Whole-home interior design

One Concept for the Whole House

When rooms are designed one by one, a house ends up with five different whites, three wood tones and door handles that never quite match. A whole-home project sets the rules once: a material palette, a lighting approach, door and trim details, a furniture language. Every room then has its own character within those rules. In Cosmopolitan, furniture, lighting, partitions and built-in systems were treated as part of the architecture rather than added after the design was finished.

What a Whole-Home Project Covers

• Plan and zoning - how the shared rooms flow into each other, where the private rooms sit, how daylight and views are used.
• Kitchen and bathrooms - the rooms with the most decisions and the most coordination with plumbing and electrical.
• Built-ins and storage - wardrobes, a mudroom, a pantry, shelving and media walls.
• Lighting - a plan for every room, including concealed and architectural light.
• Materials and finishes - floors, walls, stone, wood and metal, and how they meet.
• Furniture, textiles and art - chosen for the plan, not from a showroom floor.

Inside and Outside as One

Our houses open to the landscape. In Ascetic House, Schüco glazing makes up almost 30% of the facade area and brings the pine forest into the rooms. In the house in Yuzhny, built for a family of three, Reynaers panoramic windows were the key to the lightness the family asked for, with heat loss balanced by trench convectors and water underfloor heating, and Paola Lenti SURF loungers carry the same calm language onto the terrace. In Lesnoe, a transparent pergola extends the living space into the garden.

Restraint, Budget and Precision

A minimal interior needs more precision, not less: when there are few surfaces, every joint shows. Ascetic House uses concealed skirting, a calm palette of stone, wood, concrete, microcement and porcelain, and furniture by Paola Lenti, Flos, Poltrona Frau and Poliform. Lesnoe went the other way: a strict construction budget, spent on what defines the house - its proportions, natural materials, the stone facade and the connection with the landscape. In Yuzhny much of the cabinetry and upholstered furniture came from Ukrainian makers, which kept the budget reasonable and let the family move in sooner.

Homes in Seattle and on the Eastside

Here a house has to feel warm through long grey months, so we use daylight carefully, layer warm light for dark afternoons and choose natural materials that age well: wood, stone, wool and linen. We plan a mudroom for wet boots and dogs, a real home office and a guest suite that works for visiting parents. Heat pumps and radiant floors decide where vents, panels and furniture go, so the mechanical and interior plans are coordinated from the start. For new construction, our architects prepare the drawings to local code, and work that requires a Washington license is signed by licensed professionals we work with.

From Design to Move-In

Cosmopolitan brought interior design, construction, furniture selection and material selection together in one continuous process, and that is how we prefer to work: the team that designs the details coordinates them all the way through construction. We help choose finishes through material selection and pieces through furniture selection, and stay with the house through project support. If the house itself is still being planned, start with custom home design; for a single room, see our kitchen, living room and bathroom services.