing and set the place up so it is ready when you arrive.

We do not paint, wallpaper or do anything that would break your tenancy agreement. And because this is a light-touch job, we only choose pieces with short lead times, so we can move quickly. You pay our design fee and a small buying fee, and you skip the weekend hunting for a sofa and a dining table after your first long week at a new job.

If you own the property: work back from your moving date

This is where most people get caught out. A couple living in Luxembourg asked us to renovate the family house in south London ready for their return. The house was tenanted, so the first date we had to plan around was when they could get it back. Then came the bigger point: if you want to move in in May, the building work needs to start around December or January. And good contractors are often booked five or six months ahead, so the design and planning work has to start before that.

In other words, the design work often needs to begin almost a year before you move. If your move date is not fixed yet, we can still get the drawings, specification and pricing done, so the building work can start as soon as the date is confirmed. And if the budget feels tight, we can split the work into stages, doing what you need for moving in first and leaving the rest for later.

How we run a project when you are not here

Every project has its own online space where you can see the drawings, choices, orders and progress, so nothing is lost in a long email chain. Every week we post a short update on what has moved on, what is waiting on whom, and what we need from you.

We book calls around your time zone, not just ours, even if that means an early start in London. When a decision is urgent, we tell you clearly what is needed and by when.

During Covid, one couple renovating a riverside apartment in east London could not fly in at all. Our site team posted photos and updates as the work went on, so they could follow every stage from home.

A few small things make a big difference when you are abroad:

• Keys. Work out early who holds which set. We have had clients get extra sets cut abroad and posted to us, so the trades, delivery teams and our own team are never stuck outside.
• Samples. If you are bringing furniture from home, or buying pieces where you live now, send us the details or bring samples on your next visit. We design around the things you already love, so they look like they belong.
• Visits. When you are in London for a few days, tell us early. We will plan the important meetings, like the design presentation, the samples or a site visit, around your trip.

Deliveries, storage and moving in

Furniture rarely arrives on one day. Instead of having fifteen separate deliveries to an empty flat, we send everything to our shipping and storage partner. They check it, keep it safe and bring it to site together. That means one or two installation days instead of weeks of waiting in for couriers.

The same goes for your own things. If your belongings need to come out of the property during the works, they can be packed and stored, then brought back, unpacked and put away once the building work is done. On a recent project, the client’s belongings were packed away in July and delivered and unpacked in late August, ready for the family to move in.

Your first few months in the house

A newly renovated home needs time to settle. As the heating comes on and you start living in it, it is normal to see a few hairline cracks as the plaster dries, a door that needs adjusting, or paint that needs a touch-up after the furniture goes in.

So before you move in, we give you a snagging list (a list of small things that need fixing) to add to whenever you spot something. Rather than having builders turn up every other day, we group the items and book the trades in for planned visits. Anything urgent, like a leak or no heating, is dealt with straight away.

Where to start

If you are moving to London, or moving back, the most useful thing you can do is talk to us early. Even a quick call before your move date is fixed helps us tell you what is realistic, when work would need to start, and how much of it we can do while you are still abroad.

You can see the kind of homes we create in our design portfolio, read how each stage works on our interior design services page, and see our fees on our pricing for interior design page. When you are ready, get in touch wherever you are in the world.