EP84 The Myth Of The Finished Home

Maybe the goal isn’t to ‘finish’ your home… maybe the goal is to create a foundation that allows it to grow with you.

We’ve all had that thought… “Once the renovation is done, everything will finally feel complete.”

But I have to say, that moment does come, but also… life evolves.

In this episode, I’m unpacking this idea, because the goal isn’t perfection, it’s creating a home that can grow, shift, and evolve with your life and your family needs.

If you’re in the middle of a renovation, planning one, or just feeling like your home is never quite “there”… I’m hoping that this episode will shift your perspective. 

Inside, I chat about The illusion of the finished home and how we’ve been conditioned by before-and-after shows and social media to believe there’s a perfect end point, but real homes just don’t work like that. Homes are living, evolving spaces that need to adapt as your life changes, whether that’s family, work, routines, or unexpected life events.

I also cover a very important point that has been at the core of this podcast from day one, the power of getting the base right. Layout, light, flow, and storage are everything. These are the hardest (and most expensive) things to change later, so getting them right from the start is gold.

A meaningful home is layered slowly and built over time with pieces that reflect your life, memories, and identity, so join me inside to dive deeper – I’ll see you there.

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PLEASE CAST YOUR KIND VOTES HERE!
This podcast has been shortlisted for a UFurnish Home Award in the Best Interior Content Creator Category.
https://homeawards.ufurnish.com/2026/en/page/vote?nomination=9fce-tash-south 

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Hi, I’m Tash South — interior designer, renovation consultant, and founder of South Place Studio.

In this podcast, I share practical renovation advice, along with deeper insights into home and belonging.

If you’d like more resources and support, head to:
https://www.southplacestudio.com/freebies

If you’re navigating your own renovation, my RenoVersity programme offers a structured, guided and thoughtful approach to renovating with clarity, confidence and intention https://www.southplacestudio.com/renoversity

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Transcript

The Myth Of The Finished Home

Tash South 0:00

Hello, hello my lovely listeners. Today on the podcast, I wanted to talk about the myth of the finished home. So I think one of the biggest misconceptions we have about our homes is that one day they'll just be finished. I certainly know that. With taking on big renovation projects and working with clients, all everybody wants to do is just get to the end. And that is true to a certain extent. You know, we we do want to get to that point where all the messiness is done and the structure's ready and safe and it's clean, all very important. But you know, there's once that's all done, there is more to come. It's not like we'll arrive at this moment where everything is done and perfect and complete. In my experience, after doing so many renovations and also building my own house from scratch, that moment it comes and you feel like you're comfortable for a while, but depending on life, everything does keep changing. But in all my experience, through all the renovations I've done, both for myself and for clients, you know, you do get to a point where everything is done and gorgeous and you feel relaxed, but then obviously, depending on your life, on your family, on how things might change, so many things can happen within all of our lives that change our situations, our circumstances, and so it doesn't always mean that your home is just finished forever. There are always some adjustments to be made. So I

Where The Pressure Comes From

Tash South 1:44

wanted to talk about that today in this episode, and I wanted to start with firstly the illusion of a house being done, and why do we chase that and where has that come from? So I think this idea has come mostly from TV, those before and after property shows where they go in and everything's terrible, and then a team comes in and fixes everything in one week, and then afterwards it's perfect, and the family lives happily ever after. And I think it also comes from Pinterest, from Instagram, from social media, all of these perfect images that we are being bombarded with every single day. And so that pressure to get it right all at once is definitely there. And I think this can create stress, rush decisions, overspending. What I really always have encouraged people to do on this podcast and everyone I work with as well is to really plan at the beginning. Spend a lot of time in the beginning planning for your finished product because doing that, as we will talk about a bit more in this episode, will really help you get to the end. But you know that change is going to come, but you're ready for it. And I really think we need to not really treat our homes like massive projects with an end date, but instead thinking of it as creating a really good base, so taking the time to get that really good base, that structure right, so that it can grow with us, it can be flexible as things change into the future.

Homes Change As Life Changes

Tash South 3:23

So the second thing I want to talk about is how our homes are living spaces, not just static outcomes. And for my past two or three episodes, I've been talking about this quite regularly about how our homes affect how we are, what we do, our habits, our productivity, how we all differently perceive our spaces and our environments. So I think if we start thinking of our homes as more of a space that needs to support us and our life changes, not just as one project that needs to get finished. I think that will just make it a little bit easier to accept also down the line when these changes do need to happen. Because you know, life changes, families grow, work shifts, our habits evolve, we have changes in our family circumstances, whether that might be a sick parent or kids leaving for university. All of those things change how our homes need to be used and need to function for us. So you might get to a point where your home has worked really well for you for two to five years, and then suddenly everything changes and it's not going to work in the same way for you anymore. And I think a home that you want to see as finished doesn't really leave room for real life. Because our homes really must be carefully thought through and planned and designed to be able to move with us and not lock us into a certain way of living. We really need to think ahead about how our lives might change and just leave as much flexibility for that in your home design as you can. It's not always possible, but you can mitigate for some of it. So let's move on to number three. So I want

