The beginning of the year is often a season of renewal for many people. We reflect on where we’ve come from and where we would like to go. And while we usually reflect on personal aspects of our lives, our spaces can sometimes reflect a particular stage of our lives.

Let’s perform a small exercise and imagine your home as it is now. Does it reflect you in the stage of life you are in? Does it feel unsettled, strange, or like you need to make some changes?

Maybe the layout doesn’t quite work, the lighting feels flat, or the room still reflects the “you” from ten years ago. We all yearn now and again to improve our living environment. But making the required changes can feel like a complicated project you’re not quite ready to implement.

That’s where a good plan makes all the difference. When you break down an interior design project into clear, simple steps, it stops feeling like a daunting endeavour and starts feeling like a transformative process you can actually enjoy.

Before considering the paint colours or décor pieces, you need a clear vision for what you want this space to be.

We tend to jump straight into shopping, new cushions here, a trendy lamp there, hoping it will magically pull the room together. But without a vision, it’s just going to be expensive guesswork.

Ask yourself a few honest questions:

Every time I meet a potential client, I usually suggest starting with a simple mood or vision board. It doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated; it’s just a collection of photos, fabrics, screenshots, or paint swatches of ideas that reflect how you would like your space to look and feel.

As you gather, patterns will appear. For instance, maybe you’re drawn to curved furniture, soft neutrals, textured walls, or a bolder colour than you expected. That’s your design DNA, and it becomes the anchor for every decision you make.

Once you have an idea of how your future space will look, based on your vision or mood board, you can begin to consider your project's budget and timeline.

Most people underestimate the cost of an interior design project and the time it takes, often ending up stressed halfway through. Instead, think about the budget and timeline as tools that will help you plan for your project, not limits that will punish you.

For example, consider when you’d like to have your finished space, then work backwards. Most interior projects take several months, from conceptualisation to finish, especially if you are getting custom pieces or importing items.

Additionally, you may also want to consider when you want to begin the construction phase of your project. For instance, the project might be more expensive, with more delays during the peak period and just before major holidays than off-season.

With the timeframe and vision board in place, the next important factor to consider is how much money you are comfortable spending on your project. The budget will help you determine how much of your project you can accomplish and if you can opt to phase it over an extended period.

We all fell for the catalogue look at some point: matching furniture sets, perfect symmetry, the all-white aesthetic and spaces that felt designed in an afternoon.

Now, those spaces are starting to feel a bit flat; beautiful, but anonymous and mass produced. We’re finally moving past the idea that interior design has to look like a showroom, and we’re leaning into something much more interesting: authenticity.

Instead of copying a page from a magazine, people are mixing heritage pieces, travel finds, original art with warm, deep finishes that tell your unique story.

For your next project, that means you don’t have to throw everything out and start again. You can build from what you already own, layer in rich textures and more personal choices, and let your space evolve. The goal isn’t perfection anymore, but personality.

At some point, you’ll need to decide: Are you going it alone, or bringing in help? Many people assume hiring a designer is a luxury, but the right support can actually save money, time, and a lot of trial-and-error.

Let’s begin with your mood board. Can you identify your design DNA, and are you able to translate this information into a cohesive design? What about budget and timelines? Can you determine the cost of your project within a realistic estimate? The same goes for your timeline.

Think about where you feel most confident and where you feel stuck.

Perhaps you’re great at choosing furniture, but struggle with space planning. Maybe you can visualise the space, but have no idea how to schedule the various trades.

As a designer, I believe in meeting you where you are, whether it’s your first design project or fifth. Sometimes that meeting can be a one-off consultation; other times it’s full-service support from concept to completion.

A good question to ask yourself is: “Where could expert input prevent a costly mistake?” Often, that’s at the beginning: the space planning, built-ins, and major finishes.

Getting those right early means everything else will fall into place far more smoothly down the road.

The whole idea of an interior design project can feel like one intimidating block for many people. In reality, most projects consist of a series of phases. Once you see those phases, the whole project will be easier to manage.

Most projects follow a rhythm like this:

You don’t have to tackle all of this at once. Focus on one phase at a time. Additionally, you can break each phase into smaller tasks to help you make bite-sized gains.

When I work with clients, I find that simply naming the phase they’re in can reduce a lot of anxiety.

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Even with a solid plan, there will be moments when the space looks worse before it looks better. We’ve all walked into a half-painted space or a room covered in boxes and thought, “What have I done?” That’s normal. The key is to keep going back to your vision, your plan, and your why.

This is also where regular check-ins help. Whether you’re working solo or with a designer, schedule brief moments to review progress, adjust where needed, and make decisions before they become bottlenecks. Having a professional to walk through those decisions with you takes pressure off and keeps the project moving.

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Yes, I want to do this, but I don’t want to do it alone,” that’s exactly the moment to take a small, simple next step. Start by clarifying your vision, then reach out to me for a short planning consultation.

In that one conversation, we can map out your phases, sanity-check your budget and timeline, and give you a clear path forward so your project feels exciting instead of overwhelming.

Your home is where your life happens. If you’re already imagining how much better it could feel, that’s your cue. Your project doesn’t have to start with a sledgehammer; it can start with a plan.