Hi. Welcome. I’m guessing you’re here because you’re renovating. Creating a new home for you and your family. And for over 25 years that’s exactly what I’ve helped people to do. Normal families that want homes for real lives. Not homes that are designed to win awards or end up in magazines (even though some have), but homes that your kids’ friends love to hang out in, where people remark how the house feels so ‘you’ and homes that get woven into the memories of your family history. A home that actually works for your family life. Togetherness. Separation. Places for the mess. And for your most loved treasures. Light, flow, space. And a home that doesn’t just look great. But feels great too. Even on the days that the cleaner hasn’t been and you haven’t had time to put everything away. And all created mindful of everything you will put into this renovation. The money. The time. And the emotional energy. It all matters. My Grandad used to say ‘if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well’. Never has that been more true than in creating your new family home.
It’s fair to say I’ve seen a lot when it comes to renovating. The good. The bad. The ugly. I’ve lost count of the families who’ve come to me to renovate their homes all over again. Trying to put right what they didn’t get right the first time. If only they had listened to my Grandad. But work is busy, the kids get sick, your parents are visiting and the family holiday comes at just the wrong time, you happen to be pregnant and you’ve not done this before. So it's understandable how a renovation can end up falling short of the home you dreamed of.
Of course, I've spent years helping clients design their homes. Sometimes putting right what didn't work the first time. Sometimes creating something entirely new. They trust me to take care of the design and hand them a home that works beautifully for their family.
But for as long as I've been doing this, I've been thinking about everyone else. The families who would love professional design help, but can't justify the cost of having a designer take care of everything. They have kitchens to buy. Sofas. And perhaps a holiday to recover from it all. And there's one question I've asked myself over and over. How can I help more families get their renovation right? The first time around. No mistakes. No regrets. No missed opportunities. All without doing it for them.
The Pareto Principle states that in many situations 80% of the value comes from just 20% of the effort. I have found this principle holds true in renovation too. If you get the critical 20% right, then everything else falls into place much more effortlessly. Likelihood of success skyrockets. And yet, the things that matter most in renovation (the 20%) are often the very things that get overlooked. Things a professional designer would never dream of skipping. So there was my answer. I would help people with what matters the most. The very things that might otherwise have been overlooked.
There are two moments when I jump into your project and make a disproportionate difference. The first ensures the house works for you. The spaces. The flow. Storage. Connections. Light. Layout. Walls. Doors. Windows. Making sure your new home really works for the way you live. The important decisions made before the build begins. The second is about making your new home feel like you. The colours. The materials. The textures. Helping ensure the hundreds of decisions you’ll face all ladder to that final home you want. A home that pulls together. A home that is yours.
Curious? Excited? Explore more here.
The Lived-In Layer / A Home That Works
The North Star / A Home That Feels Like You - Coming Soon