Live Beautifully
Luxury Bathroom Renovation Canberra: Blending Heritage Charm with Modern Amenities
,PROJECT: LUXURY REID BATHROOM In our latest bathroom renovation, we discuss design constraints and how to blend heritage elements with modern amenities to create functional spaces that elevate the existing bones of a heritage home, whilst moving with the technology...
Revitalise Your Home in 2024: A Comprehensive Guide to Planning Your Renovation
As we step into a new year, the prospect of transforming our living spaces becomes an exciting and achievable goal. Whether you dream of an updated kitchen, a relaxed new living room, or an entire home makeover, planning is the key to success. In this blog...
Guest Room Ready: Easy Tips to Elevate Your Guest’s Stay
It may be too late to completely redecorate your guest room with curtains and furniture in time for Christmas but there are several must-do things you can do to make your guest rooms ready for Christmas visitors. Clear Out Clutter: Firstly If you have used your guest...
The Secret Garden Reveal!
We trust you’ve followed our recent landscaping project, from the initial sketches to the challenges and learnings, and now to the final result The process has been a testament to the power of landscaping in elevating the appeal and value of our property. Today...
Maximising Your Outdoor Space: The Benefits of Building a Functional Utility Area in Your Landscaping Project
If you're lucky enough to have a sizable outdoor space surrounding your home, you'll agree it is a marvellous asset. These days, it's essential to consider the practical aspects of your landscape design and think beyond creating an attractive outdoor space for...
The Landscaping Series: What I learned about collaborating with other designers…
I recently hired a landscape designer to help me install my dream backyard at my Canberra residence. In this blog, I share my creative process and note the insights I learned from being on the client side of this project. Initial Stages: Inspiration and vision...
Interior Design vs. Interior Decoration
The terms interior design and interior decoration are often used interchangeably. Although there can be some overlap and intersection between these roles, there are distinctive differences. Understanding these can help you choose the right professional for your...
The Before & After Issue
If you are reading this around the time it is published, Merry Christmas to you and I hope you’ll enjoy this blog whilst you are relaxing on holidays. We thought for fun Christmas reading, we would pull together a selection of before and after shots of our Interior...
Spring Decorating Ideas to Try This Year
As you come out of winter hibernation, you may be getting swept up in that spring feeling: flowers bloom, birds sing, and the outside air is just warm enough to crack those windows open. Finally.This time of year always feels like the world is coming back to life and,...
What’s Happening Behind the Scenes at Journey Home Interiors
Well now, it has been quite a while since my last blog post, hasn’t it? Believe me, it was not for lack of ideas (you know I always have something to say), but so much has been happening behind the scenes that I simply haven’t found the time. Now that I do have a...
How to Select Colours & Materials for Your Home
In one of my recent workshops with the Journey Home Decorating Club, we gathered together over trays of samples, working to create fresh yet classic combinations of fabrics, tile samples, paint swatches, and other materials. In other words, a design concept. It was a...
Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Design Your Home During the Pandemic
If you’re like me, you have probably read or experienced firsthand the challenges with renovating or designing your home during the pandemic. It’s true that our industry has seen some changes, from long wait times for furnishings, to booked builders and trades, to the...
The #1 Reason Homeowners Don’t Finish Decorating Their Forever Homes
I won’t sugarcoat it… today’s topic is slightly controversial. There are several pitfalls I see when it comes to renovating and decorating a home, and even if they’re not pretty, I do feel that it’s my responsibility to share them with you. You deserve to live...
3 Things Most People Don’t Know when Starting a Design or Decorating Project
“You don't know what you don't know.” My favourite financial adviser, Luke Smith of Envision Financial (catch him on 2GB every Friday afternoon), has said it for years now, and he is absolutely right. Weekly, I see how this plays out in the design process. Unless...
Can You Mix Metal Finishes in Your Home?
If you love classic style interiors, you may have noticed that metal finishes play a role in their elegant, sophisticated interiors. You can find metal in items like a stunning silver-coloured chandelier in a living room, golden tapware in a bathroom, or antique...
How to Plan a Bathroom Renovation in 9 Steps
If you’re ready to plan your bathroom renovation, you’re probably wondering where to start. There are so many details to define, tasks to action, and quotes to acquire. In my experience, most people will head straight to the builder first, which I can tell you, is...
We’ve Moved! Our New Design Studio in Manuka Village
Well, we’ve done it—as of November, we have officially moved into our Manuka Village studio and placed all the major items in their new home. Like moving into a new house, we still have a few furnishings ordered and headed our way (like custom benches and fabric...
