Designing and building your own home is a joy and a privilege; a rare act of creation that leaves a mark on the world long after our time. But in the same breath, it is daunting and overwhelming, with seemingly endless thoughts and ideas fighting for your attention. Today I want to declutter your mind and ask you to focus on these two simple things...

Any renovation, big or small, can be a challenging and stressful experience. Nasty surprises and unforeseen difficulties are part-and-parcel, but a good partnership with a building designer who understands the difficulties of renovating old buildings can give the project structure and direction, and help you to avoid common pitfalls. But all renovation designers are not made equal, so here are my top tips for picking the right designer for your project.

Our 2020 home, Rivergums House, recently won Best New House $500,001-$750K (NSW) at the 2021 Design Matters National Awards. The win is a validation of our belief in the power of purposeful design to deliver practicality and functionality without sacrificing beauty and emotional impact. Here I outline a few of the major design considerations that guided this award-winning home.

Water is one of the most common causes of damage to heritage buildings. Allowing water to come in contact with a building can severely damage the building fabric, undermine the stability of the structure and create an unhealthy living environment.

Thinking of renovating, creating more space or redecorating your heritage home? To help you on your design journey and have the best chance of making your heritage design project a success, I have put together 10 Heritage Design Tips which you can download free.

Why do terms like ‘Hostess Kitchen’ and ‘Master Bedroom’ still appear in building plans and marketing of new homes? This is 2019 – what’s going on in our industry? And what on earth is a hostess kitchen anyway?

The Normans adore the history and character of their old home, and want to respect its legacy, but they need it to work with their lifestyles and reflect their tastes. A series of small changes mark a new chapter in the history of this heritage listed home.

Janine and Stephen Pain had a vision for a metro style café and homewares shop that would reflect Janine’s passion for food and retail, and the end result at The Nook on High has more than delivered on this brief.