Get It Right With Undercover Architect

Join the free 5 Day Home Design Challenge (it’s running from 29 Jan - 2 Feb 2020) >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/challenge And check out Home Design Masterclass for more help and support in your floor plan design >>> www.howtodesignahome.com It can be common for homeowners to get really caught up in worrying about the finishes, the builder, the quality of construction. But one thing I know for sure is this: you can have a home with all the high-end finishes, built by the most amazing builder to the highest quality, and still have a terrible design that makes the home horrible to live in on a day-to-day basis. I firmly believe that those lines on a page, the drawings that you’re creating either by yourself, or in working with someone, will dictate how you get to live, feel and function both in and beyond your home for years and years to come. And I think it can be the most frustrating and slow part of the renovating or building process for homeowners, for a few reasons. Sooo

Hello! In the last of our special Q & A episodes, Brett has a brilliant question about working out costs early in his project, and Patricia wants some info on skylights. So, let’s dive in. Want to get it right in your home design? Watch my free online workshop, where I share 5 key ways (plus lots of other tips and strategies) >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/5ways/ THIS EPISODE’S QUESTIONS ... Brett has this question: “Good day Amelia, my name's Brett. I'm from Perth in Western Australia. We've got a young family, two little kids, and we're in the process of planning and designing our future forever home.  Being a mechanical engineer, I'm big with planning, designing and quantifying decisions. While the technical stuff I'm comfortable with, what I'm having trouble with is the costing side.  There's a lot of information out there on general square meterage cost of a typical home for this and that what I'm wondering what resources and how would one go about getting a

Want to get it right in your home design? Watch my free online workshop, where I share 5 key ways (plus lots of other tips and strategies) >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/5ways/ THIS EPISODE’S QUESTION ... Laura’s question: “Hi, Amelia. My name is Laura. I live in Perth in Western Australia. Firstly, I just want to say thanks so much for your podcast. I've gotten a heap of great information and ideas from it. I guess we've got a bit of a situation where we would really love your advice or just thoughts on best ways to move forward. We bought our house six years ago in Perth, right before the market crashed. We bought in a high point, it's since crashed, hence we have no equity in our home. We also bought our home sight unseen, which sounds crazy, but it was actually built by my husband's Pop (grandfather) in 1949. We always used to drive past the outside and we kind of thought how bad can it be inside. Well, let's just say it needs a lot of love, attention, and money spent on it

Want to get it right in your home design? Watch my free online workshop, where I share 5 key ways (plus lots of other tips and strategies) >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/5ways/ THIS EPISODE’S QUESTIONS ... Teri has this question: “Hi, my name is Teri Mason. I'm in Oklahoma in the United States, and we are building a family and event centre, and we're wanting to do it in biophilic design. We've done a tremendous amount of research. It's been quite a process, but with it being a little more unknown, obviously, the resources are a little more scarce, and I would love to hear your input as far as what would you do to bring in more natural elements? Looking for shapes or inspiration areas or resources or just anything you could just speak to that, just make it a great place, I would truly appreciate it.” And Felicity is curious about her windows: “Hi, I'm Felicity from Victoria, doing a renovation. Just wondering whether or not cathedral or highlight windows up high facing nor

Want to get it right in your home design? Watch my free online workshop, where I share 5 key ways (plus lots of other tips and strategies) >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/5ways/ THIS EPISODE’S QUESTIONS ... Meredith’s question: “Hi, Amelia. My name is Meredith. I'm really enjoying your podcast. Thank you so much for sharing all of your knowledge.  We're currently living in Queensland. We plan on building a retirement/holiday home on acreage in Victoria in the next couple of years.  We've been looking at the option of building a modular home and wondering if you will be covering this subject (modular and prefab homes), in any future podcasts.  Also, at any particular things I need to look out for when designing and planning a modular home. Thank you.” And Gabrielle had this question: “Hi Amelia. My name is Gabrielle. I live on the South coast of Victoria. We've recently bought a block, a beautiful block. It is South-looking, it overlooks a river. It's g