Get The Base Right First

Tash South 5:19

to talk about the kind of the power of getting that base right that I always talk about. It's about making sure that when you're renovating and you're doing a big project and you're spending all of that money, is to actually take the time to go back to your base, to go back to your layout, to think about your flow and your light and your storage. This is your foundation, this is your framework which you can work with and build in flexibility for the future so that your home layout can be adapted to hopefully help you cope with those changes that might be to come in the future. And also, these are the things like the layout and the light, where your windows and your doors are. These are the things that are really difficult and expensive to change later down the line. So I'm always encouraging people to really interrogate and investigate what they want not only now but also in the future from their homes so that you can future proof to a certain extent. You won't always get it completely right, but you know, you can think about it to an extent where it can be more flexible for you should some changes come into your life. And I really believe that a good renovation starts with a really strong functional base. If you've listened to my guest episode with Kate Watson Smythe, in that episode we talked about why we both were not fans of slow renovating and how you can plan to speed yours up. And that really was the essence of that conversation. If you want to go back and listen to it, it was episode number 45, and it was called Why Kate Watson Smythe isn't a fan of slow renovating and how you can speed yours up. And I think that is a really good episode to link to this one because we we talked about where to spend your time. So we talked about spending a lot of time in the beginning planning before you even spoke to an architect or a contractor, thinking about your life and how you wanted to feel in your space and possible changes that might happen in the future, and then moving on to the actual practical on-site work, and then alongside obviously getting your contractors and your architects involved. So that would be a really good episode to go back to because we talked about how not to drag out your renovation but to do it in a way that you can get to a base that you're really happy with, and then from that point onwards, you could then work with that base to accommodate for changes that might come in the future. It's just all about really planning, thinking about the really important things and the things that will be expensive to change later down the line, getting those things right from the start. You want to get those things right, and then from then onwards, when you start with a good base, with good light, with really good storage, with good flow, with options for flexible living, options for open or broken plan, like doors or partitions in between larger spaces, like multifunctional rooms, like offices that can be used as a guest bedroom. It's thinking about all of these things in advance that's going to really help you with a planning stage. And if you plan well, you can move through your renovation quite quickly and obviously budget permitting as well. I'm not saying that you need to rush through your renovation and throw all your money at it. We can all only afford what we can afford. But I think just thinking about that base right from the start is literal gold. You need to really think about that from the start, and you know, you can get some help with that section, that start, if you need it, because you have to get that right so that the rest can evolve. Because a well-planned layout can really help us adapt to new routines, and then also good storage can really allow for changing needs. So those things are key when you're thinking about planning for now and for the future.

Design For Change Not Perfection

Tash South 9:24

Okay, let's talk about number four now: letting go of perfection and designing for that change, for that evolution. Okay, so so not everything needs to be decided up front. If I go back to my previous point, spend your time on that base, on that structure of the home and the layouts. You know, get that right. You don't have to start clouding your thoughts and your judgment just yet about which colour furniture you're going to choose or your kitchen door finish. You really want to get that framework right first. So try and focus your time on the decisions at hand. You don't need to furnish everything immediately. You know, you can leave space physically and mentally for some change. Leave that flexibility. As long as you have that structure, things will change. They will change. Your tastes might change. Like I said, your family setup might change. So rooms might change function, so keep that in mind. Perhaps don't build out a canopy bunk bed in your children's bedroom that's going to cost you £10,000 when in two to three years' time they're going to outgrow that or go into separate bedrooms anyway. Just think about all of those things at planning stage. I mean, all of these things are lovely to have, and if you have the budget, that's great. But on the other end of that argument is if you need to change down the line, would you rather save that money for some other smaller changes that need to be made? So really think about the whole picture and what could possibly change. It's so easy to get wrapped up. We all have in creating a home office that's gorgeous with loads of built-in shelves or a nursery for a new baby. So if we think about those rooms, we can still have those rooms, but just think about how you can adapt that in terms of storage or placement of anything built in that still gives you some flexibility in the future. And

Let Your Home Tell A Story

Tash South 11:33

I think moving on to number five is creating that home that tells a story. I think not getting and rushing to a point where you want everything done and styled, and every single object on the shelf by the time you finish your renovation, that's not quite giving your home time to evolve and become meaningful and to gather all of those things from your travel, from your memories, and all of those things that make a home personal and layered and real. I do find that those things come with time. I've been working with a particular client now for about three years. Um, we did the renovation, it turned out beautifully. We had a really good frame, really good structure, and then from then on, we have been having so much fun with our project. I have been working with artists to um and the client to create bespoke pieces that she feels shows her style and identity for the home. We've been working on bespoke made rugs in particular colours that she loves that works with the initial design. So all of those things are being layered on top of that base that's already there, that's working really well for her, that's not changing. So that's really what I mean about this creating a home that tells you a story is you know, a home that shows our personality and our heritage and our style is something that does take time. So you can start with the structure and put your energy and your time into that, but then also just give it some breathing space when you get to the end of your renovation. Give yourself that time to build on those layers and to build on that personality and to build on all of those personal touches. But

The Real Goal And Goodbye

Tash South 13:36

that brings us really nicely to the end of this episode, everybody. Maybe the goal isn't to finish your home, maybe the goal is just to create that foundation that allows it to grow with you, and you can layer on the layers of life slowly and imperfectly, and over time in a way that actually means something to you. But that's it, everyone. That's it for this week. I hope you have an amazing couple of weeks, and I will see you in the next episode. Yes, bye for now.