Sammy Credenza
For children
Linen & Light
Concrete & Grain
First Room
Cafés, shops, offices
Rooms and nooks, fitted
Our story
The birch plywood furniture that works best in a Dubai apartment does two jobs at once, fits in the lift, and does not mind tile, strong sun or a day and night of air-conditioning. Below are twelve ideas: eight collection pieces made to order in our Dubai workshop, and four custom ones for the walls a tower floor plan leaves awkward. The pieces are sealed birch plywood (the Sarab mirror is oak ply) in four water-based finishes: Natural, Snow, Sand or Smoke.
Before the list: what an apartment asks of a piece
Four things decide most apartment furniture in Dubai. The floor is porcelain or marble, so pieces want felt pads and children's beds want to be low. One wall is glass, so whatever faces it takes hours of sun. The AC runs most of the year and the flat shuts up humid when you travel in summer, which is why we seal every face and edge. And everything has to come up a lift, so check anything long against it before you order.
1. A credenza where the TV unit would go
Most apartment living rooms have one wall for the television. A low credenza holds the screen, hides the router and the boxes, and reads as furniture rather than electronics. The Sammy plywood credenza is made to be styled as a TV console or a sideboard and comes in two lengths: the shorter usually suits a tower living room, the longer an open-plan room where living and dining share a wall. In Smoke, grey-brown with the grain still showing, it sits well against microcement and charcoal, as it does in the modern room on our Looks page.
2. A media wall, if the flat is yours
If you own the apartment, the television wall can go further: shelving to the ceiling around the screen, closed cupboards below with openings so the boxes breathe and the remote reaches them, and the cables in the wall. Long shelves stay straight under books because, pound for pound, plywood is stronger than steel in static bending. If you rent, fixed joinery needs the landlord's permission in writing, and a credenza with a few shelves above is usually the better answer. Our fitted joinery guide is written around villas, but the fixing and tenancy advice applies to a flat too.
3. A sideboard that is also the linen cupboard and the bar
An apartment has no store room, so the dining wall does the work of one. The Jeffrey plywood sideboard is open, with end-grain slats and an arcaded front, in Regular and Lungo lengths; what goes on it is on show, so give it books, glasses and a basket or two. If you want doors, the Boho Soul comes in two-, three- and four-door lengths, and in a flat the two- or three-door is the usual choice. Our sideboard and credenza sizing guide covers the measuring.
4. One pendant over the dining table
Apartment ceilings tend to give the dining area a single light point and a grid of downlights everywhere else. One large pendant over the table makes that corner a room. The Celeste plywood pendant lamp is big in size and light in frame, and comes with an adjustable chain and ceiling fixture, which matters under a bulkhead where the drop needs setting by eye; the bulb is not included. In Natural it is the warm note in an otherwise cool room.
5. A low coffee table that moves out of the way
The Luna plywood coffee table comes Tall and Low and is designed to be paired: the two together in front of the sofa, split when people come round, one pulled beside a chair. Put felt pads under both, because tile scratches and furniture skates on it.
6. A mirror opposite the glass, plants beside it
A tower living room gets its light from one side; a mirror on the wall facing the window sends it back. The Sarab mirror, a limited edition in oak plywood made with the Dubai interior design studio Dress My Room, has a frame with enough weight to hold a wall alone. Beside the glass, the Plant Stands Petite, a set of two at different heights, lift pots off the tile so water does not sit on the porcelain and the plants get up into the light. Keep them out of the AC's direct draught.
7. A tall cabinet for the dining corner
When floor space is short, storage that goes up is the efficient kind. The Zoe plywood side cabinet is a tall cupboard with end-grain slats that show a little of what is inside; it works off a dining area as storage or as a bar. In Snow, a soft white that goes quiet in a room, it keeps a tall piece from looming, which is how we set it in the artisan minimal room against limewash and stone. Fix any tall cabinet to the wall.
8. A bedside table that is the bedroom's cupboard
In a compact bedroom the bedside is often the only closed storage beyond the wardrobe. The Penelope plywood bedside table has a soft-close door and an internal shelf, so the chargers, the books and the hand cream go behind a door and the top stays clear for a lamp.
9. A desk in the alcove, or in the second bedroom
The small second bedroom in a Dubai flat usually ends up as a study, a guest room or both. The Jeffrey plywood desk has soft-close drawers and cable management, in Regular for one person and Lungo for two. Where the only space is an alcove, a desk made to it, wall to wall with a shelf above, uses space nothing standard fits. Sit side-on to the window to keep glare off the screen; our home office desk guide goes into light and cables.