Want to get it right in your home design? Watch my free online workshop, where I share 5 key ways (plus lots of other tips and strategies) >>> https://undercoverarchitect.com/5ways/ THIS EPISODE’S QUESTIONS ... Elizabeth got in touch: “Hi Amelia. My name's Elizabeth. I'm in Castle Hill in New South Wales. First up, thank you for producing such a fabulous podcast, and providing so much fantastic, informative, entertaining and helpful information. It's made a huge difference to how I'm approaching the design of our new home. And that new home we're planning to build in 2020, just as soon as we settle the sale of our current home, and find the right block of land. I will be living in that home with my husband and our three boys who will be 16, 14 and 11 by that stage, and our two very boisterous Standard Labradoodles, and six budgies live in a large cage in our house. I'm very passionate about this home, embracing all things sustainability, and I'm quite intrigued by some of the alternative

What do you need to know about shopping online for tiles? We talk with Floss Kelly, co-founder, about TileCloud. If you’re selecting and ordering tiles, there are key things to know so you don’t run into issues on site. Shopping online can be a great alternative. Florence (or Floss as she first introduced herself to me!) is the Brand Director and Co-Founder of online store TileCloud, and she is one of three faces, of the tile store that Australian's love. And Floss is definitely the design savvy of TileCloud. She has a Bachelor in Design from the College of Fine Arts in Sydney, majoring in Ceramics. Using her design and ceramics background and impressive history in global retail - she and the TileCloud team have changed the Home Renovations and Interior Industry. If you haven’t come across TileCloud yet, you’re going to love (love!) it. TileCloud is an online tile supply business. With a beautiful website, an incredibly gorgeous, curated collection of tiles to choose from, and the abil

In this episode, I speak with Karen Haller. Karen Haller is the leading international authority in the field of Applied Colour Psychology - how colour affects and influences our behaviour. With over twenty years of experience, she teaches, consults for businesses, interiors, healthcare and wellbeing; and has worked with prestigious global brands such as Marks and Spencer, Dove and AkzoNobel Dulux. She has also been interviewed for Cosmopolitan, Stylist and The Times, contributed to the Huffington Post, and appeared on London Live and Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch. I was personally researching colour psychology, and came across Karen’s newly published book, “The Little Book of Colour”. It has the subtitle: How to use the psychology of colour to transform your life … which is a big promise, but the book totally delivers.  I’m so excited to be speaking with Karen in this episode of the podcast, and sharing her wisdom with you. I know it’s helped me look at colour very

In this episode, Frances Cosway of White Pebble Interiors and I go into more detail about some of the other materials and fixtures you’ll need to choose for your kitchen.  You’ll learn how to assess these choices not only for their aesthetic appeal, but more importantly, for how they’ll handle the punishment they’re about to endure in your family kitchen! Frances and I talk about: Benchtops Choosing for durability Tapware Your kitchen sink And how to choose your appliances well I hope you enjoy listening to this episode!  INTERIOR DESIGN 101 Would you like to simplify your choices, and have total clarity and confidence that your interior design will help create your beautiful, functional, feel-good home? Interior Design 101 is a self-study, DIY program. It contains the full version of all interviews from the podcast, plus extra content specifically created for Interior Design 101.  In this full interview featured inside Interior Design 101, Frances and I also talk in m

Your Kitchen Interior Design can create a kitchen that works, is durable and looks great. But are you ready for ALL the decisions and considerations you need to make? Kitchens are a big source of cost and angst in a home. They can be the hero of a family home and often the starting point for Interior Design direction for many homeowners.  They’re often a really sizeable investment, and they can be the whole reason many homeowners renovate or build in the first place. Anyone living with a dysfunctional kitchen knows how frustrating and inconvenient it can be in everyday family life.  However, kitchens that work, and look good, involve SO much many decisions and considerations. And I really encourage you to be thinking about all of these nitty gritty details as you’re designing the kitchen itself, so you know your dreams and budget are tracking in alignment with each other. We’re talking about your Kitchen Interior Design, and specifically kitchen cupboards, kickplates, doors and dra

