Like many people, interior designer Lynda MacDonald found herself out of a job when COVID-19 hit in March 2020. After a long career working for large companies such as the Rug Collection, Orson & Blake, Coco Republic and Robertson’s Furniture, Lynda was shocked to find herself without a job, with less than a day’s notice. “Fast forward a year and a half and it was actually the best thing that has happened to me,” says Lynda who feels the experience gave her the push she needed to set up her own interior design business, The Design Chaperone.
Interior designer Lynda MacDonald
“I had to scramble to figure out my next move. Unfortunately, I was at a poor stage in my life financially having had a few large moves in the previous years. I didn’t have any savings to draw from or a partner to lean on. I was on my own. But this is where I thrive!” says Lynda who had been working under a probationary period and thus had no leave or payout entitled to her.
But in just three months, Lynda established her business – she learnt to build her own WordPress website, did an online marketing course through The Modern Marketing Collective and set up a profile on Houzz. “I got my first client through Houzz and then I was on my way, and I haven’t looked back!” says Lynda who has built a niche clientele within the Gold Coast and Northern NSW regions, as well as a steadily growing Instagram following.
Gold Coast apartment project
Now 18 months on, Lynda has absolutely no regrets. “I believe COVID gave me the opportunity to reflect on what I really wanted to do and the time I needed to spend in lockdown at home creating it. If I was working full time, I really wouldn’t have had the time or energy to do it all at night. It was the push I needed to go out on my own and I absolutely love it!” says Lynda who started by offering very simple furniture plans but now does full scale renovations that start with the first stages of floorplan analysis and move through to styling. Lynda will also be adding ‘renovation toolkits’ to her offering soon, designed for clients wishing to go through the renovation process on their own.
Broadwater apartment project
“In my first year of business, I was taking any job that came my way and would work with all clients no matter what their style direction was. Through this I have learnt that my love for contemporary interiors with a lean towards ‘modern farmhouse’ is the style I want to be known for,” says Lynda. Her recent Maison Cruz residential renovation project, completed on the Gold Coast, showcases this aesthetic.
Lynda’s Maison Cruz renovation
And while Lynda has hit some major milestones in a relatively short period of time, she has solid plans for the near future that include hiring a senior interior designer, moving into a studio space, and working alongside her mother. “My mother has finally been able to come back from Dubai and she is being trained up as my assistant so it may turn into a family affair! With so many businesses struggling through COVID and so many negative stories in the media, I have turned my disappointment into the best year of my life!”
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Entering the second week of Sydney’s latest lockdown, we reckon you may be feeling the cabin fever or getting the urge to improve your surrounds! But rather than feeling suffocated and restless within your abode, property stylist Justine Wilson, reckons now’s the best time to give your home its long-awaited makeover.
“Take charge of this period at home to do the little touch-ups that have been nagging at you,” she says. “Having a well-presented home can have a wonderful effect on productivity and mood.”
Try her five essentials tips to refresh and reinvigorate your home during this lockdown.
Introduce a nice ‘work from home’ space:
A work from home space can be a full room, or just a designated zone set up for your needs. Consider unused areas like under the stairs, or corners in guest bedrooms, so you still have the dual purpose of the room when lockdown lifts.
The key with any study nook is to ensure you have good task lighting, comfortable seating and a great work surface be it a full desk or a console table. Add something uplifting like nice art, a pinboard, or even plants to help you feel like it’s a nice space and to help with inspiration.
Declutter and organise your utility areas:
The good news is retailers like Kmart and IKEA can still deliver, so you can find many affordable storage solutions or organising products. Try introducing nice wicker baskets, acrylic containers, pretty boxes, or tubs to have all your products neat and accessible
“Consider DIY jobs like putting up floating shelves which can be useful storage or display,” says Justine. “There are many great home DIY projects and youtube has many wonderful tutorials on every subject!”
