Get It Right With Undercover Architect

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

Want a room by room guide to creating your healthy home? If you want to design your home so it supports your health and well-being, start by understanding key tips and strategies for each room. Hello, and welcome to Episode 9 of Season 10. I bring Kate Hamblet back this week, and we go into more detail about creating a healthy home, looking at your home and project room-by-room. If you haven’t heard last week’s episode, I introduced Kate there, so make sure you check that episode out as well.  Kate is an architect with her own business, Balanced Architecture, and she’s a specialist in how our homes can be designed to support our health and wellbeing, so, let’s dive in. SHOW NOTES: In this podcast episode, we welcome Kate Hamblet back. Kate was on last week’s episode, discussing how to create a home that supports your health and well-being.  This week, she takes us through some key spaces and rooms in your home, and how to design them so they improve your lifestyle, and

How can you create a sustainable home that supports your health and well-being? Hello, and welcome to Episode 8 of Season 10. In this episode, I have two American design professionals. Both passionate about sustainability and creating a home that supports your health and well-being … and the planet as well … they have a wealth of knowledge and advice to share with you, wherever you’re building or renovating. Kate Hamblet of Balanced Architecture and Kyle Macht of Macht Architecture are awesome in this interview, generously giving loads of tips and strategies to help you create a sustainable, healthy home.  I can’t wait to introduce them to you, so, let’s dive in. SHOW NOTES: Now first up, we have Kate Hamblet on the podcast. Kate is owner and architect at Balanced Architecture, and she’s a licensed architect and sustainability expert. Balanced Architecture is a residential design studio that puts wellness and sustainability at the heart of every project. As a wellnes

How can you use Interior Design to create spaces that look and feel great in your home? Interior Designer, Tara Dennis, has some seriously great ideas to help you create spaces that look and feel great, and make your home truly work for you. In this episode, I speak with Tara Dennis, USA Director of Archie Bolden. Long-time readers of the Undercover Architect blog will recognise Tara from her involvement in the Anderson Project, which features as a project diary on the Undercover Architect website, as we followed a family building their new home. Tara and I have worked together at different times in different businesses, and I’ve always loved working with her. She brings great fun and energy to projects, as well as her brilliant skill and talent.  Tara is now USA based, and her business, which was formally known as TD Creative Agency, has recently gone through a rebrand into the fantastic brand, Archie Bolden. With offices in both Australia and the USA, Tara has boatloads to share with us about how

How do you get the money you need for your renovation or new build project? And what’s involved in understanding town planning rules so you know what you’re allowed to do? Welcome to Episode 6 of Season 10. In this episode, I have two Australian industry professionals generously sharing some incredible insight into their areas of expertise: Mortgages and Finance, and Town Planning and Approvals. My first guest on this episode, is Caroline Jean-Baptiste, from Mortgage Choice Fortitude Valley (Brisbane), QLD. And my second guest is Peta Charles, from Brisbane Town Planning, QLD.  SHOW NOTES: My first guest is Caroline Jean-Baptiste, and she’s on a mission to get people talking about money. Caroline is a specialist in finance with more than 12 years working as a Mortgage Broker in her own business. Her passion is working with her clients to achieve the life they want through home ownership and wealth creation.  She is dedicated to helping first home buyers get into their home and

What steps are involved in finding a contractor or builder you can trust? As a homeowner, for you to know the steps to finding a contractor or builder you can trust, it can be game-changing for your new build or renovation. And that’s why I’m so excited to be bringing my guest to you: Shawn Van Dyke. Shawn Van Dyke is a Construction Business Coach, Author and Speaker. Based in the USA, he works internationally with clients to help them run better construction businesses.  Shawn has brilliant advice to share on: how to select your contractor or builder the types of conversations to have with them before you hire them the ways to know you can trust them before you sign that contract and how to work with them in a really productive way.  SHOW NOTES: So, let me tell you a bit more about Shawn. Shawn Van Dyke is a construction business coach and the author of two books: Profit First for Contractors and The Paperwork Punch List - 28 Days to Streamline Your Construction Business.  

Is it possible to design a sustainable AND affordable home? Well, most homeowners I speak to say ‘No!’ … it’s always more expensive to build sustainably! Jenny Edwards and Sarah Lebner from Light House Architecture + Science disagree. They believe you can have a sustainable home that is affordable to build as well. And one that uses traditional building methods, done smartly and efficiently. And they have 77 completed projects that prove it’s possible. SHOW NOTES: Light House Architecture and Science is a unique architectural practice based in Canberra, and they are founded on a philosophy of simplifying the sustainable design process to create comfortable, clever, energy efficient homes. Homes that are light-filled and light-footed. Light House Architecture and Science design space-efficient and energy-efficient homes to suit Canberra’s climate. Through excellent design and scientific testing, they create homes that feel spacious and comfortable, and function beautifully,

What do you need to know about renovating and building your family home? And how can Feng Shui be used in the design of your home? Hello, and welcome to Episode 3 of Season 10. In this episode, I have two American designers to introduce you to. Both are doing fantastic work in their own businesses, and have lots of helpful knowledge to share with you.  This is super exciting, because with both of my guests today, I had such a great time learning from them as I interviewed them - and so I know you’re going to benefit hugely from their expertise as well. My first guest on this episode, is Marina V Umali, an Interior Designer and Certified Feng Shui Practitioner based in New York State. And my second guest is Jake Krokowski of JWK Design, and he is based in South Carolina, and specialises in new homes, renovations and landscape design.  SHOW NOTES: So, let me first introduce you to Marina. Marina V Umali is a NY State Certified Interior Designer and Certified Feng Shui Practitioner, and owner of

How do you choose the right architect to work with? And how can you work well with them to keep your project on budget, and create a beautiful, long-term, family home? Welcome to Episode 2 of Season 10. In this episode, I have two Australian architects who are bringing their industry insider insights to you … and from both sides of the country, with very different careers. My first guest on this episode, is Christopher Megowan, of Megowan Architectural, a Melbourne-based firm. And my second guest is Suzie Hunt, of Suzanne Hunt Architect, a business based in Perth and working all through Western Australia. SHOW NOTES: Now, I’ve got a slightly longer episode for you this week, as I wanted to bring these interviews together, because I believe both these architects share a huge wealth of knowledge and experience, and what you’ll learn will really benefit you in your renovation or new build project. These guests are Christopher Megowan, of Megowan Architectural, a Melbourne-based firm, and Suzie

How do you find a great quality architect? One you have a good fit with, delivers beautiful work, and will take care of you as a client? Meet Anthony Laney from Laney LA. Anthony is an architect and designer, a husband and a dad, and one of the owners of Laney LA. In this interview, Anthony shares some fantastic industry insider insights into how Laney LA have built their practice, continue to create stunning homes, and how they seek to delight every client they work with. SHOW NOTES:  Together with his wife, Krista, Anthony founded LANEY LA in 2014. Located in Los Angeles, their team focusses on fast-paced, high impact design solutions for home and businessowners. Laney LA has a unique way of sharing their business and projects that shows a strong and powerful company culture, a true commitment to communicating their values and mission, the fun and enjoyment in their team, their clients and the homes they’re creating, and even though you’re following along, it’s shared in a way that ma