Want to know how to choose carpet for your family home and make the right choice? There’s lots to know when it comes to carpet. How do you choose from all the different types, and understand all the terminology? If you are wanting carpet as a flooring type, then it’s essential you know specific things about the different types, the terminology associated with pile and density, and the various other key things to know about this flooring type.  We’re going to share some of the key tricks to know when choosing carpet.  During our conversation, we dive into … + the different types of carpet available + what terminology you need to understand to make confident choices + understanding density so you can choose durable carpet + mistakes people make that mean disappointment or extra cost I hope you enjoy this episode. Listen now. INTERIOR DESIGN 101 Would you like to simplify your choices, and have total clarity and confidence that your interior design will help create your beautif

Let me introduce my special guest for this podcast episode, Jess Ausburn. Jess is Owner of Diagrind NSW, as well as green cleaning supplies business, OCS Online Cleaning Supplies. Diagrind as a company has over 20 years’ experience in the diamond and concrete flooring industry. They won the award for Concrete Surfaces Residential New Build Best Floor in 2017. They specialise in providing finishes for commercial flooring, retail flooring, architectural designed polished concrete flooring, terrazzo flooring and floor preparation.  During our conversation, we dive into … + what are the 2 main types when it comes to polished concrete floors  + the essential things your concreter needs to know before pouring your slab so your polished floors turn out well + the different kinds of finishes you can achieve when polishing your floors + comparing quotes and being sure you’re getting the finish you want + how to know if your existing slab can be polished + a brilliant alternative to polishe

Choosing tiles for your family home’s floors can be a fantastic, durable and sustainable choice. There are so many options now, with colours and patterns to suit any home. Yet, many homeowners are put off by tiles, and keep them purely to their bathrooms and laundry.  Thinking them too hard, or too cold, I see homeowners avoid them for their main flooring. However, they’re a brilliant and affordable flooring choice when you understand the terminology, know how to choose well, and can make a great selection for your home. During our conversation, we dive into … + the different tile materials and terminology + what to know about the various tile types + tile batching + tips to get a great result with tiled floors I hope you enjoy this episode. Listen now. INTERIOR DESIGN 101 Would you like to simplify your choices, and have total clarity and confidence that your interior design will help create your beautiful, functional, feel-good home? Interior Design 101 is a self-study, DIY program.

In this episode, Frances Cosway and I share our thoughts on timber flooring. We talk about solid timber and engineered timber flooring, why we’d love to see laminate flooring never be used again, and what you need to know before choosing vinyl flooring. SHOW NOTES: Timber flooring can be a great and sustainable choice for your family home. However, many are making terrible, low-cost choices that will be terrible to live with long-term. In this episode, we talk about timber flooring: what choices you have available and what you need to know to make a great, durable and sustainable choice for your own home. During our conversation, we dive into … + what choices are available for you in timber flooring + what should you speak to suppliers about so you understand installation requirements + how to choose colour for your flooring so it suits what’s already in your home + why laminate flooring is a terrible choice + what you need to know about vinyl flooring before you choose it I hope you enjoy

Choosing your flooring is the first decision to make in your interior design selections. And we know, from experience, that many homeowners DON’T start here.  Frances is an interior designer, principal of White Pebble Interiors, and author of “Your Forever Home”. In this episode, Frances and I talk about what she believes is the first decision you need to make in your Interior Design selections. During our conversation, we dive into … + why flooring is the first place you start + mistakes that many homeowners make, and  + the criteria you can use to choose the right floor for you, your family, and your project. In Season 7 of the podcast, builder, Duayne Pearce and I spoke about the importance of knowing flooring choices early in your project. They’re important because they'll determine how your concrete slab needs to be set out and poured, and the overall levels you have to think about early if you wish to have flush sills etc.  So, knowing Frances also considers

