Europe’s built environment must shift from new construction to transformation, with circular renovation emerging as a key strategy to reduce embodied carbon and resource consumption. Yet, what constitutes circular renovation remains an ambiguous and evolving concept. This paper investigates how circularity is interpreted and implemented in practice, revealing inconsistencies and conceptual uncertainty through a comparative analysis of Dutch residential circular renovation projects. Focusing on common Dutch post-war housing typologies, such as walk-up apartment blocks and row houses, the study categorises cases into comprehensive renovations, partial upgrades, and strategic densification, offering insights into how circular principles are applied across different scales and building layers. This paper analyses common renovation measures, such as façade upgrades, window replacements, rooftop extensions, insulation improvements, and the integration of new services, and explores how these interventions affect the building’s layers and contribute to circularity. It presents a structured overview of circular renovation approaches, examining how circular strategies such as material reuse, modularity, and adaptability are interpreted and applied across projects. The findings highlight both the potential and the limitations, as well as the ambiguities, of current practices. By mapping renovation strategies and revealing the tensions within circular design interpretations, the paper contributes to a more nuanced understanding of circular renovation. While rooted in the Dutch context, the insights are transferable to regions facing similar challenges related to ageing housing stock, climate adaptation, and resource scarcity. Ultimately, the paper supports the development of design-led renovation scenarios that enable a just and resilient transition towards circularity.