Design Anatomy

The Home You Have vs. The Home You Need

• Bree Banfield and Lauren Li • Season 3 • Episode 9

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This week, Interior designers Lauren Li and Bree Banfield explore why homes that look beautiful can still feel uncomfortable or frustrating to live in. Many clients come to them not just for aesthetics, but because their spaces create stress, limit connection, or don’t reflect who they are—making the process feel more like “interior design therapy” than simple decorating.

They highlight common issues, starting with the feeling of not enjoying your own home. This often stems from poor layout, awkward furniture placement, or a disconnect between styled interiors and real-life comfort. They emphasize how subtle design rules and spatial flow impact confidence and daily experience.

The conversation then shifts to functionality—homes that don’t support modern life, like working from home or fostering family interaction. They also address decision paralysis caused by endless inspiration from platforms like Pinterest and AI tools, explaining how designers simplify choices by focusing on what truly fits a client’s lifestyle and needs.

Finally, they discuss challenges in new builds and renovations, where visually impressive designs can overlook practical realities such as lighting, glare, window treatments, and furniture placement. The overall message: good design is about aligning your home with how you actually live, not just how it looks.

Bree is now offering a 90-minute online design consult to help you tackle key challenges like colour selection, furniture curation, layout, and styling. Get tailored one-on-one advice and a detailed follow-up report with actionable recommendations—all without a full-service commitment. 

Bookings now open -  Book now

Join Lauren online for a workshop to help break down pricing & fees for 2026! You'll learn: 

  • What has worked for Lauren over the past year
  • What hasn’t worked, and what she has changed
  • The exact fee structure Lauren now uses across all projects

For more info see below

The Pricing Shift: How I Structure My Fees in 2026.

Welcome And Quick Announcements

Speaker

Welcome to Design Anatomy, the interior design podcast hosted by friends and fellow designers, me, Lauren Li.

Speaker 1

And me, Bree Banfield, with some amazing guest appearances along the way. We're here to break down everything from current trends to timeless style.

Speaker

With a shared passion for joyful, colour-filled, and lived-in spaces, we're excited to share our insights and inspiration with you.

Speaker 1

And I am going to jump straight in and say I am offering some consultations at the moment. We have pretty limited time before we're off to Paris and Milan on our trip. But I do have a couple of openings. So if you are looking for some quick and easy advice to help out with your home and any issues that you have, please reach out and hopefully I can get you in. Otherwise, if you're looking for bigger projects, we're taking on more in June.

Why Design Feels Like Therapy

Speaker

And I suppose like that's kind of brings us to the topic today, which is the real problems that clients come to us with. So, you know, if you're listening to this going, oh yes, oh yes, like yeah, reach out to Bree or myself. And before we get started, if you're an interior designer listening, I'm opening up the conversation circle again. I'm opening it up soon. It's a group for interior designers to get together, talk about our business, talk about what works, what doesn't work. We catch up Fortnightly. Um we ran this last year and it was just wonderful. I mean, just the connections that you make from near and far, it's just fun. So um I'm opening that up soon. So if you're interested, just send me a DM on Instagram. So, as I said before, the real topics that clients come to us with.

Speaker 1

The real ones. Well, I feel like um Yeah, people think it's all about, oh, we just want to make things look pretty. And it's it's hardly ever really about that, is it? Like that's not usually what's at the core of why people actually come to us and say, we need help. Exactly.

Speaker

I think that's like the first obvious thing. I want my space to look beautiful, but no client has really said it. Like there's always something a bit more emotional underlining it.

Speaker 1

Absolutely. Yeah. And I'd say that's where that sort of um psychology comes in that we need to be able to understand what those problems are, and I guess how we can help fix them. Obviously, we can't fix everything.

Speaker

Well, it's so funny because I did a consultation with someone on Zoom on Friday. And after I got off that, or after we sort of wrapped up, she said, Oh, that feels like it's interior therapy.

Speaker 1

Maybe that's um what we we should do. We should start a new part of our business. It does feel like that. I've had clients, I remember one um beautiful client who um, you know, sometimes you become kind of friends with people and you start to miss them after the project's finish. But that first consult that I did with her, you know, she she cried because she was just so overwhelmed with um, you know, trying to make it all work. And she also just felt this massive pressure. Um they were building a home and she felt like it was all on her to make sure it was all right and it worked for everybody else in the family, and that was her responsibility. And she just had this kind of weight on her. And I just remember having like the best conversation with her and her just feeling that relief. And you know, like I think the crying was just like a bit of a like no one understood how much weight she was feeling until we had that conversation. So it can be so many different things that we're addressing, right? When we're having these conversations, and they are like therapy.

When You Stop Enjoying Home

Speaker

Yeah, yeah. It's and I guess, yeah, it's somebody to talk to about all the things you've been thinking about. So I think we've sort of got our top six um problems that clients come to us with. And the first one is basically, I just don't enjoy living here anymore problem. So they're basically sort of saying, I don't enjoy the way I'm living in this space. I'm sitting at a table that I absolutely hate, but uh I don't know what to do next. Yeah. Or yeah, the one that I've heard quite a few times, and again, it was with this lovely client I met the other day. She's like, I'm just embarrassed to have friends over because there's nowhere comfortable to sit. We can't sit at the dining table, chairs are uncomfortable, and we feel like we're in this weird passageway, and we can't sit on the sofa either, because it's weird to sit all lined up on one sofa.