Having worked in this industry for 25 years now, I’ve seen all sorts of things get said and thought about Interior Designers and Interior Design. Interestingly, when I first started my career, it wasn’t that common to work with an Interior Designer.  Working in a small architecture practice in my early 20s, I found we did the Interior Design on all our projects. I learnt that, as an architect, I had to think about, understand and design ALL the components of any project … from the big, chunky, 50m decisions, through to the small, detailed, and intricate 5mm ones too.  And it was really interesting to see my early experience was all about the importance of these 50m and 5mm decisions having a relationship to each other in order for a building (whether a large public project or an individual home) to hang together as a holistic experience and project. As I chatted to Frances about assumptions and myths, we could see how easy it is for a homeowner to get caught out. So listen in to l

Frances is an interior designer, principal of White Pebble Interiors, and author of “Your Forever Home”, and she has some great insight to share so you can determine if an Interior Designer would be useful to have on your project, and how and when you can get them involved. Many homeowners are confused about if they need an Interior Designer, or when to bring one on board. I know some architects see them as superfluous, and other architects and designers see them as helpful in purely dealing with and documenting all the tile and colour selections!  I've had homeowners tell me they wish they'd brought one on board to narrow down their decision-making, so they didn't get so overwhelmed. It wasn’t until they started researching all the finishes they needed to decide on that they realised just how many options were available.  Added to this is the fact that the industry of Interior Design is an unregulated one. Unlike architecture, where it’s very clear what someone has to do or

Hello and welcome to a brand new podcast season! In this episode, I’m going to be giving you an outline of the season to come, plus tell you more about my co-host, and an exciting new online program that’s been created to celebrate this season too. Listen to this episode now. SHOW NOTES: I’m super excited about this upcoming season.  Firstly, because I know how massively helpful it’s going to be for you … not only if you’re planning a renovation or new home, but even if you’re doing smaller projects in your home. Secondly, I know that this season is going to uncover a lot of nitty gritty topics that I consistently see confuse or frustrate homeowners. Often because a lot of this information is sourced through the process of buying the things we’ll be talking about … and so you’re never sure if the information and advice you’re receiving is impartial or simply someone trying to sell you something. Thirdly, the decisions that you have to ma

Whether you’re renovating or building new, how can you create a home you love? On any budget? Whether you’re renovating or building new, after all that time, money and effort to plan, design and build your project, you want it to be somewhere you love living don’t you! That’s the whole point isn’t it?  Well, in this episode, I’ve got 7 tips when it comes to creating a renovated or new home you love. I’ll be sharing with you what these 7 tips are, and how you can apply them on any budget to create a fantastic home that feels great.  And I also want to share some news with you about my online program “How to Get it Right in Your New Home or Reno”. If you’ve been thinking about joining, and you’re listening to this podcast before the 1st of October, 2019, you’re going to want to hear this important info. SHOW NOTES: Now before we get on with those 7 tips, I’d like you to first think for a moment about what stresses you about

How do you get the best from your budget, your design, your project team and the home you’re creating? Welcome to Episode 10 of Season 10. This episode is a great lesson in what professionalism looks like in the renovation and building industry. Both guests are experienced and passionate about their projects and clients, and helping them get the best results for their projects. My first guest on this episode, is Riye Arai-Coupe, of Bluebird Property Partners in Brisbane. And my second guest is Sarah Heys, owner of The Built Element, a Maitland based, boutique building business. SHOW NOTES: So, firstly let me tell you about Riye. At Bluebird Property Partners, Riye is a Client-Side Project Manager. She helps busy property owners to coordinate their renovations and new builds from start to finish. Most of Bluebird’s clients come to them because they want to renovate but they don’t know the first place to start – or they have some knowledge but just don’t have time to execute the pr