In the world of home design and renovation, the true essence of a Forever Home™ lies not just in its aesthetic appeal but in its ability to adapt and evolve with the changing dynamics of family life. White Pebble Interiors embarked on a fulfilling journey with Bernadette and her family, for their inner-city Melbourne home, to turn their vision for a home they’d had their heart set on for over 20 years, into a tangible reality. Here we share her journey and delve into the thoughtful process of designing a space that meets the needs of today while anticipating those of tomorrow.
Early Engagement: A Pathway to Success
This project was unique in many ways, not just in its scope but in the client’s proactive approach to involving us from the very beginning. By engaging White Pebble Interiors at the outset of the project, Bernadette had her A-team working together right from the get-go. This enabled here to maximise the expertise of everyone on her team, and have them working together, to get the ultimate result.
A Brief with a Focus on Functionality and Colour
Bernadette’s brief (along with her husband) was to design a home that was robust, sophisticated but not precious, and would work through multiple life stages. She wanted people to walk into her home and feel relaxed and at ease, however materials needed to be heavy-duty with a slight industrial edge. Nothing too delicate but rather durable and low maintenance, and able to withstand two sporty teenage boys.
The special part of the brief was Bernadette’s desire to inject her favourite colour, teal, into the home, without it being overpowering
Being engaged early on, meant we had the opportunity to review the floorplan to conduct a comprehensive review of the plan, ensuring every aspect of the design was optimised for future adaptability, functionality, zoning, noise mitigation, internal flow and spatial planning.
Our collaboration centred on creating a home that would seamlessly transition through various life stages—from the energetic buzz of teenage boys to the peaceful quiet of retirement. This foresight into the home’s long-term use was pivotal in our design process, allowing us to design spaces that could easily adapt to the family’s evolving needs.
In the transformative journey to creating a Forever Home™, understanding the client’s vision, addressing initial concerns, and delivering a space that reflects their personality and meets their evolving needs are paramount.
Bernadette opted to use our full suite of interior design services, which meant we were responsible for the internal elevations and joinery design for all the rooms in the home, along with full colour, hard material, fittings and fixture specification and lighting design, right down to the window treatments, furniture selection, decorating and styling. This was tailored around where Bernadette felt she needed support in the project.
Partway through the project her husband made a comment and asked why she couldn’t go out and choose all the tiles and other materials for the house.
When we presented all the hard materials and colour in our studio her husband made the comment ‘Now I see we could never have done all of that on how own, and if we did, we would have had no idea where to go and it would have taken us forever. I get it now; I see the value’.
Needless to say, Bernadette was relieved that her husband could see how much work was involved, and how having an interior designer curate a shortlist of materials based on their brief was a huge relief and relieved a lot of pressure.
The Collaboration Experience with Bernadette, the Client
“I found the experience of working with White Pebble Interiors really collaborative. Frances made it clear that we could be really open and ask lots of questions, take our time making decisions, and there were always other options. So, if there was something that she presented that wasn’t quite right, it was no big deal. She would go back and look again and find the right solutions for us. She also introduced us to ideas that initially we weren’t sure what we were looking for. We were able to explore them and, in the end, provided us with solutions that we never would have imagined.”
Designing Spaces with Purpose
Living Area
