By Zephyr and Stone

Ever wondered what an interior designer actually does? It’s a common misconception that interior designers are simply home decorators, who specify colours, furniture, home decor and style spaces. And although interior design services vary from one interior design studio to the next, colours and styling is only a small part of designing a home…

Interior designers are experts in space planning, reviewing and optimising layouts and floor plans, creating detailed elevations, cabinetry plans, renders, and selecting colours and materials to suit a home style and vision. Phew — that’s a lot right!? Here’s how we do it…

Kitchen island bench and dining table in living room rendered design — Zephyr and Stone • Interior Design Render

Design Brief

The first step in any interior design project is developing a design brief. A design brief is a document that outlines your interior design ideas, and what you want to achieve for your new home or renovation project. It includes details about your preferred interior design style, home functionality needs, your lifestyle and home project budget.

Think of it as a roadmap for your building or renovation project.

It provides us, as interior designers, with a clear understanding of your vision and room decoration ideas, so we can customise and tailor design solutions to your specific needs. It also outlines the scope of your home project so we can create a plan that meets your home decor requirements. We’ll ask you questions like — who will be using individual rooms in the house, when and how will rooms be used, what home functionality would you like to achieve, and which colours or materials you favour or want to avoid. We’ll also ask you to share home inspo, images and home decoration ideas that really define your vision and style.

This allows us to start to visualise interior colours, materials, and how you’d like to live in your new home.

Floor Plan Review

As interior designers, we know that getting your floor plan and layout right is critical to the success of your design.

So, before we start designing individual spaces, we always review your current layout or new architectural plans to identify any potential flaws or opportunities for improvement. As interior designers, we consider factors like the flow in a room, natural light, storage and furniture and room proportions. We do this after establishing your design brief, as this allows us to ensure your vision for spaces is achieved within your layout.

Z+S Tip • A floor plan review should always factor in your vision for how you’d like to use and live in each space. For example, a kitchen design that draws a crowd and is the hub of the home is achieved by planning the space and adjacent living spaces accordingly.

Floor plan layout review in interior design packages by zephyr and stone — Zephyr and Stone • Floor Plan Review Interior Design Packages

Space Planning

A vital part of a Floor Plan Review is space planning, also referred to as spatial planning. Space planning is the process of designing and arranging furniture, cabinetry, storage, fixtures, and other elements within a space to optimize its functionality and flow. The goal of space planning is to ensure that each room in a home is not only aesthetically pleasing but also serves the intended purpose.

Space planning takes into account the size and shape of the room, flow and connection to adjacent spaces, any zones required within a space for specialised tasks (like a dedicated study nook or home office zone within a living room) and which activities a room needs to cater to. It especially considers factors such as furniture placement, storage, and traffic flow.

Z+S Tip• Any furniture you’re keeping or furniture you’re planning should always be considered when space planning a new home or renovation project. Good space planning will be optimised so your furniture fits and is orientated perfectly within each space. make the most of the available space while also ensuring that the space is easy to use and move around in.

Floor Plans, Elevations + Cabinetry Design

Once space planning and the layout is finalized, a designer will create detailed drawings to visualise how all the spaces will look. This includes elevations, sections, and detailed joinery drawings drawn to scale, including furniture, and lighting accessories in the exact position and height they sit or need to be installed.

These preliminary drawings help the client to visualize the home design and ensure that everyone is on the same page. At this point, we also provide inspo imagery, material and colour samples, and details of the proposed products and finishes to visualise the colour scheme and design. We can even create renders to give you a realistic, three-dimensional look and feel of spaces!

Interior design render of kitchen and dining room by zephyr and stone — Zephyr and Stone • Interior Design Render

Finishes Schedule

Once you’ve reviewed and signed off on all design drawings, materials, products and colours we create a Finishes Schedule document for your project. This can be shared with your builder or building team and used throughout your project to refer to the product and material specifications for each room in a house.

The finishes schedule documents all the building materials that have been chosen and includes details like room, colour, sizes, profiles, suppliers and installation notes relating to the design. A finishes schedule allows your builder and trades to provide a very accurate quote as to how much your new build or home improvement project will cost.

Zephyr and Stone Interior Design

The Zephyr and Stone interior design team is based in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, and provides interior design services throughout Australia — with both in-home site visits and interior design online service available.

We also provide one-off Interior Design Dates which allow renovators to go it alone, and only utilise our interior design expertisewhen and how they need it, without the commitment to full-scope interior design. And if you’re a home builder or property developer, we have a range of interior design packages to cater to your project and specification budget. Get in touch or find out more about our services.

Keep reading? Here are the 5 Steps To Plan Your Home Renovation

clickable poster of DIY renovation guides and interior design resources by zephyr and stone — Zephyr and Stone • DIY Renovation Resources

What Does an Interior Designer Do?