Bring life into your home:
Feeling stuck indoors can be frustrating, so try to bring the outside in with real plants. Having beautiful floral arrangements, or potted plants can be a great way to bring cheer into your home and provide something beautiful to look at. Now is a great time to learn about potted plant care, and you’ll find arranging them around the home provides a nice distraction.
Refresh your living and bedroom zones:
This can be as simple as doing a deep clean, shaking out rugs, vacuuming, cleaning skirting boards and dusting, and washing your blinds. Having a clean space can create a clear mind. Swapping out scatter cushions, sofa or bed throws, and refreshing your decor by moving things around can really change up the feeling of your rooms.
You can use a lot of what you have just rearranged or change placement for an instant refresh. Lighting candles and having ambient lighting like floor or table lamps on can create that cosy calming environment we all need right now.
Paint:
We all say if only I had the time! Well, now we really do. It’s the perfect time to do the more psychically demanding home improvement tasks.
Repaint your front door, the fence, or your walls. Or consider painting your kitchen or bathroom cupboards for a dramatic yet cost-effective change. Other options are feature walls or give older furniture a fresh coat to breathe new life into it. Easy jobs like swapping out handles and hardware are also a great excuse to keep your mind busy and can make a great impact.
-Justine Wilson is a leading property stylist from Vault Interiors, located in Sydney.
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Median spend for home renovation projects stabilised at $20,000 in 2019, according to the annual Houzz & Home Australia survey of more than 4,500 Australian respondents. At the higher end of the market, 10% percent of homeowners spent $150,000 or more on their home renovations.
Danny Broe Architect. Image: Mark Wilson
Nearly half of homeowners reported a renovating project in 2019, (48 percent), tackling nearly three interior rooms on average. When the study was fielded in early 2020, planned activity for the year remained consistent with the previous year, however, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on planned renovation activity remains to be seen.
Baby Boomers (ages 55-74) accounted for nearly half of renovating homeowners in 2019 (45 percent), an increase from 2018 (40 percent). Gen Xers and Millennials follow in renovation activity with nearly 39 percent and 14 percent of home renovators, respectively. Gen Xers and Baby Boomers reported the highest median renovation spend in 2019 at $20,000 and $18,500 each. Millennials followed, with a median spend of $12,000. Kitchens commanded the highest median spend at $15,000, a decline from previous years, followed by master bathrooms ($13,000) and guest bathrooms ($10,000), which both experienced increases in median spend compared with the previous year.
“Following significant growth in home renovation activity over the past few years, we’re seeing the market settle somewhat in terms of activity,” said Marine Sargsyan, Houzz senior economist. “That said, project scope and spend have remained stable and we’re seeing Baby Boomers continue to bring consistency to the market as they pursue projects that will allow them to age in place.”
More than half of renovating Baby Boomers do not have plans to move out of their homes within the next decade. Baby Boomers and Gen Xers were motivated to pursue a home renovation project because they’ve wanted to do it all along and finally had the time (39% and 30%, respectively) and financial means (42% and 39%, respectively). The biggest motivation for Millennials was to customise a recently purchased home (38%).
Image: Renotech Building
COVID-19 impacts home improvement
The Houzz & Home survey was fielded prior to the declaration of the coronavirus pandemic, between February and March, 2020. At that time, nearly half of homeowners planned to continue or start renovations this year (48%), and nearly one-third of homeowners planned to make repairs (29%).
“Subsequent surveys have shown that four in five homeowners who were in the midst of a project at the start of the pandemic were able to continue with renovations. That said, some homeowners have opted to delay certain elective renovations due to implications related to social contact, labour and material availability and personal discretionary spending,” said Marine. “Deferred maintenance will accrue during this period, setting the stage for a renewed burst of activity following the pandemic.”
The Den Interiors. Image: Suzi Appel Photography
Planning takes time
Preparing for a renovation in 2019 took homeowners longer than it did to actually renovate, on average. While construction took between 2.4 and 5.7 months on average for different types of projects, the planning phase took roughly twice as long. Kitchens require lengthy planning, averaging 11.1 months, compared with bathrooms (9.2 months). Surprisingly, entry, foyer or mudrooms, which typically command a smaller square footage, took nearly eight months on average to plan.