Hamptons Style Curtains that Transform Your Home into Your Haven
If you ask me, Hamptons style curtains should be a design category all of their own. They are the graceful queen of a room, central to the space and effortless in her splendour. I’ve already spent this entire blog post singing the general praises of window treatments,...
How Long Does a Bathroom Renovation Take?
Today I’m tackling yet another difficult question: how long does a bathroom renovation take? In case you missed it, last fortnight we talked about how much a bathroom renovation costs, and I have to say, forecasting your renovation timeline is an equally complex...
How Much to Renovate a Bathroom (With Estimates)
How much does it cost to renovate a bathroom here in Canberra? Especially if that bathroom favours a classic, sophisticated look? These are questions you will need answers to long before beginning your project, and today, we’re going to give it a try. Having worked...
How to Plan a Room Layout
If you’re wondering how to plan a room layout, you’re in the right place. I firmly believe that every beautiful room starts with a plan, and it’s only after you have the layout just right that you can purchase your items with confidence, no mistakes, and effortless results.
10 Years Bringing Hamptons Style Interior Design to Australia & Where It All Began
I thought we could take a little trip down Memory Lane. Where did I go? What did I see? And most importantly…Which Hamptons style interior design elements do I hope to continue bringing into Interior design in Canberra? Come see…
Journey Home Studio News & A Taste of My Own Medicine
Well, my dear friends, our small but mighty design team has outgrown our latest, admittedly temporary, studio in Queanbeyan. I’m happy to say we’re in the beginning stages of renovating our new spot in the little arcade called Manuka Village!
How to Create a Colour Palette for Your Classic Home
Colour is one of the most difficult aspects of a decorating project to nail down. Or a renovation project, for that matter. Finding the perfect combination of materials, fabrics and furnishings is an art mastered over many years. And yet… your colour palette is often the foundation of your entire design.
Downsizers, Beware! These 3 Design Obstacles May Be Hiding in Your New Apartment
If you are thinking of downsizing to an apartment, then buyer beware! Yes, I know that sounds a touch dramatic, but I am noticing several trends in developer apartments that are making it difficult for style-savvy downsizers to create their classic forever home. My...
Meeting You Where You Are At: The Choose Your Own Adventure Decorating Service
"I don't know if this is too small for you, BUT I just want help with X..." I often get calls from potential clients where the conversation starts with these exact words. I also suspect there are even more people out there thinking the same thing and not calling,...
Nadine’s 1930s Bathroom Renovation: Fresh, Classic Design in Canberra
It’s finally here — the reveal of my newly renovated and classic 1930s bathroom in all its glory! This renovation took loads of time dreaming, planning (I used my Design Organiser), many months to build it and questions along the way. It took quite a big expense and,...
7 DIY Design Dilemmas an Expert Can Help You Solve in an Hour or Less
If you are designing a DIY renovation or decorating your own home, you will likely come head to head with various questions, concerns, and even emotions. Feeling stuck. Overwhelm. Indecision. You’ll probably have friends and family who love to give you their opinions,...
Nadine’s 1930s Bathroom Renovation: Demolition, Surprises & Construction
If you read my latest bathroom-related post (“To Bathe or Not to Bathe”), you may have seen the title of today’s topic and stopped in your tracks. “Wait, Nadine… didn’t you promise us the final reveal next?” Yes, I did. And it is technically ready for you to see....
House-Proud Women Series: It Factor & Money Mindset
In classic Journey Home style, I have another controversial topic for you today: Money Mindset. If you have ever had thoughts like these, this week’s topic is for you: “Designers only work with rich people.” “Having a professionally designed home is beyond my means.”...
Nadine’s 1930s Bathroom Renovation: To Bathe or Not to Bathe?
Last month, I shared the “Before” version of my 1930s bathroom renovation. This month, I will be sharing the design plan of my 1930s style bathroom renovation ... and next month is the big unveiling! (It is spectacular.) I had originally titled this post “Design...
Fact or Fiction: 5 Interior Design Myths that will Surprise You
After a decade of working with clients inside and outside their homes, I’ve realised there are quite a few interior design myths running rampant through NSW. Today, I’m sharing the top 5 that I hear, along with why they are more fiction than fact. Can you guess what...
Nadine’s 1930s Bathroom Renovation: Before
Last winter, I shared some insight into how to plan a bathroom renovation, and I used the beginnings of the bathroom renovation of my own original 1930s bathroom in my heritage home as an example. Nine months later, I've finally finished it! Now that I’m confident...
