Why Studio Akiva
Designing a home in a country
you have just moved to
Finding a designer is difficult enough in your own language. Doing it somewhere you have recently arrived means working out which studios are any good, what a fair price looks like, how the trades operate, and what any of it is called, all at once, usually while living in the flat you are trying to fix.
That is the gap we work in. English-speaking designers, based across Europe, delivering the work online so where you are matters far less than it would with a conventional local studio.
What we can actually
point at
Twelve consecutive Houzz awards
Best of Houzz for service, every year from 2015 to 2026. It is a client-voted award, which is the only kind worth much.
Reviews you can read
More than 150 five-star client reviews, published rather than summarised, so you can go and read what people actually said.
Press coverage
Featured in The Independent, Metro and Houzz magazine, among others. The articles are linked, not just the logos.
You can read the reviews in full on our reviews page and the press coverage on our press page. We would rather show you the sources than ask you to take a number on trust.
The language problem is not
the one people expect
Most people worry about conversation. Conversation is the easy part, and plenty of trades across Europe speak some English. The difficulty is vocabulary that does not translate cleanly, because it describes things that are built differently here.
A German quote will talk about Estrich, Trockenbau and Fussbodenaufbau. None of those has a tidy one-word English equivalent, and each one carries assumptions about build-up depths and sequencing that change what your floor finish can be and when it can go down. A client translating that quote word by word can end up agreeing to something they have not understood, and only discovering it when the floor is 40mm higher than the door was expecting.
Working with a designer who reads both the drawing and the quote closes that gap. It is a smaller-sounding benefit than good taste and it costs considerably more to do without.
Start where your
project actually is
| You want a room designed | Interior design packages, fixed fee per room, delivered online, with a mood board, plans and a shopping list built around your space. |
| You only need advice | Design consultancy by the hour, for the questions that do not need a full scheme. |
| The layout is the problem | Space planning on its own, for rooms that do not work rather than rooms that look wrong. |
| You are rewiring or at first fix | Lighting distribution, prepared so an electrician can install directly from it. |
| Nothing off the shelf fits | Bespoke furniture design, drawn to your space and handed to a maker. |
| You want to see it first | 3D rendering, built to your measurements using products you can order. |
| You need it bought and delivered | Furniture procurement, with trade discounts passed on in full and invoices raised in your name. |
| The build has started | Post-design support, on site or remotely, for the questions that arrive once walls are open. |
| Everything has arrived | Interior styling, by the hour, for the last layer of placement. |
Online, in English,
and priced upfront
- A free discovery call first, with no obligation to book anything afterwards
- An English-speaking lead designer, with documents produced in English as standard
- Fixed fees on the packages, so you know the cost before you commit
- Trade discounts passed on to you rather than kept by us
- Delivered online, which is what makes it work wherever in Europe you are
The full sequence, from first call to handover, is set out on our process page.
What people ask first
Do you work with clients across Europe?
Yes. Our designers are based across Germany, Spain, Portugal, France and Belgium, and the work is delivered online, so clients are spread considerably wider than that. Many are expats, and if that is your situation specifically, this page is written for it.
Can I book a virtual consultation?
Yes, and most consultations are virtual. Design consultancy is sold by the hour and booked online.
What do your services cost?
Room design is sold as fixed-fee packages, priced per room and by room type, with every price shown on the packages page before you buy. Consultancy and styling are sold by the hour. Procurement, post-design support and furniture design are quoted after a call, against a scope you approve first. Nothing is priced on enquiry to work out what you will pay.
Do I have to speak German?
No. Every project has an English-speaking lead designer and the documents are produced in English. Where a quote or a drawing arrives from a local trade in another language, that is exactly the point at which having us involved earns its keep.
Do you visit the property?
Sometimes, and it is arranged case by case rather than promised everywhere. Tell us where the home is on the discovery call and we will confirm whether a designer can travel to it and what that adds, before anything is agreed.
What if I am not sure what I need?
That is what the discovery call is for. It is free, it takes a few minutes, and we will tell you honestly if a smaller service would serve you better than a full package, or if you do not need us at all.