Homeowners look to professionals for help
Nearly nine in 10 homeowners hired a home professional for renovation projects in 2019. Baby Boomers and Gen Xers were most likely to hire a pro for their project (89% each), followed closely by Millennials (88%) who experienced a five percentage point growth in pro hiring compared to the previous year. Electricians and plumbers were the most common renovation professionals hired by renovating homeowners (60% and 45%, respectively).
Home offices get to work
While kitchens, living rooms, bathrooms and laundries continue to be the most popular rooms to renovate (23, 20, 17 and 17 percent, respectively), home offices were added or upgraded by more than one in ten homeowners in 2019 (11%). Millennials were more likely to pursue a home office project (15%) than Baby Boomers (9%).
Projects funded by savings
Cash from savings was by far the most common form of home renovation payment (80%). The next most common source of funding was credit cards (20%), which were more commonly used by Gen Xers than the other generations.
The Houzz & Home Survey
The annual Houzz & Home survey is the largest survey of residential renovating, building and decorating activity published. The survey covers a wide range of renovation projects in 2019, from interior renovations and additions to home systems, exterior upgrades and outdoor projects. Data gathered includes historical and planned spends, professional involvement, motivations and challenges behind building, renovation and decorating projects, as well as planned activities for 2020. The 2020 study includes more than 4,500 respondents in Australia alone, providing insights into the home improvement activity of the millions of users of the Houzz site and mobile apps.
The Australian Houzz & Home Survey was sent to registered users of Houzz and fielded February-to-March 2020.
Houzz is the leading platform for home renovation and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish. On Houzz, people can find design inspiration, research and hire home professionals, and get advice for their projects. For home professionals, Houzz Pro ( houzz.com.au/pro ) provides an all-in-one software solution that empowers industry pros to stand out, win clients and manage their projects efficiently and profitably.
It’s taken longer than expected for Steph Spaninks and husband Matt to finish transforming vintage caravan Belle but it’s been worth the wait. Although it’s rather cruel that the pandemic cut short their much anticipated first trip!
They bought Belle (because all made-over caravans need a name, don’t you know?!) at the end of 2018 for $3,000 and she was “stinky, gross and run down” with free dead mice!
“The chassis (frame) however was in good condition, which is an important thing to look for when buying a vintage van otherwise you will have extra costs fixing or replacing the chassis,” Steph says.
AFTER
BEFORE
“Matt is very handy, I love interior design and we like to have a project on the go! We also love to travel! At that stage we had a one year old and thought that caravanning and a young family go together nicely. In saying that, I like my creature comforts so if I was going to get into caravanning it was going to be done my way!”
AFTER: Exterior
BEFORE: Exterior
Although the couple naively thought it might take six months, it took 16 months to finish the complete rip out and rebuild. But to be fair, they only spent weekends working on her and Steph got pregnant part way through with their second child which saw productivity, understandably, drop!
While cutting to size and installing the new 3mm ply walls was the hardest part, it was a clever trick with vinyl flooring which they think made the biggest difference to the end result.
“We got vinyl peel and stick planks from Bunnings, cut them in half and laid them in a herringbone pattern,” Steph says. “The parquetry floor adds a sense of luxe to the van and elevates the whole feel of the interiors. The floor is definitely my favourite part.”
Steph and Matt did almost all the work themselves, only outsourcing the electrical and mechanical work (new suspension, axle and electric brakes) and getting the exterior spray painted. “You can DIY paint the exterior, however by the end we had renovation fatigue, a newborn and just needed to get it done!”
The impressive, marble-look bathroom
Having a bathroom in the van was a prerequisite so when designing the new floor plan, they had to work out how they could fit it in the 16-foot van and still have decent kitchen and floor space.
“Matt came up with the idea to ‘build in’ the vanity and bench into the cupboard next to the bathroom to allow for maximum room in the bathroom without taking up more floor space. The faux marble waterproof ply board is from Bunnings which is the hero of the bathroom!”
