Interior design for Mediterranean-style homes in Miami
Looking for an interior designer for a home in Miami?
Atelier Cantera designs the interiors of Mediterranean Revival and Spanish-style houses in Miami, and of condominiums whose owners often live in another country. Three practices, a six-stage process, and fees whose calculation method is written down before it is discussed.
Our interior design services
Interior design
The core of the work. Reworking a plan so the house suits how you actually live, bringing light deep into it, and holding the material and the detail to the same standard as the layout.
- Space planning and full plan reconfiguration
- Kitchens and bathrooms drawn for the house, not picked from a catalog
- Lighting designed room by room, in scenes rather than in fittings
- Materials and finishes selected, sampled and set out
Renovation of Mediterranean houses
Restoring and updating the Mediterranean Revival and Spanish-style houses of Miami: keeping the massing, the tile and the loggias, and bringing the kitchens, baths and openings up to date. Work on structure, envelope and permits is carried by Florida-licensed engineers and contractors, whom we coordinate.
- Survey and diagnosis of the house as built
- Reopening loggias and restoring the relationship with the garden
- Openings replaced with approved impact products, in the original proportions
- Drawings prepared for the local design and preservation reviews
Bespoke furniture and art
One-off pieces drawn for one specific house, and works of art brought into the project at the design stage rather than at the end. This is what connects the studio to Paleto, our gallery.
- Bespoke furniture, from drawing to workshop supervision
- Joinery for storage, display and the kitchen
- Art selection and integration in the home
- Artistic direction of the interior as a whole
The process, in six stages
Each stage produces a document you keep, and ends in an explicit decision. When you live between Miami and another country, that matters more than anywhere: every site report is written and illustrated, so you can follow the work without flying out for it.
- Survey and diagnosisWe measure the property, read the building regulations and technical documents, and identify what genuinely constrains the project before drawing a single line.2 to 4 days
- ConceptThe brief is written down, two or three plan strategies are studied and compared, material atmospheres are set, and each option carries its own construction budget.6 to 12 days
- Design developmentThe chosen strategy becomes a buildable set: detailed plans, electrical and lighting layouts, bespoke joinery, tiling setouts and every material decided one by one.12 to 25 days
- TenderingThe set goes out to contractors, bids are analysed trade by trade and brought to the same basis of comparison, then refined with the firms you select.4 to 8 days
- Construction supervisionRegular site visits, written reports, decisions on the unforeseen, and control of both compliance with the drawings and adherence to the budget.3 to 5 days per month on site
- CompletionDefects are listed and then cleared, the as-built record is assembled, and the file stays with you for the upkeep of the property.2 to 4 days
Our interior design fees
A fee is not a feeling about price, it is a number of days multiplied by a cost. We calculate both, and we check the result by a second route before quoting it to you.
Fixed fee, for design
Each design stage is sold at a fixed price with a written, limitative scope: how many options are studied, how many images produced, how many meetings, how many rounds of revision included. A fixed fee without a scope is an open invoice, for you as much as for us.
Percentage of works, for the site
Site supervision follows the value and the duration of the works, so it is paid as a percentage, tied to a reference duration. Without that duration, a job that drags on costs more than it earns, and that always gets paid for somewhere.
Time charge, for what falls outside
A request beyond the agreed scope, an extra visit, a redesign after sign-off: that is time charged, quoted before it is spent. Nothing is invoiced after the fact without having been said beforehand.
For a sense of scale: a full mission on a high-end residential interior usually sits between 10 and 15 % of the construction cost, and higher where bespoke joinery makes up a large share. Design alone accounts for roughly half of that total. We always check a fixed fee twice, by the time it buys and by the percentage it represents: when the two agree, the price is right.
Where we work in Miami
The studio works from Paris and Mexico City for homes across Miami-Dade. Each neighborhood has its own houses, its own rules and its own building department: we write one page for each rather than a list of names.
Miami-Dade County
- Coral Gables33134The Mediterranean Revival city planned in the 1920s. Every exterior change to a house goes before the Board of Architects.
- Coconut Grove33133Miami's oldest neighborhood, and one of its greenest. Conservation rules protect the landscape, and the trees often decide where a house can grow.
- Pinecrest33156Ranch houses of the 1950s and 1960s on one-acre lots, under a canopy the village keeps planting. Long plans to reorganise, and gardens to bring in.
- Miami Beach33139Art Deco districts, older Mediterranean houses, homes on the islands and towers on the ocean. In a flood zone, the 50 percent rule sets the budget.
- Key Biscayne33149A barrier island with its own village government since 1991, family houses and condominiums. Salt, wind and flood rules come before style.
- Brickell33131Miami's district of towers, one of the densest in the country. The building's rules and inspections set the frame of any renovation.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to design a full interior renovation?
The four design stages add up to 24 to 49 days of work, each one detailed above. Spread across a real calendar, with review rounds and the tendering period, that usually means two to four months before work starts on site.
How are your fees calculated?
Three ways, set out above. A fixed fee for design, with a written and limited scope. A percentage of construction cost for site supervision. Time spent for anything outside the agreed scope. A fee is a number of days multiplied by a cost, and we work out both before quoting.
Can we stop after the concept stage, without going to site?
Yes. Each stage produces a document you keep and ends with an explicit decision. You can stop at the end of any of them, with what has been produced, and hand the rest to whoever you choose.
Does an interior renovation need a permit in Miami?
Most work that touches the structure, the plumbing, the electrical systems, the windows or the doors does. The application goes to the building department of the municipality where the home is: Coral Gables, Miami Beach, Key Biscayne and Pinecrest each run their own, while Coconut Grove and Brickell fall under the City of Miami. Florida-licensed engineers and contractors carry the permit work; we prepare the design it is based on.
How do you manage a Miami project from Paris or Mexico City?
A member of our team is on site in Miami, and the studio comes for the survey and the key milestones. In between, the work is followed through written reports and photographs after each contractor visit, and every decision that changes the design or the budget is put to you in writing before it is taken.
The first conversation is there to frame the work, not to sell it: what you want to do, what the house or the building allows, the order of magnitude of the budget and a realistic timeline. Write us a few lines, with the neighborhood and the square footage if you have them.
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