WE DO Interior Design & Fit-Out is a DED-registered renovation company in Dubai, working across villas, apartments, and offices. One team handles MEP upgrades, layout refreshes, kitchens, bathrooms, and full interior refits, instead of a separate designer, contractor, and approvals agent.
Key Facts
A villa renovation deals with MEP systems, layouts, and finishes across a whole standalone home. An apartment renovation works inside a fixed building envelope and building-management rules. An office renovation is about function and brand as much as finish.
Full or room-by-room renovation for standalone and twin villas, MEP upgrades, kitchens, bathrooms, majlis interiors, flooring, and exterior work. This is our most detailed service; see villa renovation in Dubai for the complete process, cost breakdown, and room-by-room services, including kitchen renovation and bathroom renovation detail.
Apartment renovation in Dubai works to your building's rules. Many towers need a developer or building-management NOC before work starts, and some restrict working hours or wet trades to certain days. We manage that process as part of the job. Typical scope: kitchen and bathroom updates, flooring, built-in joinery, and full interior refreshes for units in Business Bay, Downtown Dubai, and Dubai Marina. See apartment renovation in Dubai for more.
Office and commercial renovation in Dubai is as much about performance as it is about looks: layout, lighting, acoustics, and brand presentation all matter. We handle partition and layout changes, MEP and electrical upgrades, flooring, and joinery for offices, clinics, and retail spaces. See office renovation in Dubai for the full process and cost breakdown.
Start Your Renovation
Tell us about your renovation and let our team guide you through the design, approvals and execution.
These terms get used interchangeably, and mixing them up leads to a mismatched quote: a fit-out quote won't cover structural work, and a renovation quote may include fit-out elements you don't need. If your project needs both, we run them as one job under a single point of contact
| Factor | Renovation | Fit-Out |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Updating an existing space: finishes, MEP, and non-structural layout changes | Interior systems, joinery, and furnishing — typically shell-and-core or post-handover |
| Best for | Older villas, apartments, or offices needing an update | New units or handed-over shells needing interior build-out |
| Typical timeline | Weeks to several months, depending on scope | Confirmed at your site visit, based on scope |
| Approvals needed | DEWA, building/community NOC (Dubai Municipality permit only if structural work is involved) | Developer/community NOC, DEWA for MEP |
This distinction applies mainly to villas, where structural work needs a Dubai Municipality permit. Apartments rarely allow structural changes at all, building management typically limits work to cosmetic scope. Offices need approval from Dubai Municipality or the relevant zone authority (DDA, DIFC, or Trakhees), depending on location, for partition or layout changes, rather than a residential permit.
For villas specifically, here's where the line sits:
| Factor | Cosmetic Renovation | Structural Changes |
|---|---|---|
| What's included | Flooring, paint, cabinetry fronts, fixtures, no layout changes | Moving walls, relocating plumbing/electrical, extensions |
| Permit required? | Usually no | Yes, Dubai Municipality building permit |
| Structural engineer needed? | No | Yes |
| Typical timeline | 1–6 weeks (single room) to 3–4 months (whole villa) | 4–8 months, including permit approval |
Most renovation work needs some form of approval, and which authority applies depends on where the property is and what's being done:
WE DO's approvals team prepares and submits the relevant package as part of the project, so this isn't something you manage yourself.
Six stages, from the first call to final handover, for full-scope renovations. Standard-scope projects wrap in 3–4 months; large or full-scope projects run 6–8 months. A single room or small partial job usually skips the longer design and approval stages and completes in about 1–6 weeks.
We start with a conversation about your goals and your building's or community's requirements. Once you confirm you'd like to move forward, we schedule a complimentary site visit before anything gets scoped or priced.
(4–8 weeks) — We map out layout options and selection, and produce a full design brief with 3D visuals, so you're approving the actual design, not imagining it.
(4–8 weeks, usually alongside design) — We prepare and submit whatever approvals the project needs, based on the property and scope.
(4–16 weeks, depending on scope) — Demolition, layout changes, and plumbing and electrical work, built exactly to the approved design.
(4–8 weeks) — Custom carpentry from our own factory, flooring, painting, and final material installation.
A full quality inspection and walkthrough with you before you move back in or reopen.