Speaker 1

Yeah, because you're not, it's not convivial, right? Like you're sitting next to each other, you're not sort of like, I mean, two people sitting next to each other kind of works, but if there's a whole heap of you in a row, that's it's a bit weird and awkward.

Speaker

It is. So yeah, I think that it's it's actually kind of sad to miss out on that. And I think you you were talking about in one of our previous episodes about having people coming into the home is sort of a um protect, I guess, a trend prediction. And um, yeah, it's it's sad. So I can be there's that gap.

Speaker 1

Yeah, sorry, it can be such a big thing, like the whole I don't enjoy living here. Yeah, it can be so many things, you know, to address to sort of start to fix that. And that can be, I think a massive one of them is that sort of social interaction. If you're used to or you want to have people in your home, whether that's family or friends, or even like maybe, you know, your children's friends, that everyone feels comfortable. You kind of like want your place to be, um, I don't know, somewhere where people welcome and then they can just kind of go, oh, it's so great to go to Lauren's place, you know, because that's it can affect um your confidence just, you know, with those friends. You'd be missing out on things, like you said. So it can be like a really big, big thing, that sort of um, and it's got nothing to do with, I mean, it's got a small amount to do with like how the home looks, but it's really more about how it functions, right? Like that whole setting up placement of furniture so that it actually feels enjoyable to have a conversation. People just don't realize how much that impacts the space.

Speaker

Absolutely. And I think I've mentioned before, one of the highest compliments I had was from a 10-year-old who said, Oh, I love coming to your house. It has everything. And that was one of Coco's little friends. And I was like, Oh, I love that. Like the fact that they notice, they feel like they can be themselves in your home.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker

And I mean, it does feel like a toy shop at times as well in my home. But um, it yeah, I guess it comes back to what you said. Um, it's not always about what it looks like, and I think it's that gap between the aspirational life and actual lived experience because you could almost have a home that is vogue living worthy, but actually living in it can feel awkward. Yes, like you don't feel like you can be yourself.

Speaker 1

Like living in a set or that it doesn't feel like you. So you could have you could have like the best designer come into your house, style it within an inch of its life so that you know the photographs are like amazing, and everyone's like, wow, your house is so good. But then in it, you just feel this kind of very uncomfortable and also like I don't, it's not really me, like it's really just like it's pretty, but I don't know how to live here. Like, how do I actually relax and enjoy the space?

Speaker

I mean, I have to say that's not really an issue that I've had clients come to me with. My house is just too beautiful, but I I have actually heard no, it isn't, and I I don't want to throw any shade on anyone, but I have heard Hamish Blake talk on a podcast about how uncomfortable he feels standing in in his own kitchen. Really? Yeah, yeah. He was just like because it's so amazing, and to be honest, like I think I would absolutely feel my best self in that home. It's designed by YSG and it's amazing. I think it is very cool. And I then I guess that's one of the other things we could talk about is that one partner might lean more into having a design say than the other. But um, you know, most of the time it is I've got this old dining table that my grandparents picked up on hard rubbish. I actually had someone say that the other day. Grandparents picked up on hard rubbish, it's good quality, but they don't like it. And they're like, Well, we're gonna get a new table, but they can't decide. They don't know what to do. So another year goes by, another year goes by. That seems to be quite a big one.

Speaker 1

Yes, yes, yeah, like a bit of a roadblock. So, or there's just too many things to address and we don't know where to start. Like it's this and it's this and it's this and it's this. So, what like what do we do? What's the I I can't decide what the priority is, which thing is going to make the most impact. We need to have a conversation, and in that conversation, they will realize as you have the conversation with them, what will make the most impact because we know what to ask about, and where it is, God, it is so much like therapy. I'm thinking about it. And so I'm trying to go to the therapist and be like, um, this is going on, I don't really know what to do about it. And all you really do is talk to them about it and they ask the right questions, and then before you know it, you go, okay, yeah, I get it now. I know what I need to do.

Speaker

Well, I think using the dining table as an example. If you don't like the dining table and you need to get a new one, the first thing you do is go into stores. But actually, that's the last thing that you need to do because what you need to do first is figure out okay, what size do we need? What shape do we need?

Speaker 1

Like a bridge for the table.

Speaker

Yeah, how do we want to use it? All of these questions. And then you go to the store when you already kind of know what you want.

Speaker 1

And that's so hard sometimes. I think the other reason people come to a designer is they kind of don't know what it's there, what they want, but they don't know how to explain it. They, it's like, I'll know it when I see it. And so what? You're just gonna wander around and then purchase the wrong thing that's the wrong size, where you get it back into the space and go, actually, this isn't gonna work at all. I thought this was what I wanted, but I didn't really think about the fact that now this coloured timber just does not work with these colour walls or whatever it is. So, yeah, it's that whole knowing exactly what you're looking for and then where do I go and look for it?

