kitchen staged high end accessories

Home Staging

When you’re buying and selling houses, it’s important to understand who your buyer is likely to be and what they will be looking for in a property.

When it comes to staging, it’s the same. The styling needs to be targeted towards the prospective buyer. My experience in both Interior Design and Renovation provides a unique perspective and knowledge on how to prepare for sale. I work closely with agents and owners to help them achieve the best possible financial results.

Great staging can make a house more welcoming and help buyers understand how their furniture or accessories will work in the space. It can also highlight the potential of a room that might not have been explored before. Sometimes, I use some of the owner’s possessions and sometimes it’s a clean slate – either way I’m happy to work in with everyone.

I moved back to Wellington after many years overseas and I’ve loved working on such a diverse number of projects. Getting home staging right is challenging, but I love the transformation I can achieve and more importantly the fact that I can help people sell their homes and allow them to take their lives in a different direction.

Interior Design

I am an Interior Designer (Richmond College and KLC School of Design, London) and have worked on many home interior spaces, from wet areas such as bathrooms and kitchens, to total house reconfiguring and transformation.

Interior Design is not just about creating beauty. Proportion of pieces and their placement plays a big part in an overall design and the best results are achieved by viewing a space, as a total entity. Many people buy furniture and accessories without necessarily assessing the sizes and overall look when doing so. Over time rooms can appear cluttered and disjointed as more pieces are added.

When it comes to Interior Design, I’m very mindful of peoples’ personal aesthetics along with the style of their homes before deciding on what will work from a layout, design and colour perspective. I will photograph and measure any space before providing conceptual designs and learn how the people that live in the space, use it now and may use it in the future. Often, I go shopping with my clients to understand their personal style and if necessary, find creative ways to stretch their budgets. Not everyone has the luxury of replacing their furniture, artwork or accessories, so it’s a matter of making everything work cohesively.

Lower Hutt Dining
Garden kitchen before
before
Garden Kitchen After
after

Renovation

Over the years, I’ve successfully renovated homes I've lived in and then sold, in both Australia and New Zealand and also homes I've bought to just sell on, once I’ve given them a new lease of life. More recently, I consult or manage small to big renovations/extensions for people that have either learnt from experience that renovating is never an easy process, or for people that just don’t have the time to make it all happen.

At the outset, a good set of plans is paramount along with a Scope of Works that outlines everything that each of the trades will undertake. Fittings and fixtures are specified and ultimately priced. Sometimes council consent is required which will ultimately entail inspections and final sign off, and I can take care of those aspects as part of a total project.

No job ever goes completely to plan but whether I’m renovating my own project or someone else’s, it’s important to be pro-active in terms of getting things back on track, problem solving and keeping a tight control on the timeline and budget. I’m lucky to have a team of tradespeople that have been working with me for many years and that helps with the continuity and communication of a project.