Taking the argument used by De Giorgi to obtain the rectifiability of the reduced boundary of a set of finite perimeter in ℝN, we prove that a set E of finite perimeter in an open set Ω of ℝN may be approached, in the sense of the BV(Ω) norm, by sets whose boundary is included in a finite union of 1 hypersurfaces; more precisely, arbitrarily large parts (for the N−1 measure in Ω) of the essential boundaries of E and of the approximating set coincide and are included in a single 1 hypersurface.