If you’re building or renovating, you’ve likely already gathered a collection of inspiration and finishes you love. A few flooring samples. Some bookmarked bar stools. Maybe even a dream pendant light.
It’s easy to assume that once you choose the right details, everything else will come together. But what I often see in projects that stall or start to feel overwhelming is that the smaller decisions are being made too early.
The issue isn’t your taste. It’s that the core direction hasn’t been fully resolved. And that’s often because three key design decisions haven’t yet been made clearly enough to guide the rest.
Here’s what they are:
1. Flow
This isn’t about whether your home is open plan. It’s about how movement actually happens. Where you pause. What you see when you enter. How one space transitions into another.
Even if the floor plan is finished, I often help clients sense-check whether the home will feel right in everyday use. Will the dining table get good light? Does the entryway feel grounded or exposed? Does the hallway connect, or does it just pass through?
When flow isn’t quite resolved, even beautiful finishes can’t fix the disconnect. When it is right, the rest of the design has a clear structure to build on.
2. Function
Every home has high-pressure zones. These are the parts of daily life that carry more weight. It might be school mornings, meal prep, or just needing a space for bags and boots to land.
These aren’t Pinterest-worthy moments. But if they’re not designed for early on, they show up later as clutter or frustration.
My role isn’t to create a house that simply looks good in images. It’s to design a home that works cohesively for how you live and what matters to you. That kind of thinking is best brought in before cabinetry is drawn or joinery is priced.
3. Feel
You probably already have a good sense of the style you love. But what often gets missed is the emotional tone of the home.
Do you want the space to feel calm and layered? Bright and energetic? Soft and neutral? A trend leader with wow factor?
These decisions are often unspoken, but they shape everything from ceiling heights and window placement to material contrast and scale. If that tone isn’t clear early, the project can drift. If it is clear, the decision-making gets sharper, faster, and more aligned.
In summary:
Choosing finishes without defining flow, function, and feel is like buying shoes before you know what event you’re going to. It creates rework, doubt, and overwhelm.
When you take the time to define these early building blocks, even loosely, the rest of your design process becomes a lot easier to navigate, and a lot more enjoyable to experience.
If you’ve got solid ideas, a good floor plan, and a few key selections in motion but something still feels a little disconnected, this could be why.
How to move forward:
If you’re unsure what to focus on next, here are a few small ways to get started:
For flow:
Walk through your floor plan in your mind, as if you’re living a typical day. Start at the front door and trace your steps. How do you move through the kitchen, laundry, bedrooms, and bathrooms? Picture where things get dropped, how groceries come in, and where you tend to gather.
If something feels awkward, even if you can’t quite explain it, it’s worth taking a second look. Visualisation and concept refinement can often unlock exactly what’s missing.
For function:
Make a short list of the daily tasks that feel hardest in your current home. Things that create clutter, take too long, or feel like a design compromise. (Think: “nowhere to dry the towels” or “benchtop always covered in paperwork.”)
These kinds of things are gold during the design process and they’re usually easy to solve when caught early. If you’ve already got plans underway, it’s not too late to refine around your pressure points.
For feel:
If you’ve saved a folder full of inspiration but it still feels a bit all over the place, try this: open three images you love, side by side. Don’t look at the furniture. Look at the vibe. Are they warm or cool? Calm or high contrast? Soft and layered, or clean and minimal? Are there similar aspects about these 3 images?
You don’t need to define your style in perfect words. But being clear on the emotional vibe you’re drawn to can help us build the rest of your design around something more intentional.
If you’re ready to bring clarity to the next stage of your project, I’d love to hear where you’re at. This is the work I do – refining your vision so everything that follows is easier, smarter, and more aligned.
