roast and toast - design industry edit.

So I'm going to kick off with the digitalization of interior design and what that looks like, because obviously being an e designer that has been a huge factor in how I run my business. And I love that I can work with someone halfway around the world and that I was able to. approach and crack into the U. S. market and do those sorts of things. And that now we can just bring people's vision to life without ever setting foot in their space.

We can do our VR walkthroughs, 3D renders, AI imagery is incredible when you play with some of the tech tools like Midjourney and Prome. AI, you can basically put in a prompt of what you're thinking what you can see in your brain when you're thinking about just the design brief and see it alive in seconds. It's not right. It's nothing like what you're going to deliver for the client, but it's quite good for just communicating to the client what it is that you're visualizing. Don't get me wrong.

However, I am such a big believer in saving something for the reveal day. Like I think having mood boards, having a general design direction, making sure that they understand your vision and that you're on the same page is fantastic, but I still love that mic drop moment where you've pulled everything together and it's install day and they finally see it and it's all come alive for them and I feel like sometimes the introduction of specific tools like AI can make it feel like that's all.

gone because there's no surprise element at the end. You show them everything to such in depth detail that they feel like they've walked the space and it hasn't even been built yet. Okay. My next one social media has let the interior design industry evolve exponentially over the last decade. And I love clients who know what they want. I love clients with the Pinterest board. I. Sometimes too much choice can be too much choice, but I do love it when they come to me and they know what they want.

They've had some inspiration. But what is out for me from a social media perspective is definitely thinking that a few DIY videos qualify you to give advice to friends and family, to be getting on Facebook, Renault groups, to be yucking someone's yum, having all these like crazy opinions being an Instagram. Influencer doesn't mean you're ready to rip up the kitchen floor, put down the tools. I just have a real thing about, and I think all designers do.

I think all of us in the industry are okay, but there has to be some rhyme and reason in the background. There's one thing to have natural talent. Most of us do when we begin studying is that, that you have an eye for this, you can pull things together, but you still want to understand the main foundations and principles of learning behind doing what you do.

That makes the difference than just saying, I feel like we've been through this epic transformation where people were contacting wooden bench tops and I got madness for a while there. I specifically feel like in 2019 or 2018, 2019, I was just seeing all these Kmart hacks and things that were just so horrifying to me. And Yeah, definitely there is place to leave certain things to the professionals.

And whilst I love a good DIY and I absolutely think get in there, have a go, my husband's done tiling in our house and he built my entire design studio that you can see on the James Hardy website. And that's incredible. He's a high school teacher and he learned to do so much on YouTube and whatnot and I think it's great to have a go. I definitely think that's good.

What I don't like is when someone does have a go and then like I just feel there's some really strong opinions specifically in, and I referenced this before, Facebook. Facebook community groups, Facebook renovation groups, I just cannot be anywhere near them. When I was working in travel, I couldn't watch the TV show, the amazing race because I'd be like that is incorrect that Lufthansa flight doesn't actually leave until 10 past one on a Tuesday or whatever.

Like I would know my airport departures and things. And it was too close to home. It would make me really highly anxious. I couldn't come home from work and relax in front of the amazing race. And I feel the same way about, watching reality TV shows that deal with renovations or design with the exception of things like grand designs, grand designs, Australia.

I also love a bit of Restoration Australia, but yeah, some of the reality stuff and the DIY stuff, I don't know why it gets under my skin because I think it's fantastic that people have a go. I just think that it just opens this Pandora's box of like, There are times where I want to pull my eyeballs out of my own head so that I don't have to see that anymore.

I've also really loved watching the rise of sustainable choices and conscious design and, artisanal pieces locally made, supporting small makers, Australian made choosing to buy once and buy right and not consistently keep replacing things.

The amount of conversations that I've had with people in the last five years around, It might be a 150 cushion, but it's actually not expensive if you've gone and bought four incorrect 79, 95 cushions from TK Maxx or whatever, and you're just not getting it right. You're better off to work with someone and pull together the entire look and love it, be obsessed with it, and not change it. And, and bigger sustainable choices as well with our building materials, thinking about our eco footprints.

I just, I think it's fantastic. I've loved, and I don't know if it's a kickback from COVID where it was like, support these small businesses, shop locally, just make sure to support each other. I have constantly been conscious of that ever since when I do my Christmas shopping and stuff. Or, keeping myself away from websites like Timu, which I think there's no way they can be ethically producing those same sorts of things that they're selling in stores for, recommended retail pricing.

And then when it comes to our furniture and stuff, I've found a lot less pushback from clients when perhaps we've gone for more of an emphasis piece and more of an investment piece. And I've talked about a sideboard and said, I think it's perfectly reasonable to spend 4, 000 on this entry. console or whatnot that makes a statement in your home that sets the tone for the house.

And it's really not been that big of a deal, which could be a reflection of the type of clientele that I work with as well. But I just think that's fantastic because there was a time where I felt like I was really justifying price tags and and why you would invest okay. I'm leaning in hard to toasting biophilic design. If you follow me or you are aware of my design style, I really, I'm obsessed with texture and I love everything organic. And I think this sort of flows into it.