Speaker

So interesting. And this this lady that I met the other day, she said that the time the dining table and chairs she actually bought online. And I don't think there's anything wrong with buying something online that you really have to know what it is that you're looking for first, and it's just uncomfortable. So, yeah, knowing what you want, getting a therapy session about a dining table. Um, you know, last time I banged on about the podcast called Homing, where they interviewed Alain De Botton and he said something in there. He said, There's always an interesting dialogue between what someone's home looks like and who they actually are.

Speaker 2

Okay.

Speaker

So, what your home looks like and who you actually are. So I sometimes go to clients' homes and I can tell that they have just cleaned their house to an inch of its life, knowing that I'm coming. And that's that's cool. Like I totally get it because it must be intimidating having an interior designer come to your house. But I'm not getting a sense of who you actually are in a way. But at the same time, I I totally get you're not gonna leave your laundry basket lying around or whatever. But it's also um if it's if there is that um that disconnect and you're like, this isn't me, this home is not me. Like it's really um you can't, it's it doesn't feel good. I I really believe in that your home should reflect you. And I mean, your home is a great example, it's colourful, it's joyful, it's fun. There's a sense of um just pleasure and just life, and it's just a great space. And it's funny, isn't it?

Speaker 1

Because you probably hadn't been to my home before when I was deeply unhappy and my home didn't look like that. And I lived in a house that didn't have colour and joy, and everything was just not me. And so I remember when I first started to change that, how different, and I think I've talked about this before, even just like when we've painted walls and things, um, when I became single, and how much that changed how we all felt in the space and what a difference it made to feel like we lived in a space that was our own and not just kind of like, I don't know, just like a a template or just like a placement things that were there that didn't really mean anything or have any relationship to to who I was. So yeah, it's funny that to use my place as an example. And I think it is, I remember someone coming over um for I had friends over, and one of my friends said he hadn't seen the place before, and he goes, This is exactly what I thought your house would look like.

Speaker

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yes.

Speaker 1

And I went, ah, I think that's a massive compliment if it matches you, unless you unless you hate your house and like go, oh, I thought it would look like this. And it's like, what?

Speaker

No. There is a pressure, there is a pressure for interior designers to have a nice home. But you know, it's it is true in some ways, but also in the other way, you could have the most beautiful, you know, vogue living house, but have a really unhappy life as well. So 100%, yeah. Yeah. And it doesn't always mean that you have to have a lot of money to have a home look nice.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Yeah. And sometimes that means that, you know, I mean, I have things that I'd obviously collected over a long period of time. But I think it's just having things that you love around you that doesn't have to have anything to do with what you've spent on them. Um, it's like you said, maybe it's inherited, maybe it was something that your grandmother owned or your mother owned or that was given to you, or you know, just artwork that you love, and it could be just prints or something from the op shop. I don't know. It's like there are definitely ways around it without spending a lot of money. Um and and sometimes the smallest shifts of things, like it could be just like that one furniture piece that's just not doing you any favors, um, like a you know, a terrible sofa or a terrible table that you change, and that can just be the lift you need. It's like, you know, like it's when even if you go, like, I really need to start exercising, once you start, it's all good, and you can you kind of keep going and the momentum starts. Like it's the same thing with interiors, you can feel that overwhelm, but just pick that one thing and change it. And then when you notice the little bit of a shift, you'll want to lean into it and you'll want to change more and improve more things. Like, I think life is a bit like that, isn't it?

When Your Home Fights Your Life

Speaker

It so is, yeah. It does get addictive. Yeah, totally. I think the second thing that clients say in some way, shape, or form is my home doesn't support my life. So it's something like I'm understanding now how I live in the space, but the design doesn't facilitate that. So it could be common, isn't it? Yeah, it could be things like uh oh, now I need to work from home. My home doesn't accommodate that.

Speaker 1

Yeah, that's a big one.

Speaker

Yeah, yeah. Or even I want to sit together with my family every night for dinner, or maybe four, four out of seven a week, nights per week, but it doesn't feel good to sit at the table. So how can we how can we adapt the space to evolve to how we need to live in it?

Speaker 1

And there could be it can be such a tricky one because I think sometimes people feel like, well, it's the house. We need to start again, we need to move or whatever it is. And that's so um commonly not possible, right? Economics, all the things like, or you know, maybe like okay, we're invested in this house, we're definitely not moving anytime soon. But also we don't have a massive budget to renovate and change the layout completely. So sometimes it's got to be small things first. I guess there are definitely times where we just know the layout does need to be changed. Um, but this is, I guess, even in those initial consults, at least you'd know, okay, this is the possibilities, these are the things that we can do to improve it. And there's always, I think there's always things you can do to improve it without having to, you know, knock down walls and reconfigure. Sometimes that is the solution, but it's not always possible to do it. So I think this is where we kind of lean into our strengths of being able to recognize how to shift a space ever so slightly and make the biggest difference, like, you know, that someone else just may not have thought of. Like they can be in the space they know it's not right, and we can walk in and go, have you ever thought about like just putting this table here and this chair here? And they kind of go, Oh, it hadn't even occurred to me that that was okay to do that. Yes. You know, sometimes I think it's about rules that people think as rules. Like, you know, it's like when people first started to um accept that oh, you didn't have to have like white cornices and white skirtings, and you come into a space and go, oh, we're gonna do this and they go, Oh, is it are we are we allowed? Are we allowed to not have white ceilings? I thought we had to have white ceilings.

