Map how you move throughout your home before you make any major design decisions


sockets sit in relation to furniture. Bring your interior designer in alongside your architect, not after. Structural decisions directly impact the interior and changes are always more expensive onsite than on paper.


CONSIDER LIGHTING EARLY ON Lighting plays a huge role in the look and feel of a room, creating zones and mood, so it shouldn’t be an afterthought. Not considering lighting early enough can leave you with rows of spotlights on a grid that don’t fully illuminate what they should, with no fl exibility for how the space is used in the evening.


Lighting and electrical planning should be designed around your layout. You need a clear sense of where you’ll sit or cook to understand where task lighting is required and where you want to create an atmosphere. These decisions must


be made before the fi rst fi x, because once ceilings are plastered and walls are painted, the opportunity has passed. Getting it right makes a space feel considered and intentional.


CREATE FLOW WITH A CONSISTENT DESIGN LANGUAGE


One of the most effective ways to make a home feel larger and more cohesive is to establish a clear design language throughout. This doesn’t mean every room should look the same, but that colours, materials and details speak to each other, so the eye moves comfortably from space to space without jarring transitions. ractically, this means carrying a fl oor


fi nish from hallway to kitchen, running a consistent skirting profi le throughout, or repeating a fi nish, hardware choice or tile type to create rhythm and repetition.


These decisions are easy when planned from the outset, but diffi cult to retrofi t once rooms are fi nished in isolation.


THE DETAIL IS WHERE THE DIFFERENCE IS MADE


The homes that feel truly special aren’t necessarily those with the largest budgets, but those where even the smallest decisions have been carefully considered. A self-build project is thousands of decisions made in sequence. Making them intentionally, with the whole home in mind, results in better fl ow. Thats what an interior designer helps you do, and the earlier they’re involved, the more of those decisions they can help get right.


Jessica Smith is the founder and interior designer at Curated Spaces and Studio Smith Interior Design


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