You searched high and low for the best architect and the best builder, but there’s one other professional you need by your side. An interior designer. One thing I often hear is, we should have used an interior designer. Building can be stressful and having an interior designer helps to guide all your decisions from day one until you move in and beyond.
At Hello Saturday our mission is to support busy people like you throughout the building process to make the right decisions and create your dream home, enhancing your lifestyle and bringing personality and functionality to your home.
Living in your home first
or renovating first?
There are two schools of thought when it comes to renovating a house you’ve just bought. The first is you need to live in your home for a while to really appreciate its good and bad points. You can see where the light falls and where it’s cold and dark. You might initially think the layout is ok as is, but discover over time that the flow just isn’t right. Noise may be a factor you didn’t plan for – noisy neighbours or a busy road nearby – these are things you’ll want to take in to account when planning your renovation.
The second is: do the work before you move in. Any good architect will be able to tell you where the sun is positioned with your house and what will happen to the light as the day progresses. Doing the renovation before you move in means you may choose to stay where you are for the time being – often people are able to rent back their old house from the new owners while the work on the new home is being completed. It’s definitely worth asking and could mean not moving more times than you need to.
Budget to move out during the renovation…
Living at home during the renovation, especially with kids, can be really difficult. Unless you are building a minor dwelling or have a separate garage you can debunk to, it’s almost impossible to stay in the home for the full duration of the build. Builders need to turn off the water and power regularly, which makes it really tricky to keep the home operational, as well as progress the build at the pace you want it done (which is as fast as possible!), so moving out makes a lot of sense.
It’s not just having the builders and on site every day that can make it hard to stay at home, the dust created by the building works can seriously drive you around the bend – it gets everywhere and really it’s hard to live with. So I recommend including money in your renovation budget for moving out.
And, about those budgets…
Hot tip: when you do your budget make sure there’s an allowance for your window treatments, which can often be quoted for using the architects plans. People also often underestimate the cost of furniture, so make sure you allocate enough budget for furnishing the extra living spaces you create or bedrooms you’ve added on.
When there are many options, it’s hard to decide what to do now and what to do later. But generally, what you choose to ‘do now’ gets done and what is planned to be ‘done later’ doesn’t. So stretch your budget to include as much now as you can. Also, while you have all the trades onsite its much faster and more economical to do as much as possible then, rather than having them come back over time to finish things or to do extra jobs.
I believe you should renovate your home to live in it, not to sell. I recommend doing it now and enjoying it yourself.
USING AN INTERIOR DESIGNER
At Hello Saturday we believe that you should live in a home that you love. Your space should not only look amazing, but it should be a reflection of your personality and style, and it should function perfectly to suit your lifestyle. It might sound difficult, and that’s because incredible interior design does not come to fruition easily or by chance. Great spaces are carefully curated, explored and designed by professionals. You may build or renovate one or two homes in your life time, but we do this every day, we know where things go wrong and can often step in before this happens.
An interior designer will save you time and money.
YOU’LL SAVE MONEY
Have you ever bought a piece of furniture that looked amazing in the store, but once you took it home it didn’t work for the space? Having an interior designer by your side to do the hard work for you means you avoid costly mistakes with design decisions. If you are planning for a new build, an interior designer can play a vital role in making sure you get the right plan in place from the start, without having to go back and forth on the plans, which can be costly.
Having an expert that can speak the language of architects, builders and contractors, and who understands the building and renovation process, is a great asset to your project. We consider all the details, from the placement of power points to feature lighting. These things must be considered in the planning stage so that they are done right the first time, saving you money in the long run.
YOU’LL SAVE TIME
Have you spent hours in the paint shop trying to decide on the perfect white or scrolling through the internet looking for the best wallpaper design? Consider hiring an interior designer who knows exactly where to find the perfect products for your project, from kitchens to bathrooms and everything in between. We have the industry knowledge so you don’t need to spend your own time researching and visiting showrooms. We spend a great deal of time as part of our job finding out about the latest products, visiting industry events about everything from benchtops to bathroom products to fridges. And, we can get quotes and answer your questions quickly through our network of suppliers.
Love or loath shopping, it’s really in your best interest to have a designer helping you.
CUSTOM PIECES DESIGNED FOR YOUR LIFESTYLE
Hello Saturday considers the role that your home plays in your life as a whole, we make sure each room is considered in relation to the whole house and the part it plays in your lifestyle. Every, single, detail is considered. We love to create bespoke pieces for your home. Choosing fabric for furniture that suits your lifestyle, whether its luxury for empty nesters or for a busy family with pets, we know exactly what will stand up and look the best over time. We have access to trade-only showrooms and suppliers to make sure your home is unique and has that “wow” factor. An interior designer can help your home to look beautiful, feel cohesive, and be well thought out, highly functional and custom designed to your unique lifestyle.
1 Mokum Pure upholstery fabric in duck-egg blue. 2 Zoffany Wool Satin drapery fabric in taupe. 3 Warwick Ovis upholstery fabric in ecru. 4 Textilia at Home Haast linen drapery fabric in fiord. 5 Ceppo Di Marrone porcelain tile from Independent Ceramics. 6 Casamance ‘Carioca’ wallpaper in 7425 12 22. 7 Textilia at Home Mirage polyester velvet fabric in fig. 8 Forté Moda Altro flooring in Isola. 9 Nodi mini-loop pure wool rug in natural/oatmeal. 10 Woodwrights specialty timber furniture finish in whitewash ash. 11 Boråstapeter ‘Treasured’ wallpaper in hidden ivy. 12 Verde small green finger tile from The Tile People. 13 Ragno Realstone Slate porcelain stoneware tile in ice from The Tile People. 14 Artisan Southern Crossings Sherpa wool carpet