Juliette Byrne is an award-winning luxury interior designer in Monaco, with a studio in London and a team that travels to the Principality for site meetings and the installation. The Telegraph has named Juliette among the top twenty interior designers in Britain and House & Garden lists her in its Top 100; the studio she founded in 1988 designs apartments and penthouses in Monaco and Monte-Carlo and villas along the Côte d'Azur. Its latest Riviera projects are a villa in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, redesigned from the plan up over 18 months, and an 18th-century apartment in Cannes built with a Monaco-based contractor.

Juliette takes the brief and leads the design herself, with six designers behind her and, in Monaco, the registered architect and local contractor the Principality requires, or a team the client has already appointed. Owners who are only in Monaco for part of the year usually leave more of the decisions to the studio. The first meeting is complimentary and there is no minimum project size.

Villa, Cap-Ferrat

Pied a Terre, Cannes

Interior design for apartments and penthouses in Monaco

Nearly every home in Monaco is an apartment in a residence, and the district decides the building. Monte-Carlo and the Carré d'Or are the residences and towers around the Casino, most of them built from the 1970s onwards, with Belle Époque buildings along the Boulevard des Moulins. Larvotto has the seafront residences and the new Mareterra district on reclaimed land, Fontvieille the lower blocks with wide terraces, also built out into the sea, and La Condamine, around the port, older stock beside modern residences. On the Rock, Monaco-Ville is old houses, many without a lift.

The design follows the building. In a residence it is usually a lateral plan on one floor, with a concierge, a pool and parking below, the terrace as the main outdoor room, and the sea on one side and the Rock or the hills on the other. With many owners in Monaco for only part of the year, the AV, lighting and air conditioning are set up to run remotely. There is no heritage listing law in the Principality, so what can be changed in an older building comes down to the copropriété and the planning rules rather than a listing. The studio also works along the coast in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Cannes, and its projects outside the UK are on the International page.

A contemporary villa on Cap Ferrat

This villa on Cap Ferrat had been neglected when the studio was appointed, so new windows and French doors and a full rewire with new AV came before any interior work. The kitchen was replanned to run through the dining room and out to the dining terrace, with timber detailing on the units and a bar and worktops in Taj Mahal stone, and the sea-facing reception was reorganised around a new full-height fireplace clad in Italian travertine, with a bespoke display cabinet of open shelving and glass detailing for the owners' objects.

Downstairs, the four bedrooms were redesigned with new en suite bathrooms and the garage became a media room with L-shaped seating and a gym at the far end. A guest powder room and a built-in home office were added, the utility room reworked, the floors re-sanded, and the whole house furnished, from the decorative lighting to the rugs, over a programme of 18 months. The page on the studio's work in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat has more on the Cap.

Do you need authorisation to renovate an apartment in Monaco?

Monaco's rules are the Principality's own, not France's. Cosmetic work needs no authorisation: a new kitchen, new bathrooms, flooring and decoration. Changing the layout, moving or removing partitions, or altering the structure or the outside of the building needs prior authorisation from the Principality's urban planning department, which decides within 45 days of a complete file, and work begins only once it has been issued. The application is signed by an architect registered with the Order of Architects of Monaco and by the building's syndic, and anything structural or in the common parts goes to a vote of the co-owners first.

The building work itself is carried out by a Monegasque contractor, as the Principality requires unless a foreign firm has specific approval. The building manager sets the working hours and the route the trades use through the building, and a bailiff's report on the neighbouring apartments before work starts is standard practice. The studio designs within those rules from the first drawing, prepares the file with the registered architect, and has worked with Monaco-based contractors on the coast, among them Chartwell Group on the Cannes apartment.

How the studio runs a Monaco project from London

The first meeting is at the apartment, so that Juliette can see the rooms, the light and the view as she takes the brief. The full design then follows from London: a new plan where one is needed, elevations and joinery drawings, the kitchen and bathrooms, the lighting, and a scheme for every finish, fabric and piece of furniture, with each item priced and signed off before it is ordered and the whole package issued to the contractor for tender. Working as architecte d'intérieur as well as interior designer, the studio treats the plan and the decoration as one job.

Once the authorisation is in place, the Monaco-registered architect and the Monegasque contractor run the site, while the studio holds the design through regular site meetings and video calls in between. Clients who are rarely in the Principality usually ask the studio to take more of the decisions for them, within a brief agreed at the outset. The furniture, lighting and soft furnishings are then procured by the studio, shipped to Monaco and installed by the team, down to the bedlinen, so the apartment is complete the day the owners walk in. Read more about the full interior architecture and design service.

An apartment in Cannes, built with a Monaco contractor

Further along the coast, the studio renovated an 18th-century apartment in the hills above Cannes harbour with Chartwell Group, a Monaco-based contractor. The original coffered ceilings were restored, new panelling and cornices added to the main rooms, and the parquet sanded back and stained a soft grey, over a programme of 18 months. The studio's page on interior design in Cannes describes the apartment in full.