Speaker

Yeah, and also sometimes like um this client that I I met, I had an emergency design meeting with her on Saturday. I love an emergency. It was so great, but they moved into the house 10 years ago, and sometimes you just that's where the sofa goes. You don't ever actually ever double think it's used to it, right?

Speaker 1

As well. I think I can still sometimes do that. Totally. You've just got to kind of like go, okay, hang on a minute, just pretend there's no rules. Yes. What would actually work? And does it it doesn't matter if it's not the way things are done. Once you do it and it works, it's it doesn't matter, like it works for you, kind of thing. But I think it is hard to break those rules, right?

Speaker

And life changes, you know, people have a different stage of life, families get grow up, kids grow older.

Speaker 2

Absolutely.

Speaker

So what used to work then doesn't say it's it was wrong, but maybe it's time to rethink it. So um, yeah, sometimes there can be just like a layout versus a behaviour mismatch. So it it just doesn't fit, it doesn't work, and it's sad. I actually find it really sad when families cannot sit together in the space. Yeah. Yeah, oh yeah.

Speaker 1

Well, because it is, it's like, you know, we talked about that social impact. That impact on families when a home isn't working the way that it needs to can be huge. Like it can really change, particularly with um with kids that start to kind of just spend all their time in their bedrooms, which happens anyway. But if it's if there's more, if it's more inviting and it works, you just got a you know, much bigger chance that they're gonna spend just that bit more time with you out in that living space or in the kitchen or sitting at the bench talking to you while you're making dinner or whatever it is. And if you can change that, it can change dramatically how your relationships within the family, right?

Speaker

I really believe that. So I guess the insight from that one is that design doesn't have to be static, like most homes are. So coming back to what you were saying, sometimes it's a furniture shift, sometimes we don't need to extend, sometimes we don't need to move the walls. It can be done with furniture.

Stuck For Years And Paralysed

Speaker 1

Yeah, and just changing that, you know, the energy in a space can be just a layout shift or a change of one thing. And sometimes we can see it straight away. You know, we can walk into a space and you've got, you know, I guess we're a different set of eyes on things. You can be living there and we can get all the information from you because you know the space, but without, you know, lens on it, we can see the things that you're missing.

Speaker

What about number three, which is I've been stuck for years problem. And I think that that's a pretty common one because sometimes it does take a while to go, you know what? I cannot do this by myself. I need some advice here.

Speaker 1

Yeah, totally. I feel like um also life gets in the way. So you might go, uh, I can, I think, you know, it's fine. I don't need help. I can do this. I'm I'm a capable person. I like run a business or run a family or, you know, keep my shit together. But why can't I get this right? And it's just sometimes it's literally just time poor, and then a month goes past and another month goes past and a year goes past, and you're still living with the same thing, and you just need someone else to come and do that for you. Like it's being stuck is actually one of the worst feelings, I think. And I hate it when you have let time go past and then you finally do it and you go, Oh, I wish I had just lent into it and done it earlier, you know?

Speaker

Like it's so fulfilling. Well, it's change your life, um, it kind of does. Like this lady, this lovely client who I met for the emergency. We had in a big emergency on Saturday. Yeah, 10 years they've been living in the home and it's lovely. Don't get me wrong. So I had a um a consort with her a week before, and it was like, as you said, she bought one thing and now she's actually out of control. It's really spurred her on. So she um I she's like, Oh my god, my credit card's getting such a workout. I said, Oh God, has the bank called you to say what's going on? She said they did actually. Um, so yeah, it'd been stuck for years and now it's the time, it's the moment. And it's so cool because so many of my recommendations, she's like, Yep, I've ordered that, I've got the painter out, I've had the electrician out. I'm like, oh my god, you're on fire. So yeah, it's gonna, you know, once you start, you've got that momentum. And um, yeah, it's yeah, that's why if I move, the first thing I do, well, not the first thing, but right up there within a few months. I want to start painting because you can get the maximum um enjoyment out of it the longer that you the quicker you do it.

Speaker 1

True. That's so true. Yeah, exactly. I feel like um people get stuck though, don't they? There's that the fear of making a mistake. So you don't make the decision and then you keep putting it off. Usually something else will also be added to that. Like, oh now it's this as well. And so it just gets bigger and bigger. And so you can just have this sort of weight on you that you're like, I just don't know. And it's like that. Um, what is it? It's like paralysis, right? Paralysis. Paralysis. You go paralysis, thank you. Um, you know, decision paralysis, which I get, I do this a bit to myself, really. And then you get into that state of overwhelm and you just don't you don't know what to do. So exactly, yeah, just pushing forward. Having somebody say, This is what you need to do can sometimes be the thing that gives you like that clarity, you know, exactly what you need to do. You just go and do it.

Speaker

Um, it's the decision paralysis 100%, but it's also the fear of making expensive mistakes. Like if we can go back to the dining table, you know, situation, that is six thousand, ten thousand dollars. Like, you know, it's very scary to drop that amount of money on something without really knowing is this going to be the right thing? You want to know. And often they're custom made to fit your space.