And by Affiliate Design just give me all the greenery, give me the light, give me the vibes. I just want all spaces to feel like a mini day spa feel like there's fluidity between inside and outside. Lots of glass, lots of sunshine. I'm all about it. What I'm not about, and what I'm going to say is completely out, is the sad dying house plants. If you know that you're a plant killer, I am 100 percent guilty of this. I am such a black thumb. Just go fake. There's no shame in it.

Don't try to keep square peg round hole thing trying to keep these things alive. I legitimately went to the nursery about six months ago for a maiden fern in our bathroom, And I apologize to that plant while it was still on the passenger seat of my car being like, I feel like a serial killer. I have just collected this plant and I know there is no world in which you will be alive in a month's time. And I tried really hard, but it's just not me. So all about biophilic design. I love.

I especially love designing for people who are green thumbs and I know they're going to care for the plants that we bring into the spaces because just because I can't doesn't mean I don't see value in it. And I think some of the designs that I've seen coming through, there's just so much more. consideration for nature. and I absolutely love it. I was watching something the other day where they had, all these living plants in the shower and glass ceiling. And it was incredible.

And I'm not going to go that hard. I can't even keep a maiden fern alive, but I really respect it. And I love seeing what people are doing in that space. The next one sort of references almost back to the artisanal things that I was talking about before, in for me this year is handmade one of a kind finds that brings some soul to the space and thrifting as well. I am in an algorithm rabbit hole on TikTok around. Come with me and see what I thrifted versus how I styled it.

And I just could watch it for hours. I don't know. TikTok just knows that's what I'm into, but. she's serving up the goods and I'm here for it. And generic mass produced decor is out. I'm so over it and you should be too. I know I'm probably preaching to the choir because of because I know who my audience is and you're not fast fashion guys. And I feel like. And I think it's a good thing, I think it's a good thing that, you know, I'm a trans woman.

I don't feel like you're not looking at places where you want to turn over decor and trends seasonally and just waste so much.

But I do love that so many more people are starting to see value and thinking about injecting personality, curating a story, understanding how handmade heirloom pieces or how, bits that you've picked up from travel, pulling paintings that weren't perhaps meeting the aesthetic before when everyone was doing this one tonal kind of beige aesthetic that has started to evolve in a way where I'm seeing people open the skeleton wardrobe somewhere in their house and start to pull personality back out

and spread it around. I feel like I could make this a weekly segment. I just decided I didn't have a lot of time this week because I am with the kids solo while my husband is running a year 12 camp. And so I thought, Oh, I'll just do a quick roast and toast or what's in, what's out, what I'm loving at the moment. And I've got it.

Gotten started talking and I feel like I could record another 30 minutes easily, but I will leave you with my last one, which is around inclusivity and diversity in design, along with the world that is so much more. Recognizing of neurodiversity and understanding of our ableism in design and in other places. I'm really starting to see a focus around finally seeing designs that consider everyone, like who is your guest? Could you have a guest who's possibly in a wheelchair?

Will a guest come over who might be hearing impaired or sight impaired or neurodiverse or all these sorts of things and actually no longer just going, what is this room's function? Who lives here? Who are the three people? To consider or considering things from a, middle class white family of five and instead starting to go, okay, how can we build spaces that everybody feels at home in? And that there are genuine considerations for quiet zones, work zones whatever the whole family needs.

And I'm having more and more conversations like that. If you haven't already, go back to season one, episode 25, I have an amazing hour long interview with Penny Miller from Families in Mind Design, and she walks through a conversation with me around inclusive interior design, and it's so articulate. She talks all around neurodivergence, disabilities and other sensitivities in the house and how we can design around those. And I think this is a must listen for all interior designers.

It will make you a better designer and it will make you ask better questions of your clients as well. I will try to put a link in the show notes here, but otherwise just go scroll all the way back down to the start. And it's episode 25 of season one. I'm going to wrap up with a couple others. I might even come back here and talk about them at another time, but in for me, bold, unique color schemes out millennial gray, everything in for me as well.

I would say personalized eclectic spaces with personality. As I spoke about before, an hour is copy and pasting everything from Pinterest. So when the entire room matches exactly what you've pinned in for me, statement, lighting fixtures out downlights. Basic builder grade lights, not here for that. In wallpaper with bold patterns out lexicon, everything in moody, intimate spaces that you feel like you're getting a big warm hug.

It's like a big moody womb out minimalist to the point of feeling cold. I love Japandi. I love lots of things that are intentional, but there is a minimalist that's just about let's have nothing that I'm not here for. Love me some reuse, recycle, upcycle, and out for me is the overconsumption just for the sake of new, which you obviously can tell from this entire episode, and my last in layered lived in styling out overly staged. Perfect rooms.

Rooms that it looks like nobody is allowed to live in. Okay, that's it for me. Under 15 minutes. A little roast and toast. Some ins, some outs. I'd love to know if you agree. I'd love to know if you've got some that are your pet peeves or things that you're glad to see the back of. Goodbye, Buclay. Goodbye, Rattan. Things that you're looking forward to embracing for 2025.

By the end of the year, I will definitely do a little bit of what's trending for next year because I've got some strong opinions about what's around the corner and I can't wait to share them with you. I will chat to you on Wednesday. Bye for now.

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