*Individual stage durations may overlap, so they should not be added together to calculate the total project duration.
Renovation cost in Dubai depends on property type, size, scope, and material grade. As a general guide to current market rates:
| Scope | Typical Range (AED) |
|---|---|
| Bathroom renovation (per bathroom) | 15,000 – 140,000+ |
| Kitchen renovation | 15,000 – 180,000+ |
| Full apartment renovation, cosmetic | 80,000 – 250,000 |
| Full villa renovation, cosmetic only | 150,000 – 400,000 |
| Full villa renovation with MEP upgrades | 400,000 – 1,000,000+ |
| Small to mid-size office fit-out/renovation | 150,000 – 600,000 |
These are a starting reference, not a quote, the real number moves with the property's size, material grade, and any building-specific requirements. See each service page for detailed cost breakdowns.
Your itemized quote covers design, materials, labor, and project management; furniture, appliances, and any NOC fees are confirmed separately at the site visit.
As a renovation contractor in Dubai working across villas, apartments, and offices, WE DO runs projects through one design and build team. One contract, one point of contact, no tender gap between the company that draws the design and the one that builds it. Fit-out is delivered by our own crews rather than subcontracted out, and joinery is made in our own Dubai factory to your drawings, not adapted from a catalogue.
Start Your Renovation
We worked with WE DO on our villa renovation in MBR City and were very happy with the experience. The team understood what we wanted and handled the design and execution really well. The finishing quality was excellent, and the villa now feels completely refreshed. Very happy with the final result.
James Anderson
MBR City, Dubai
WE DO did a great job renovating our villa in Emirates Hills. The team was professional, responsive, and paid close attention to the details throughout the project. Everything was managed smoothly from the initial discussions through to the final finishing. We’re very pleased with how the villa turned out.
Sarah Mitchell
Emirates Hills, Dubai
Start Your Renovation
Tell us about your renovation and let our team guide you through the design, approvals and execution.
WE DO Interior Design & Fit-Out
Renovation Designed Around Your Property
It depends heavily on property type and scope. As a rough guide, a kitchen renovation runs around AED 15,000–180,000+, a bathroom AED 15,000–140,000+ per bathroom, a full apartment renovation AED 80,000–250,000, and a full villa renovation AED 150,000–1,000,000+ depending on whether MEP work is included. WE DO confirms exact numbers with an itemized quote after a complimentary site visit.
Yes. WE DO handles apartment and home renovation across Dubai, including kitchen and bathroom updates, flooring, joinery, and full interior refreshes, and manages the building or developer NOC process where one applies.
Yes. WE DO provides commercial renovation in Dubai for offices, clinics, and retail spaces — layout and partition changes, MEP and electrical upgrades, flooring, and joinery, run by the same team that handles our residential projects.
Renovation covers cosmetic and interior updates to an existing, occupied space, villa, apartment, or office. Fit-out usually means interior systems, joinery, and furnishing for a shell-and-core or newly handed-over space. Structural changes for villas are handled separately through our construction team. Many projects combine renovation and fit-out under one contract to avoid duplicate site visits.
Cosmetic work updates surfaces, flooring, paint, and cabinetry fronts without touching the layout, and usually needs no permit. Structural work means moving walls or extending the footprint, which needs Dubai Municipality approval and a licensed engineer's sign-off. WE DO covers the cosmetic side directly; structural work for villas goes through our construction team.
Most renovation and fit-out work needs some form of approval. For apartments, that's usually a building-management or developer NOC. For offices, it depends on the zone, Dubai Municipality, DIFC, Trakhees, or the DDA, plus Dubai Civil Defence if the work affects fire or life-safety systems. WE DO's approvals team handles this as part of the project.
A single kitchen or bathroom typically takes 1–6 weeks. A full apartment or standard-scope villa renovation runs 3–4 months. Large villas, full MEP overhauls, or larger offices can run 6–8 months. NOC approvals and imported material lead times are the most common reasons a timeline extends.
Look for a company that's DED-registered, shows a real, verifiable portfolio in your property type, and gives you an itemized quote after an in-person site visit rather than a flat number over the phone. WE DO has delivered 250+ projects across Dubai over 11+ years, across villas, apartments, and offices.