What an interior design project in Monaco costs

Three things decide what a Monaco project costs: the apartment (its size and the state it is in), the specification (how much of the joinery and furniture is made to order), and the scope (whether the brief needs the Principality's authorisation and an architect's file, or is furnishing only). All three are discussed at the first meeting, after which the studio prepares a fee proposal for the project. Every item is then costed and documented with complete transparency once the client has reviewed the furniture and finishes, and fees are only discussed once the client wishes to proceed.

There is no minimum project size. A pied-à-terre in Monte-Carlo to be furnished, one room, or a home the studio finished years ago and is asked back to refresh are all welcome.

How long an apartment renovation in Monaco takes

Each project runs to a programme agreed at the outset. In Monaco the pace is set by the authorisation, which takes up to 45 days once the file is complete, by the co-owners' vote where one is needed, by the building's working hours and by the lead times on bespoke joinery and furniture. As examples, the villa on Cap Ferrat took 18 months, including new glazing and a rewire, and the apartment in Cannes took 18 months for a full renovation. A furnishing scheme that needs no authorisation is a much shorter programme, and with six designers in the studio a new project can usually begin without a wait.

Award-winning interior design, from Chelsea to Monaco

The 18th-century villa the studio restored in Dresden won design et al's International Design & Architecture Award in 2024 and its Elite Residential Property Award in 2025. In London, four of the studio's projects have won at the UK Property Awards: the Belgravia townhouse, the Penthouse, Mayfair, the Boutique Hotel, Mayfair and a Chelsea townhouse, and a new-build development in Chelsea was recognised at the International Property Awards. In France the studio has also designed a family chalet at Chamonix.

Juliette is a BIID Registered Interior Designer, listed by Country & Town House among the UK's best interior designers, and the studio's homes have been featured by Mansion Global, Tatler Asia, Marie Claire Maison Arabia and Knight Frank, among others. There is no house style: each home is designed around its owners and the building, built by craftsmen the studio has worked with for years, and finished on budget and on time. See the Press page.

Frequently asked questions

Do you work in Monaco as an English-speaking interior designer?

Yes. The studio is based in London and works in English throughout, from the brief and the drawings to the site meetings in Monaco and the final installation, while the architect and contractor on the ground are local to the Principality.

Do I need authorisation to renovate an apartment in Monaco?

Not for cosmetic work such as a new kitchen, bathrooms, flooring or decoration. Changing the layout, the structure or the outside of the building needs prior authorisation from the Principality's urban planning department, signed off by a Monaco-registered architect and the syndic, and the studio builds that into the programme from the start.

Does the work have to be done by a Monaco architect and contractor?

Where authorisation is needed, the file must be signed by an architect registered in Monaco, and the building work is carried out by a Monegasque contractor unless a foreign firm has specific approval. The studio works with both, keeps the design in its own hands, and has worked with Monaco-based contractors on the coast before.

Can you run the project if we are only in Monaco for part of the year?

Yes, and most owners are. The studio agrees the brief at the outset and then takes more of the decisions itself, reports back by video call, and hands over an apartment that is finished and furnished.

Can you design a lateral apartment or penthouse in a modern residence?

Yes. In an apartment or penthouse the task is to make a lateral plan feel settled: zoning the open space, concealing the services behind joinery, and bringing the terrace into the scheme. The same approach applies to a newer residence in Larvotto or Fontvieille as to an older building in Monte-Carlo.

How long does an apartment renovation in Monaco take?

That depends on the scope and on whether authorisation is needed, which takes up to 45 days once the file is complete. The villa on Cap Ferrat and the apartment in Cannes each took 18 months, both with building work; a furnishing scheme with none is far quicker.

How much does an interior designer cost in Monaco?

It depends on the apartment and the scope, since furnishing a pied-à-terre and replanning a penthouse are different undertakings. The first meeting is complimentary and covers costs, the studio follows it with a fee proposal for that project, and every item is priced for approval before it is ordered.

Do you also work in Beaulieu, Cap Ferrat and along the coast?

Yes, anywhere on the Côte d'Azur between Monaco and Saint-Tropez. Beaulieu-sur-Mer and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat are a short drive west of the Principality, where the studio recently finished a villa, and its other Riviera projects are in Cannes and Saint-Tropez.

Where is the studio and how do we start?

The studio is on the King's Road in London, in the Chelsea Design Quarter. It begins with a complimentary meeting to go through what you would like from the home; use the Contact Us button below or email office@juliettebyrne.com.

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office@juliettebyrne.com
+44 (0)20 7352 1553

Interior Designer in Monaco

Interior design projects on the Côte d'Azur