Speaker 1

Yeah, so it's not like you can just send it back.

Speaker

Yeah, it is a scary thing. And the longer it goes on, the heavier it feels, as you're saying. And also clients blame themselves for not fixing it. So, you know, you've gone out, you've bought that dining table and it you bought it online. The chairs are wildly uncomfortable, it's awkward to entertain, and you actually have to admit to yourself, oh my god, I actually really stuffed up with that. Oops, like it's not a it's not a cool thing. So that's why when I'm talking with clients, when I hear them saying, Oh my god, I went down to church, church street in Richmond or went to all the showrooms, and I got so overwhelmed. I'm like, cool, I'm gonna show you one option, sometimes two for something like a sofa. But the reason you've come to me is not because you need to see all the options, it's because you you're overwhelmed. You just want to know what is the right thing.

Speaker 1

Yeah. And that's what we can do, really take away all of that decision making and and bring it right down to like here is the two best options that fit your budget, that work in the space, the closest things to you know what what you need. And then you can make the decision and you know already that someone's curated all of that for you and said, here you go, these are the ones. Yeah, I think it's yeah, that's worth its weight in gold, really.

Speaker

Well, I think that you don't realize until you've made that expensive mistake.

Showroom Overwhelm And Editing Choices

Speaker 1

Yeah, that's true. And what's number four? Um, I tried and got overwhelmed. Overwhelm is probably one of the biggest things I would say. It's gonna keep repeating. Yeah. The whole going down, as you said, Church Street, Richmond, or I'm trying to think of other streets in other um in other cities. What's Sydney? Alexandria. Alexandria, yes. Which is a bit harder to do, actually, because you probably have to drive around more there. But um, you know, in Melbourne, we do have a street which is has probably most of the things.

Speaker

What's Brisbane? Is it St. James or something? It's near the Carlisle.

Speaker 1

Apparently, there's um Yes, yes, yes. There's a there's a bit around there. And then you've gone into every store because you think you're just gonna like you're just gonna see the thing, right? And then you realize there's so many to choose from, or even that it might not be on the floor, and then you don't know what's also possible. So there's that whole thing of like, oh, well, um, oh, that table's okay. And then the salesperson, well, we've also got it in this, this, this, this, and this, and it comes in that shape. And then you're like, oh my god, I don't, and I don't even know, do I need to be considering that? I don't can't see it here. And if I can't see it, how can I make a decision? And then you just walk away feeling worse and even more confused than what you were when you first started, right?

Speaker

It's really, really confusing. And I guess, yeah, that's where the designers become the editors, not just the creatives. And because, you know, we this is on this stuff is on our radar all the time. Yeah, yeah. We are always clocking what the latest things are, what who has what, who's good to go for coffee tables, who's good to go for sofas. Like yeah. I actually had this client that I met with on Zoom in Brisbane. She'd done a bit of AI, she'd used a bit of AI, which I think was really clever. She wanted to see the space with this, she wanted to see the space without that. She wanted to do this, she wanted to do that. So I was like, oh, that's really interesting because you know, interior designers are like, oh my god, AI is gonna take our job. I'm like, that's okay. The only thing is, AI can give you all of the possibilities, but not the decisions.

Speaker 1

You've still got to make the decision, right? You've still got to, you can sort of maybe visualize things with AI so that, and that's really helpful. I mean, um, I think the other thing that people struggle with and that come to us is they're not visual people. So we can just automatically go, or most designers can just go, I can already see exactly what this looks like in our head. Or a lot of people just can't do that. They can't put those things together and actually have a visual of it in their in their head. I I find that really fascinating because I don't know how what that's like.

Speaker

I know. Is it just like a book? But that's a yes, yeah.

Speaker 1

That's an act. That's a lot of the reason why um, you know, we do the job we do is because we're actually able to do that and that they can't. So they need someone else to be able to like pull that together in their, you know, in their head. So I guess AI is a good way for them to be able to, you know, I guess visually see something come together. But it also just doesn't mean that it's right. It might just show you what you know now doesn't work as well. Like a whole heap of examples, like none of this is right, and still don't know how to tell AI how to bring together what you know you want because it just can't. It's just not possible.

Speaker

So true.

Speaker 1

Um, yeah.

Speaker

Not yet, anyway. No.

Speaker 1

But you know, there's well, it still just needs to, like, until there's like a literally an AI designer, I suppose, it still needs your input. So you still need to tell it what you think it you want to see. So if you don't know what that is, or you have some ideas and then at least either cancels them or it goes, oh, maybe that's in the right direction. You still need some help to finish that off.

Speaker

Well, it's the lack of the context, as we were saying before. How do you want to live in the space? Those all those lifestyle questions that we ask before we've even looked at a single, just to use the example of a dining table again. We ask all these questions before budget, the spatial flow, like all of these things that um I suppose you could ask AI, but I think that's where it's more fun to work with the designer too. Like, I think totally so much more fun. We have such a good time. We do. So yeah, I thought that was very interesting that clients, you know, we use AI in our business, so you can't blame clients for doing that too. But um, yeah, it doesn't help you make the decision, it gives you all the options, but without that final this, this this is the one, you know.

