Hello again,

Happy Christmas to you – doesn’t that sound a bit peculiar, I’m sure it is closer to June.  Even the young’ns are saying this year went fast, so it must be true.

We’re well and truly in our new studio now, can’t believe it’s nearly been a year since we camped over here, keeping the business going, without any of our clients noticing that we were all working from two trestle tables on the factory floor for a few weeks using my mobile to make contact with the outside world.  No air-con and no luxuries, like a kitchen.

Di sitting in her office!                                  Wow, look at the place now!

Good news is that I won HIA Commercial Interior Design 2016 for the building, so that makes me feel very happy to know that some other people think it is a nice building too.  The Resident Hero team (our kitchens and furniture division) loves the new place and we are about to take delivery of a new, amazing edgebander to take the place of the old one.  I am sure most of you are not excited about this acquisition, but the superb quality of the workmanship from this new machine will make a great difference to the finish of our cabinetry.

Just before I went to Paris and Italy I was awarded Professional Businesswoman of the Year for the HIA at a fabulous lunch at Victoria Park Golf Club in Brisbane.  It was a huge shock and I thought I was going to faint.  Apparently I spoke on stage, but I have no memory of it at all. We have recently been awarded another gong from the HIA, Best Interior Design 2016 for a beautiful apartment that we did on the Brisbane riverbank.  Last Friday I was told that the house that we recently finished in New Zealand was awarded House of the Year New Zealand, so we just can’t believe all this is happening!

New Zealand Project

Our projects are so diverse it is amazing to think that all these very different jobs come out of such a tiny little studio in Noosaville, but we are still working on properties in New Zealand, a large commercial project in country Victoria, which will continue for at least a year or two, medical practices, some amazing houses and more major renovations of apartments.

I was sent some feedback yesterday from a huge interior design-forecasting exhibition in Europe and it was great to see (yet again) that we are not only flowing with the rest of the design world on a global platform, but we remain innovative (and Australian) in our approach to design here.  I personally don’t like trends (might have mentioned that before) because they tend to be just that – a trend.  However, there is nothing more boring that just sticking to the same-old, same-old, so we do actually include popular colours and finishes into our projects to keep them current.

I hope you have a great break over the summer and have time to spend with everyone you love.  Please keep in touch and remember that we’re always here if you need anything.