10. A window seat along the glass
Some apartments have a low ledge or a shallow bay in front of the window. A seat built along it, with drawers underneath and a cushion on top, is a reading spot, extra seating and storage in one. Drawers are easier to live with than a lift-up lid, because you do not have to clear the cushion to reach them. It takes direct sun all afternoon, and all wood, birch included, warms in tone in the sun, so it will change a little faster than the rest of the room. If you rent, it can be made as a freestanding bench to the exact length of the wall and taken with you.
11. The small second bedroom as a child's room
A low bed is the safest bed on a tiled floor. The Sofi Montessori floor bed takes a standard 90 × 200 cm single mattress. The Sofi Wardrobe is built low so a child can reach the rail and dress themselves, and the Sofi Teddy Hangers go on its rail. The Mini Car Wall Garage takes the car collection up the wall and off the floor, and can carry a name. We set this kind of room twice on the Looks page, once in ivory and linen and once in clay and rattan. For what changes as the child grows, see our age-by-age Montessori guide.
12. A collection piece, resized for the awkward wall
Every apartment has one: the alcove a few fingers too narrow for a standard sideboard, the pillar in the corner. A collection piece can often be shortened, made shallower or given a different door, and because it is drawn and cut to your wall it is priced as custom work. Custom projects start at AED 5,000. Send a photograph and a measurement through the brief on our custom work page; tell us what the room needs and we'll say honestly whether it's one for us. Nothing is cut until you have seen and agreed the drawings.
The twelve ideas at a glance
| Idea | Piece | Collection or custom | Good for renters? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. TV wall | Sammy Credenza | Collection | Yes |
| 2. Media wall | Fitted shelving and cupboards | Custom | Only with written permission |
| 3. Dining wall storage | Jeffrey or Boho Soul sideboard | Collection | Yes |
| 4. Dining light | Celeste Pendant Lamp | Collection | Yes, on the existing light point |
| 5. Living room table | Luna Coffee Table, Tall and Low | Collection | Yes |
| 6. Light and plants | Sarab Mirror, Plant Stands Petite | Collection | Yes |
| 7. Tall storage | Zoe Side Cabinet | Collection | Yes; ask where it may be fixed |
| 8. Bedside storage | Penelope Bedside Table | Collection | Yes |
| 9. Study | Jeffrey Desk, or a desk made to the alcove | Either | Yes, if the alcove desk is freestanding |
| 10. Window seat | Bench with drawers | Custom | Yes, made freestanding |
| 11. Child's room | Sofi Floor Bed, Sofi Wardrobe, Mini Car Wall Garage | Collection | Yes |
| 12. Awkward wall | A resized collection piece | Custom | Yes |
For the finishes, a small flat usually wants one base finish throughout, Natural or Snow, with Smoke or Sand for one piece per room. Our guide to birch plywood in five interior styles shows how each finish behaves in a different palette.
From the workshop
We seal the underside of every piece as carefully as the top, even though nobody will ever see it. In an apartment it is the face that sits closest to a mopped tile floor, and the one that meets the humid air first when the AC goes off for the summer. The same goes for the back that faces the glass. Before a long piece leaves the workshop we ask for the building name, because many towers want the service lift booked for a delivery and some corridors turn tighter than the lift.
Frequently asked questions
What furniture suits a small Dubai apartment?
Pieces that do two jobs and fit the lift: a credenza that is also the TV unit, a sideboard that is also the linen cupboard, a bedside with a door, a pair of tables that can be split. Low pieces keep a small room open.
Can I have fitted furniture in a rented apartment in Dubai?
Only with the landlord's written permission, and check the reinstatement clause in your tenancy contract. A freestanding piece made to the exact length of the wall gives most of the fitted look and moves with you.
How long does made-to-order furniture take?
Collection pieces usually take 10–14 working days. Custom work takes longer, and we confirm a date before you commit.
Which plywood finish makes a small apartment feel bigger?
Snow, a soft white with the grain still showing, or Natural, the ply sealed and left alone. Keep Smoke and Sand for one piece per room.
Can I see the furniture before I order?
Workshop visits are by appointment only; there is no showroom. Message us on WhatsApp and we can arrange a time or answer questions about a piece and its finish.
Talk to the workshop
Send a photograph of the room and the wall you are unsure about on WhatsApp or through the contact page, and Viara or Adam will come back to you. Delivery and care questions are answered in our FAQs. For new pieces and workshop news first, the newsletter sign-up is in the footer.
