Where to start?

Give me a call. That's the best place to start. 🤣

I get this question a lot and the process to move forward depends on your current situation.

You may have a block of land you want to build on or an existing house you want to renovate. My initial advice is this - understand your brief.

Get an A4 notebook and start with 2 lists of thoughts. Your "needs" and "wants" lists.

The needs list might go like this. Write items in general terms like;

• "minimum of 3 bedrooms".

• If one of you work from home, then "home office" might be a need.

• If you are a family who entertains "big kitchen with seating at the island bench" might be another need.

If you are renovating\extending your home, needs could be generally as follows;

• We need more space\another bedroom.

• Our home is too dark

• Our home doesn't make a feature of the view

• Our home needs to be warmer\cooler.

Your list can be as extensive or as succinct as you need it to be. Just make sure you really think about what you need, as opposed to what you want. How do you know the difference between a need and a want?

Well, here's the test. Any item is a need if it is critical to your main objectives for the project. An example might be you have a 3 bedroom house with 5 people living it in. You have to manage your life around the shower. An additional shower is a "need".

A want is an item that will enhance your life, but will not add value to the functional aspects of the home. Whether a new home adding a media room, or an existing home adding a window box seat (that barely gets used), these items are 2 examples of a "want". Another example, a 2 car garage is a "need" because you have 2 cars that need to be garaged, but a 3rd garage is a want (to put the weekend car in). I think 99% of you will get this concept, but sometimes even the most educated client confuses a want for a need and I am here to advise around that.

Your wants list. Simple. List the things you want

• the third, fourth or fifth garage.

• The outdoor kitchen.

• The infinity edge pool

• The glass spiral staircase.

  ..the list goes on and on.

The wants list may be more abstract in definition than that. It may list a concept or idea that is subject to interpretation or consideration. With these types of items, I would ask that you give some insight on what you want from the outcome or an understanding of what you want to feel or how you perceive those items. That can assist the concept. An example might be

I need a space where I can kick my shoes off, lie down on a day bed and feel the warmth of the sun on my face while I read a book, or look at my tablet.

These types of abstract concepts can enhance a home design greatly. It is part of the way you live and it is our roles, as designers, to consider you and how best to achieve your lifestyle outcomes. These will have a material impact on your design and, if we get it right, you will be complementing us for as long as you live there.

Now you have a brief, it's time to start researching your professionals.

Signing off,

Revell