AFTER
BEFORE
Nobody wanted to eat here before!
The young family attempted their first trip in March and headed north from Sydney, stopping in South West Rocks, Byron Bay and the Gold Coast. However, Covid-19 restrictions and border closures were looming so they packed up the van early and headed back home. “We can’t wait to get away again once restrictions lift,” Steph says. They may also rent Belle out on Camplify (like Airbnb for caravans and RVs).
Always keen for the next project, Steph and Matt are now working on a cubby house, sandpit and playground for their kids!
Online marketplace Gumtree has announced the launch of the Gumtree Support Network, an initiative designed to bring together those in need of essential items and services, with those able to provide them.
From delivering groceries or essentials, to assisting small businesses, checking on pets and providing online lessons for housebound kids, it aims to further connect local communities, via the hashtag, #LocalLegends.
Want to offer help?
Create a new listing and add the #LocalLegends hashtag to both listing title and description in any category
Mark as ‘offering’ when drafting your listing
Select new ‘contactless trade’ option and follow Gumtree’s safe trading tips.
Looking for help?
Type the #LocalLegends hashtag into the search bar
Or create a ‘wanted’ listing and add the #LocalLegends hashtag to both your listing title and description in any category
Request or offer ‘contactless trade’ and follow Gumtree’s safe trading tips.
With community at its heart, Gumtree hopes that this will provide an additional way for its users to support each other via acts of kindness and celebrate the local legends that are already making a difference in people’s lives.
They’ve also launched a new ‘Contactless Trade’ badge for Gummies to add to listings as a signal to the community that they are following COVID-19 Safety Precautions. By selecting the new badge when posting, users demonstrate that they are willing to:
Provide more photos or a video inspection
Transfer funds electronically
Post the item or allow it to be picked-up without close personal contact
Or, delay trade if recommended by the latest Government guidelines.
Gumtree has also partnered with Sendle, to help facilitate reliable and safe contactless delivery for Gumtree transactions during the pandemic. Sendle offers a door-to-door service and free premium membership to all Gummies looking for a convenient and safe delivery alternative.
Gumtree Australia’s Head of Marketing, Amanda Behre, said: “Gumtree is a platform that connects local communities – and that role is more important than ever. Our goal with the Gummie Support Network is to create a movement of kindness, inspiring Gummies to lend a helping hand to their community, where they can.
“We hope that the launch of the hashtag enabled Gummie Support Network will help make it even easier for those who can volunteer their skills, to connect with those who really need support.”
To say it’s been a tough start to the year for Few & Far, known for their beautifully merchandised homewares stores, would be an understatement. So winning a global retail award this month has come as a very welcome boost and motivation to keep on keeping on!
The NSW South Coast husband and wife business was selected as one of six winners from 32 applicants worldwide for the prestigious Global Honouree Award at the Global Innovator Awards (gia) recently held in Chicago.
“We are extremely proud of this accomplishment and to be recognised for ‘retail excellence and setting the standard for global retail moving forward’. We hope that our resilience and determination will inspire and provide value to your readers and offer an example of how we can overcome catastrophes only to come out stronger,” says Tara Solberg.
Tara Solberg of Few & Far
After a devastating summer of bushfires that ravaged the South Coast (they have stores in Huskisson, Berry and Bowral) followed by the crippling impact of Covid-19, the local homewares and furniture retailer has continued to surge ahead, maintaining a successful business and loyal following.
Trade publication Giftguide works together with the International Housewares Association (IHA) and each year, picks an outstanding Australian retailer to represent the country at the awards in Chicago. At the Gala Dinner, five global winners are chosen from more than 30 retailers worldwide.
“It came as a huge surprise when we received an email that Few and Far had been nominated to represent Australia at the gia awards. The news took a little while to digest, as we were both in disbelief, but we were so excited and felt so encouraged to be recognised,” says Tara, who runs the business with husband Danny.
