Category: Blog

The difference between a decorator, architect and interior designer

“What’s the difference between a decorator, an architect and an interior designer?”
This is a question we get asked often. It can sometimes be confusing trying to figure out which specialist will be right for your project and what scope of work you are undertaking.

Decorator

A decorator can help you with styling your rooms. If you just need help choosing colours and soft furnishings for a small project then a decorator might be what you need. We can assist you with furnishing your home.

Architect/Building Designer

If you are embarking on an extension, adding another floor, or tearing down and rebuilding, you can commission an architect or building designer, but come and chat to us first and we will recommend the appropriate person for the project – we work with building designers, architects and draftspersons.

Interior Designer

Ideally, we like to be involved in the project right from the start, assisting you with choosing the perfect building designer/architect or working out the space planning ourselves. We design from ‘the inside out’ making sure all the spaces in your home work well and flow, and draw in all the furniture to scale to make sure the spaces created function well. Depending on your budget and style we can engage an appropriate building designer once we understand the scope of the work. Or, if you have your plans already we can work with your architect or building designer to ensure the best result and add all the extra detail required to make your home function as you require and be beautifully designed.

Renovations

An interior designer can work with you to completely transform the interior of your home. If you are embarking on a large-scale refurbishment or renovation that retains the existing building envelope, a skilled interior designer can coordinate the project from start to finish. 

New Homes

Interior designers also work on new homes to ensure that the interior spaces function to enhance your lifestyle and layer your design to create an individual aesthetic. If you are building a new home, we can work hand-in-hand with your architect to ensure a seamless design. It is best to contact us at the beginning of the project so that we can ensure that the exterior and interior detailing work harmoniously, creating a unified vision.

How to effectively use marble in your home

We really value marble. We specify many natural materials and we encourage our clients to use them as they last and don’t date, they just ‘wear in’. However when it come to marble, many clients come to us saying they love marble but are afraid to use it.

A great example of this is at the Queen Victoria Market in the market hall where Cararra marble has been used for all the bench tops. These bench tops are over 100 years old and food is prepared on the bench tops daily and are scrubbed down every day. If you are ever nearby swing past and have a look – they look fabulous – honed, slightly worn but still beautiful.

When travelling overseas, we walk through many different types of buildings, temples and churches with marble floors that have had dirt and all sorts of things dropped on them throughout the years and yet they still look good… see the images below that I took when I was in Venice – the marble in these images is probably over 300 years old!

With marble bench tops in the kitchen – you need to relax and just enjoy the work of art that is your bench top. Scrub it down once very couple of weeks with a cream cleaner and a Scotch-Bright pad and on a daily basis just wipe the surface with warm water on a sponge and then wipe with paper towel.

Worst case – if you get a stain try using ‘Gumption’ multi-purpose cleaning paste and leave it on overnight, this gets most stains out.