When AI And Pinterest Add Noise

Speaker 1

Yes, totally. Um, oh number five. All right, number five. AI made it worse. We're just leaning into AI now. Um, yeah, I think absolutely exactly like coming off what we just said, you can easily end up with more confusion than what you had.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker 1

Yeah, so I feel like that's it easily can end up. It's a bit, I mean, it's sort of also similar to um Pinterest overwhelm, isn't it? You can go on Pinterest. I can get overwhelmed on Pinterest because it's just like idea after idea. And now I find Pinterest is mostly ads too. You know, sometimes you see, oh, that's really cool, and then you click on it and it just takes you straight away to some website that almost had nothing to do with whatever the photo was in the beginning. So just get you can just like you could spend hours doing that or hours um trying to get AI to to fix a problem, um, you know, in a space and find that it's just confused you even more. Absolutely.

New Builds And Floor Plan Regrets

Speaker

What about uh this one? The we're just about to build an I'm not sure type of problem. And that's one I've had.

Speaker 1

Yes. I've had that a few times too, with a new build where um I think what happens is particularly with like a more of a spec home than a custom one where you're not working, you've got obviously there's um an architect or a building designer involved, not necessarily you know, interior designer that you're dealing with on a day-to-day basis. Um, so you get very limited design consultation time because you're choosing a plan and maybe you've made some changes to it to personalize it for yourself. But notoriously, probably not the right word, but you know, I've worked with lots of those brands before. But there's still a limited time that you have with their designers to talk about the finishes, how you're gonna live in the home. So it's customized only to a small amount, right? And I think sometimes those people feel, those clients feel really rushed with those um home builders because that's just the way it's set up, right? It's you pay a certain amount because this is the way that they, you know, do the design. They can't spend hours and hours and hours with you. You usually get like one session, and in that one session, you've got to make all the decisions on tapware, tiles, flooring, paint colour, anything that's involved in those specs.

Speaker

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1

And I, you know, even that overwhelms me thinking about it, trying to do it in that space. And they have brilliant teams usually, they guide you the best that you can be guided, you know, some definitely better than others, but you can still come out of it going, I don't know if those were the right choices. I've got to now lock all of this in. This is it. And this is my, you know, I'm spending, let's say, what's the average now would be like a a million, two million dollars potentially on a build. And it sounds like a ridiculous amount, but that's the reality of what a house costs now to build, pretty much. So that's it's a lot of money and it's your, it's not just the money, it's then it's your home. So I think a lot of people come to us after that or just before it and say, I'm really worried I have to make all these decisions. I just need a little bit more time with someone who's just there for me and not there for maybe the brand that's building your home. And we've got a slightly unbiased opinion as well. And we're gonna like ask probably different questions and really kind of push you and go, like, is this how why did you make this decision? And then we can sort of see whether you made it for the right reasons or whether you felt like you just kind of like went, oh, because I only had choice of these two things and I just didn't know, so I chose that. Um, I feel like this happens a lot, right?

Speaker

Definitely, and you said, you know, we have an unbiased opinion. Well, actually, I'm biased only to the client. Yes. I only want the good outcome. So I'm sorry for upsetting the builder, the architect. I am just biased to what the client is.

Speaker 1

That's exactly it, right? That we're it's a more direct line of you are literally our client. We also understand the limitations of those kind of builds and that we can't just go, oh, just throw all that out the door and we're gonna customize everything. Oh, definitely. But we're gonna just like work through those decisions with you just a bit more. And and you just feel that reassurance that you either made the right decision or that there's a couple of things you need to tweak, you know, within the realms of what you can when it comes to those kind of spec builds. But yeah, I think it's a really common one. And I think a lot of the brands address it really well in terms of they do a brilliant job and they have a really great support showroom space to do it through.

Speaker

Definitely.

Speaker 1

But there's it you can even have the most brilliant consultation team and still come out of it feeling like that.

Speaker

It's just a quick process. And I'd say on the on the flip side of the spec home, you have maybe an architecturally designed home. Yes. And that also has a different sort of set of, I guess, problems. When a a client comes to me and they have a architecturally designed home, and I'll look at the plan, and the way I am seeing it is through how the client wants to live in their home. And I know that sounds like it should be really obvious, but to be honest with you, that isn't always the way that an architect sees a home. They could see it as an expression of their architectural designs, their, you know, certain artistic license in there. And it's a portfolio piece. And I literally had a client say that to me. She's like, I couldn't, I was confused with this floor plan. It's built, they've been living in it for 10 years or so. I'm like, why is it like this? And she said, Oh, I I think they just wanted it for their folio. Like the client, clients know that, like when that's what's going on. And I'm like, but okay, you can't, you've got the the north sun in Queensland coming in through that window and you can't figure out how to furnish it. So, I mean, I had a I had a big rant on Instagram. I'm like, oh, it's so annoying when I get plans come through. And it's that oversight is how is actually somebody gonna live in the space? How are they going to sleep in their bedroom when you can't cover a window? Like all these things that don't they just sound like such frivolous things. Oh, at the end we'll figure out, we'll put a blind on there. Okay, but how? How are you gonna what are you gonna fix it onto? And where is the cord gonna go? And is it gonna be motorized? Like all of these little things, they seem little, but when it comes to your everyday experience and being woken up at the crack of dawn when you want to sleep in because you can't cover the windows, like I just feel like that's such a common one.