“In order to compete for the ultimate Award of ‘Global Honouree’, we were asked to complete an evaluation that assessed our brand vision, business development, store design, visual merchandising displays, marketing and advertising promotions, customer service initiatives and an emphasis on how we have been innovative. Through documenting our answers, it was clear that we had a strong brand with a clear vision that focused heavily on innovation. We have thoughtfully considered every little detail, and have always been aware of the need to offer a memorable and unique shopping experience with a personal approach.”
Tara says they are big believers in storytelling and use this as a tool to ensure they’re being innovative in every aspect of the business, most importantly, their merchandising.
“The award announcement was made live at 1am Sydney time on 24 April and I’ve got to say it’s the first award we’ve ever received in our pyjamas! We can’t wait to attend the event in 2021 in Chicago and to be able to celebrate our win and to share an inspirational experience with the many other businesses that have also been selected.”
After making it through the bushfires, the Solbergs were hoping for a busy Easter to make up for at least some of the revenue they’d lost during the summer holiday period. But then along came COVID-19!
“When it initially hit, we were extremely nervous as there was so much uncertainty and the landscape was constantly changing. However, we’re extremely fortunate that the hard work and plans we have put in place prior to this have led to creating an established business, therefore we are still open and trading successfully during this unprecedented time.
“When COVID-19 turned the world upside down, we realised we needed to act quickly and invested heavily with energy, time and money into polishing our online space. Fortunately, our online store has been growing steadily for the last 12-to-18 months and our social following has also been growing at an impressive organic rate. We immediately acted on expanding our product range online as well as introducing an e-Decorating service offering interior design services without the direct contact which has been hugely successful!”
They’ve also introduced some ‘how-to’ styling videos on their social media channels with an emphasis on improving your home and creating a sanctuary you love through isolation. “As a result, our online store has been performing better than ever and we are using this time to put more procedures in place to ensure we continue to maintain longevity and continued growth.”
Before all these challenges, Few & Far was on target for its best year yet. Stores and warehouses were fully stocked, ready for their busiest period of the year. They’d invested in extra staff and due to their business model offering both retail and wholesale, they’d also invested heavily in even more stock that was expected to arrive in time for the February trade fairs (all due to be paid for by the January takings).
“There really isn’t a lot that can be done to recover from these events except to just keep going and to be extremely grateful that we still have a business, premises to operate in and a future to look forward to,” Tara says.
“Staying open throughout this period and still having the ability to trade (even in this extremely quiet landscape), has enabled us to make the most of any opportunity. We’re thankful for our large and spacious stores that offer our customers an escape and room to wander. If you can take a positive out if it, I guess the silver lining is that it’s definitely been the push we needed to ensure our online store is the best it can be and we’re definitely using the down time to put more procedures in place to ensure we continue to maintain longevity and continued growth.”
As for life on the other side of Covid-19, Tarahopes that the emphasis on ‘home’ will always remain. “Our homes are a reflection of us, our travels, aspirations, memories, style and personality, so why not create a beautiful space to live? With restrictions in place for everyone to stay at home, we have seen a rise in the need from our customers (old and new) to make their home more comfortable and personalised. It’s almost like they’ve realised the importance of living in a beautiful space and perhaps prior to this may have felt there was something was missing in their lives.”
At the same time, society has been forced into becoming more comfortable and confident with purchasing or using services online. “We definitely see that as a trend that’s here to stay, however through being forced to purchase online, we also believe that the need for bricks and mortar experiences is also more important than ever. We are all waiting in anticipation to be able to get back out there to explore, to connect and to enjoy the experience of life. There’s no denying that physical experience will always outweigh the digital.”
For now, who could blame Tara and Danny for basking in their glory a little longer? “To think that what started out as a little store in Huskisson on the South Coast of NSW will now be recognised on a global scale is completely mind blowing! We pride ourselves on our personal approach to all aspects of our business and our distinctive style that mixes the old and new in a curated and thoughtful manner. To be recognised for what we love to do is just the cherry on top!”
