Jessica Smith of Curated Spaces and Studio Smith Interior Design shares her top tips for maximising space, improving flow and avoiding costly mistakes during your project.
Most people assume an interior designer comes in at the end, once the walls are up, the kitchen is in and the hard decisions have been made. In reality, that’s the wrong way round. An interior designer needs to be one of the first on your design team to help add value from the beginning, saving you from costly mistakes and making the whole self-build process more efficient.
WHERE SPACE MEETS PURPOSE
Space isn’t just about square footage. It’s about flow, proportion, light, and the relationship between rooms. Get those right and even a modest home feels generous.
It’s also about everyday practicality. Where do you put your coats, shoes, hoover and all the things that don’t have a home? Often overlooked during renovations, interior designers consider storage at the layout stage as it shapes everything that follows.
Most clients come to an interior designer after experiencing the cost of a poor layout – wasted spaces. A good floor plan does the hard work upfront, giving clarity before the build begins so you’re not second guessing decisions. It reduces stress onsite, avoids costly changes and quietly supports your everyday life.
A HOME THAT WORKS AS ONE
The biggest mistake in renovation projects is treating each room as a separate problem. In reality, every space affects the next.
Layout decisions don’t sit neatly within one room. A small change, like moving a door or adjusting a wall, can affect how the rest of the floor works. Looking at the whole home allows decisions to be made together, so the space flows properly and nothing is fixed in isolation.
Map how you move throughout your home before you make any major design decisions.
CLARITY BEFORE CONSTRUCTION
Extensions are often the go-to solution when a home doesn’t work. However, the problem is rarely a lack of space; it’s a poorly considered layout.
Before committing to a major project, work with an interior designer to interrogate the existing footprint. Rather than extending, one wall may need to come down, or the kitchen and dining rooms could be swapped. Dead circulation space could be absorbed into living areas; these changes are often more cost-efficient and impactful than building out.
That’s not to say an extension isn’t the right answer, but it should come from a clear understanding of what you already have. Understanding how your rooms are performing and what you need them to do ensures the result adds real value to everyday life.
ARCHITECT OR INTERIOR DESIGNER?
Architects and interior designers aren’t interchangeable, and the best self-build projects use both from the start.
An architect works on the structure: the bones of the building, planning permission and the technical drawings that make a build legally and structurally sound. If you’re extending, reconfiguring the layout, or making changes that require consent, you need an architect or architectural technician.
An interior designer works on everything within those walls: how spaces function, flow, feel and are specified and furnished. They consider details like the height of a light switch and where sockets sit in relation to furniture.
Bring your interior designer in alongside your architect, not after. Structural decisions directly impact the interior and changes are always more expensive onsite than on paper.
CONSIDER LIGHTING EARLY ON
Lighting plays a huge role in the look and feel of a room, creating zones and mood, so it shouldn’t be an afterthought. Not considering lighting early enough can leave you with rows of spotlights on a grid that don’t fully illuminate what they should, with no flexibility for how the space is used in the evening.
Lighting and electrical planning should be designed around your layout. You need a clear sense of where you’ll sit or cook to understand where task lighting is required and where you want to create an atmosphere. These decisions must be made before the first fix, because once ceilings are plastered and walls are painted, the opportunity has passed. Getting it right makes a space feel considered and intentional.
CREATE FLOW WITH A CONSISTENT DESIGN LANGUAGE
One of the most effective ways to make a home feel larger and more cohesive is to establish a clear design language throughout. This doesn’t mean every room should look the same, but that colours, materials and details speak to each other, so the eye moves comfortably from space to space without jarring transitions.
Practically, this means carrying a floor finish from hallway to kitchen, running a consistent skirting profile throughout, or repeating a finish, hardware choice or tile type to create rhythm and repetition. These decisions are easy when planned from the outset, but difficult to retrofit once rooms are finished in isolation.
THE DETAIL IS WHERE THE DIFFERENCE IS MADE
The homes that feel truly special aren’t necessarily those with the largest budgets, but those where even the smallest decisions have been carefully considered.
A self-build project is thousands of decisions made in sequence. Making them intentionally, with the whole home in mind, results in better flow. That’s what an interior designer helps you do, and the earlier they’re involved, the more of those decisions they can help get right.
Jessica Smith is the founder and interior designer at Curated Spaces and Studio Smith Interior Design