Your Forever Home

Frances welcomes John Dalla Via from Egger to the podcast this week to talk about sustainable wood based on products. As market leaders in the creation of chipboard with the highest percentage of post-consumer and post-industrial waste, it’s great to understand how leading companies are creating sustainable products across all industries. John outlines what to ask when considering cabinetry and la...

In this episode of the podcast Frances outlines what to consider for your interiors from a sustainability perspective. From floorplans, hard materials, soft furnishings, window treatments and lighting, she outlines ways to perhaps think differently about what you can do to make better sustainable choices for your home. 

Learn the best ways to create or improve the energy load in your home in this practical and informative episode of the podcast with Anna Cumming, Editor of Sanctuary Magazine.   Frances and Anna discuss how you can design, improve, renovate or build a home to create a low impact, sustainable and low energy home that doesn't have to break the bank.   From the 7 star Naters ratings, how to brief you...

As part of the Sustainable Homes and Living Season, Frances welcomes Itay Shimony from Cosentino to chat through the environmental credentials of their hard surface materials produced in Spain. In particular, they chat about the Circular economy Cosentino has created in the company, and the production of minimal silica in their reconstituted stone products, along with carbon neutral Dekton.  As a...

In this episode of the podcast for the Sustainablity Series, Frances chats with guest David Baggs, CEO and Co-Founder of Green Tag - an international creditation for all types of eco products. David explains how products are able to be acceditated using their third party creditation process, that covers a diverse and wide range of products. This assists consumers to select healthier and more envir...

In this episode of the podcast, Frances is joined by her partner, Neil, as they chat about how they went about designing and building their Award Winning, Sustainable Forever Home. They discuss the challenges, the things they didn't compromise on, and how the whole project came together.  This is an information rich episode on how to get started and what to keep in mind when considering a sustaina...

In this episode of the podcast, Frances welcomes back Sally Flower from Home Sanctuary to chat about buying in a more conscious manner. We discuss the changes in consumer buying behaviour in a world full of advertising and messages to consume and want more, when actually it's not necessary.  There are plenty of tips and ways that we can buy in a more conscious way, that will not only save our wall...

Frances welcomes Sally Flower from Home Sanctuary as her guest in this episode of the podcast to discuss how to declutter in a mindful and sustainable way, and minimise stress in your life!   How to choose what to discard from your home, but also how to discard items in a sustainable way.  Learn the simple process to start decluttering and being mindful of the journey, before you set out. The end...

Frances runs through what will be coming up in the Sustainability Season, highlighting some of her guests, as well as who the Season has been created for and what topics she's going to be covering. 

In this Facebook Forever Home Live Frances discusses some key functionality points to consider in your home design before the build starts. She outlines small details that are often missed that affect the functionality of your home, and lead to disappointment when not picked up in time to rectify.

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In this episode of the My Forever Home podcast, Frances discusses how to prevent having under utilised spaces in your home. She outlines the common areas that often appear on floorplans, which are not well utilised and what you need to think about to ensure all space is maximised in your home. This is to save money now, but for the duration of your time in the home.   SHOWNOTES:  Sometimes, homeow...

In this episode of the podcast, Frances outlines how important it is to create a vision for your home, and that a vision is not just about the way you want your home to look. She outlines what a vision is for your home, what you should think about when creating it, and how to go about it to make it about aesthetics as well as functionality.

In this episode of My Forever Home, Frances runs through key considerations when deciding on your flooring type. She outlines 10 buying criteria for choosing the right floor for your home along with key mistakes people can make when deciding on their floor, and how best to avoid those mistakes. The floor in your home makes a big impact and has to work really hard for you, so it’s important to be i...

In this episode of My Forever Home, Frances outlines what she terms the ‘Key 4’ specialists you’ll need on your team for your renovation or new build. She outlines the benefits of engaging your key team early on, along with how they can each save you money and lots of time, as well as mitigate expensive mistakes. She outlines what each of them brings to the equation for a successful outcome for yo...

In this episode of the podcast, part 3 of this three-part series on how Frances designed and built her Forever Home, this episode explores how Frances managed the build of her home. She outlines how she did it, what she’d do differently, and the opportunity cost of project managing your own build. Shownotes : Tender process Usually, building designers will manage the tendering process. This means...

In this episode of this 3 part series on how Frances created her Forever Home, Frances outlines how she specified the interior materials and finishes for her own home.  She walks through her vision for the home, her decision making criteria, things she would do differently now, and how she stayed true to herself when selecting items for her home.    Shownotes  The interiors are often regarded as t...

In this special 3 part series 'Designing and Building my Own Forever Home', Frances will take you on her own Forever Home Journey. In this episode, Part 1 of the series, Frances outlines how she created the vision for her home along with how she researched and found her architect to design the home. This series is a wonderful insight, and personal story, warts and all, of how Frances designed and...

  In this podcast episode, Frances lets you into a week of her life of being an interior designer and running her own business. She outlines each day, what typically goes on and what curve balls she has to tackle when it doesn’t all go according to plan.   It’s a great insight into the world of an open and upfront interior designer, who tells it like it is, and is raw and real in this episode. You...

In this short and sharp episode, Frances discusses the coordination of bathroom floor tiles with the main flooring throughout the home, and how tiles cannot be looked at in isolation from other materials in the home. She chats about the overall colour tone being used in the home, either warm or cool, and how that also needs to be reflected in bathroom material choices.   SHOWNOTES A key bathroom m...

In this episode, Frances makes an exciting announcement about the partnership with B1G1 and White Pebble Interiors. She outlines her goal to use her business as a vehicle to help others around the globe (not just through creating amazing homes for her clients).   She explains how working with B1G1 aligns with the values of the business, the team and her own personal values, by contributing to the...

In this episode of the podcast, Frances outlines the many reasons why you should write a brief for your architect (and your landscaper and interior designer), and why it’s so important. She also provides an outline of what to think about when creating your brief, how to start creating one, and what to include, and who should be involved.  As a starting point for the vision of your home, the brief...

In this Facebook Live, Frances discusses the steps to take if your floorplans are not quite what you want. She outlines the steps you should take to have them meet your objectives, and who you could turn to, to help out in getting them right.  Floorplan is king, so you must be happy with your plans before starting any build works for your renovation or new build.    SHOWNOTES  It's an easy trap to...

In this episode of the podcast, Frances outlines a key change to Your Forever Home with a re-name to reflect how she feels about the brand. In the episode, she runs through her thinking behind the change, what it means to you and what it means to all the resources available to you.

In this Forever Home Live, Frances answers a question from the Renovating and Building your Forever Home Facebook Community about tile layout. Specifically around laying 300x600mm tiles for floor and walls. She also outlines how to finish splashbacks in power rooms and what to consider to determine the height to finish your tile, the impact of mirrors on tile layout, the height of 300-400mm for fu...