How the Pandemic Has Changed the Home Industry (& What We’re Doing About It)
The pandemic has impacted every industry I can think of, and the home industry is no exception. In just a year (albeit one that has felt like several), we have seen major changes to the interior design industry, the decorating industry, and other home-related fields,...
Does It Feel Like You’re Paying “Postcode Tax” on Your Renovation?
Over the years, clients in affluent suburbs such as Forrest or Yarralumla have often expressed their frustration of being quoted high prices for home renovations — “postcode tax”, to give it a name. In fact, it’s not even limited to affluent suburbs. I’ve thought it...
How to Think Like an Interior Designer
An experienced interior designer doesn’t approach a home the same way most people would. We have a different way of viewing a home, the way you use the space, and what you want your home to inspire in your life. This is no different from how other experts excel at...
House-Proud Women: How to Outsource Household Tasks Guilt-Free
We’d all love to outsource household tasks to Alice from the Brady Bunch, so she can be there at home to help with all the things. Someone capable, reliable, and smart enough to manage the household, not just do some cleaning. I’ve always had this argument with my...
What are the Design Elements of Classic Style Interiors?
The other day, I realised that I talk to you about classic style interiors all the time, but I’ve never explicitly shared the characteristics that make a space "classic". For example, if you browse through our portfolio, you might notice that every space has that...
What You Need to Know about Renovating Heritage Homes
As you can imagine, specializing in classic interiors means I encounter a tonne of heritage homes. These days, newer architecture leans in a bland modern direction. With so little to choose from, those of us who appreciate character and traditional, classic details...
Everything You Need to Create Your Forever Home in 2021
I was speaking with one of the women in our Journey Home Membership a couple months ago, and she said, “You know what you’re doing, Nadine? You’re helping me take a leadership role in my home.” This is a huge compliment and exactly what I want for our members… and...
How Does Your Home Stack Up During the Holidays?
With Covid resulting in kids moving home and the Christmas and New Year’s holidays just a couple weeks away, your home might be getting fuller than normal. Soon, you’ll be hosting extra visitors, entertaining, and maybe even cooking for a crowd. And your home? In my...
5 Tips for Living Beautifully in the New Year
I know we still have more than a month before the New Year, but this fortnight’s topic is one that can apply to your life right away. Recently, my Journey Home Club members and I have been talking about how to create their forever homes. Naturally, many people...
How to Make Smart Interior Selections with Our Design Organiser
You know you need to make interior selections for your home… your builder is asking for them… but where do you start? Or maybe you’ve already made several design selections, but there are another two dozen that you didn’t realise you needed… and they all have to look...
How to Style Accessories in Your Forever Home
The finishing touches of any home, especially your forever home, is… styling accessories. This means layering in items and decor that add warmth and sophistication, invoke meaningful memories, and elevate the design. With modern design, you can get away with almost no...
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Window Treatments
When I started in the interior design and decorating industry more than a decade ago, window treatments were one of the biggest learning curves for me. I had come from a furniture background, but I quickly realised that getting educated on window treatments was...
What Really Happens on Furniture Installation Day
It’s finally furniture installation day! This is the space you have been dreaming about and planning for months… and it’s about to come together. You wait by the door, eager for your furnishings to arrive so you can start arranging them. But wait... I know...
What You Need to Know about Ordering Furnishings
Would you believe that to order furnishings for two complete rooms, I have scheduled into my diary about 3 working days? THREE. And I still think it might need a tad more. The reality is that most people have no idea how long it takes to order furnishings, not even...
Nadine’s 1930s Bathroom Renovation: Planning the Design
Here’s the big question we’re asking this fortnight: How do you plan the design for a bathroom renovation? Answer? Thoughtfully. I am currently doing my bathroom up, and — no surprises here — I’ve had to do exactly what I always suggest to our clients. First, you get...
How to Select Furniture & Get Quotes
How do you select furniture for your home? Do you need to get quotes? Should you buy one piece at a time or save up for an entire room? This month’s post in our Plan Your Design Year Series will help you answer these questions and more. Here’s a quick recap of where...
This Will Completely Change How You Design Your Home
This week, I have an idea brewing in my head and I can’t let it go. It’s got me SO excited. I’ve been pondering whether to share it with you, but then I realized — you are the PERFECT person to hear it first! Here’s the backstory, and I admit it’s still in the “raw”...