Speaker 1

And I feel like, do you think it's like so um, you know, it is a common one and it definitely is outside of that spec build thing. And we've had these conversations about architects before who we love, you know. But I think there's I think what it is is there's a capacity there, there's a capacity issue issue. So an architect can like design an amazing home, it's architecturally beautiful. Um, they may make some decisions that they just go, but that's gonna work well. And we've addressed maybe it's like, you know, the sight lines. We have those the high, the highest small windows that we hate. Because they're going, oh, but that lets light in and it addresses the situation of now we don't have sight lines, so we've just got this high little slit of a window. Um, but they're not thinking about that next layer. So they only have capacity to think about it to this point, and then we can kind of step in and go, well, now we can think about it from that point on. But if we're involved early enough before those decisions are made, where we can push and say, Okay, I see why you've made this decision and that you've ticked these boxes, but there's this other set of boxes that you're forgetting about, and that is something like, okay, when you're in the space, like we've got one above where the sofa sort of sits in the living room, and of course the TV's directly opposite. So what do you see? Nothing but glad the TV, the reflection of this window above. And the weird thing about where we are, and I think I've already said this um when we were talking about this before, is it it, I don't know why they did it because there's two really great big windows in the space, and it just isn't needed. And we're also thinking about it not just from a practical side, but also from a decorative side. Like when we look at that space and it's broken by that little window instead of maybe a beautiful piece of artwork or even some wall lights or something, it it's ruining the feel from inside the space. And even though you're ticking those other boxes that you thought you needed to tick. And I think sometimes, um, and like we probably all do, there's defaults that um happen. So, like in architecture, it's like a bit like what I said before about the rules. Oh, well, that's just how we address that. Okay, there's that one's overlooking onto their garden. Oh, we just put one of these here. So people do, I guess, stop trying to figure out new ways to do things because they default to stuff. And so we we hopefully come in and just push back on that a little bit and say, well, what's a different solution? Or if we have to do it that way, what's a better way for us to do it? I think I've rambled on now.

Speaker

No, well, I think I think basically I hear what you're saying, and I think we're just so passionate about it. So if we see a floor plan, I I spoke to these um this beautiful couple in Perth actually, and it was uh it was it was 4 p.m. here, and it was like I had my jacket on, like it was cool, and that was 38 degrees there.

Speaker 1

They really do get heavy.

Speaker

And I'm like, okay, so where where are we facing north? Why do we need and they did have one of those highlight windows on there, and it's um it's just because before they build anything, how are we going to furnish it? Are you going to want to cover it? All of those questions, and it it doesn't um it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it's when you have to furnish it with some stupid little roll of blinds. It's like, what is the point of having a nice window that's actually loose money on?

Speaker 1

Yes. So and that I I think that does come back to, I mean, I'll again putting it back on the architects a little bit. Like, don't put it there for the sake of it. And if you are gonna have some beautiful, like I love a clear story window. Like, I think they're one of my favorite things in architecture, but if you have them in the wrong space, uh you know, orientated the wrong way, and you have to have blinds on it, then it sort of defeats the whole purpose, right? It does. Like what what are we doing then? What's the yeah? And I do feel like the art of that has been lost a little bit in architecture, maybe through the fact that we did start to have to kind of like, you know, I guess do more spec home and sort of churn things out a little bit more, you know, the rise of the whole knockdown build cell. Um, I think that's shifted, you know, from architecture being a lot more considered to architecture being a bit more manufactured. Um, you know, not every architect, but I think that that that's probably where a lot of those issues have come from and where we see a lot of those default things happen where, or sometimes where maybe I don't know, they don't care enough. Like you said, we care more about it. So a client woman might come into an architecture like business or um, you know, give them a brief and go, we want one of these windows. And instead of them pushing back and going, well, it just doesn't work, they just kind of give it to them. So there's sort of bad decisions that aren't adjusted or pushed back on.

Speaker

Like, okay, yeah, and also um I'm working on a project, it's a furnishing project. Um, it's a renovation of a house down in um Fingle on the Mornington Peninsula. The architects have done an amazing job. They're called Atlas Architects, and apparently the client's been thrilled with them as well. They seem like lovely, lovely guys, actually. And it's if I can't fault it. I was like, this is beautiful. But then there's just little tweaks. So even if it's a perfect plan, it's like, okay, so we want to put again, it's a window furnishings thing. We want to put a sheer curtain in here. So how is that fabric going to stack back? Well, we'll lose our window if we need the fabric to stack back.

Speaker 1

That's always a big thing.

Speaker

So let's just leave a 200 mil recess between where the wall and the joiner is so we can allow for fabric to stack back there. But you know, that that's something I would never expect an architect to design that.

Speaker 1

So as you say Because I think again, it's just coming to capacity, like they're not they could they're doing their job. Absolutely. It's just that there's that next layer, and when two people come together as experts and do it at the same time and collaborate and have that um do it at the same time, you get the best result. That's when you get the best results, really. And furniture layer is the other big one, right? Not just, I mean, we're talking about definitions. How many times have we seen floor plans where um, you know, as a floor plan, you go, oh gosh, look at that, look at all this space, it's amazing. And then when you actually try and put furniture in it, you go, oh, hang on. Well, how where there's no every there's all these windows, which sounds beautiful. But where am I putting the sofa? Like what I don't really want it floating in the middle of the room. I sort of thought there'd be a wall behind it. I wanted a console, I want some shelving. I have to have all these books. And no walls. And there's no, yeah. So um people do, and maybe that's even just not being able to think three-dimensionally sometimes as well, like from the client's perspective, or maybe not fully communicating exactly what needs to go into the space, or the architect kind of going, well, we know what's going to look beautiful, but they're not thinking about once furniture is in it. And that is really, really common. It's really common. Because it sort of becomes like a lust. Yeah. It's like you were saying with the window furnishings. It's like you think that's the last thing. Like, how many do you remember? Like, I don't know, I feel like it's bit a lot less common now. I think growing up, there was a lot of you know, new estates and things. And you'd see like the sheets on the window with like the I think we grew up with that for a little while.

Speaker

Yeah.

Speaker 1

And that's the thing of like, oh, it's just the last thing. Yeah. You know, it's we'll get some blinds.

Speaker

So you know, you have to actually allocate a budget to that as well.

Speaker 1

Oh, that. Oh yeah.

Speaker

So there's all those things that, yeah, they seem like an afterthought, but they actually take a fair chunk of the budget. Um, but you know, it's just the basic things like how are we going to watch TV in this room? Why do we want to sit five meters away from the TV? Like it's just weird stuff like that. But, you know, if you can get somebody to put their professional eye over it, pick up on those little things, just ask a few questions. You, you know, even if we say this floor plan is perfect, it's good to go. Like, I don't think that's ever happened, but we live in hope. But at least you have that confidence to be like, great, let's go. Like, that's that's a good thing too.

Confidence, Impact And Closing Thanks

Speaker 1

Yeah, definitely. I think that's what it's all about is hopefully, you know, if you have us involved in something, depending on, you know, great, the earlier the better. But sometimes it is at that later stage or once you're in the decision-making stage, and that's when you get your emergency um design consults, right? Where it's like, I need, I need to know right now, and I'm about to just jump into this, and I feel I do not have the confidence. I think that's what it's about. It's just giving you the confidence to either make decisions about your home, be able to actually go and purchase things, know that you've already made the right decision. So that reassurance, or just the confidence to be able to even communicate to other people you're working with, like your architect. Yes, okay, I've discussed it with Lauren or I've discussed it with Bree. And now I feel really confident that I feel so reassured that I think my instincts were right, but I just wasn't sure because I felt so overwhelmed and I lost track of what those instincts were. We can give you the confidence to feel like you know now what your space needs to be.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

And that's like that's what we love too. Like there's nothing better, is there, than having a client that walks away and you know you've kind of given them that reassurance and and yeah, ability to be able to improve their space.

Speaker

Yeah, I think that you know, we could talk for about this for another hour. We could because we feel so passionate about it because we understand the impact it makes on your day-to-day life. And once that thing is built, it's built. Like that's it. That's what you've got now. So there is a window of opportunity to address anything, any little thing. It could turn into a big thing. We're thinking about the future, we're thinking about adaptability. Is that a word? Yes, yes, yeah. Um, I believe it is because you know, to have a client come to us and say, I've spent all my money and I still don't love it, that's really upsetting to me.

Speaker 1

It is. Yeah, I feel it too. I think we're both people with a lot of empathy, and you do you feel like you can feel that feeling of overwhelm and anxiety and disappointment. And all you want to do is be able to like hopefully, you know, get people back on the right track. And so they don't feel that, or they feel at least a lot less of it anyway.

Speaker

Exactly, because I think you know, you realize pretty quickly that people aren't coming to us just for colours and cushions. Happy to do that too, though.

Speaker 1

But love colours and cushions.

Speaker

Do that all day long. That's that's so great. But they're actually coming to us because something in their daily life isn't working or it just doesn't feel good and they don't know how to fix it.

Speaker 1

Yes. So what and that that is worth investment in someone to help you do it because it will make a difference to the way you live daily.

Speaker

Pull stop. And that's it. Mic drop. That's what happened then. That's what that silence was. The microphone. So good, Bri. Thanks for the chat, Lauren.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Brian.

Speaker

Thanks to Phil for editing and producing and doing all of the things.

unknown

Yes.

Speaker 1

He does a brilliant job. And as you will now be hearing our very clear, crisp voices, that is all on Phil. Exactly. See you later.

Speaker

See ya. We've got the utmost respect for the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. They're the OG custodians of this unceded land and its waters, where we set up shop, create, and call home and come to you from this podcast today. A big shout out to all of the amazing elders who have walked before us, those leading the way in the present, and the emerging leaders who will carry the torch into the future. We're just lucky to be on this journey together.