Specialty Designers
We enjoy meeting people, getting to know their lifestyles and plans over an espresso and designing homes together, that is what we love about our business, if we were just selling product we wouldn’t be doing it, job satisfaction is everything to us.
We respect the investment that people put into building or renovating a home. We love interior design and architecture, having built and renovated many homes ourselves along with Carlton’s 30 years in the building industry, we pride ourselves in being specialists in surfaces and bathrooms. We work alongside you throughout the process to ensure the result is a space you love and not only has beautiful aesthetics, but is functional and will look and perform well for many years.
Understandbly it can be very bewildering and time-consuming searching for the perfect tiles and bathroom products for your project. We often still see people looking at purchasing off-the-shelf generic bathroom products and trying to fit them in a room thinking this is their only choice, this can be very limiting and does not always deliver the best use of space. We believe the best outcome is achieved by designing in a holistic way, where the layout, design, fittings, and surfaces are all explored and selected together. This ensures functionality and continuity of style; colour palette and design occurs throughout the space and home. We are here to assist you with this service as we find this creative aspect of our role most enjoyable and having been part of many successful projects we repeatedly see the value and reward in well-thought-out, considered design and product choice.
We often find people are not fully aware of all the many options now available to them and as like all industries ours is also forever evolving with new innovative products and designs. It is important and valuable to explore options, gather knowledge and costings so you can make informed decisions that work best for your requirements.
Choosing specialist bathroom and surface designers can take all the hard work, confusion and worry away. Although every project is different, we are aware of all the ins, outs and behind the scenes detail that makes for functional stylish designs. With an extensive library of products and designs to choose from Surfacedesign has all that you need, all in one place. Decorative, indoor and outdoor tiles, engineered timber flooring, sanitary ware, tap-ware and bathroom cabinetry are all displayed in our showroom, this makes for easy visualisation of your overall design and provides peace of mind that you will achieve the very best outcome for your space
The Process
Brainstorm
What are you wishing to achieve? What is the feeling of the home? What are your key priorities for each space? Gathering any collected images that appeal can help with getting a feel of your style and whether it’s a renovation project with existing features or a new build it’s great to know the exterior cladding, roof and joinery colours, as well as the projects location, how much light the space receives, even down to detail like what’s the view outside the window in the room? All of this is important in the design process, this process is also where we get to know you. We then consolidate the style and feel of your space/home and effectively deliver the very best design and combination of products to suit your personality and lifestyle.
Priorities of the room
How are you going to live in this space? What is you or your families’ requirements? Do you need to look at future proofing your space for functionality in your golden years? Does it need to be easy clean? These are all questions to think about when creating an overall design and when selecting: surfaces, storage, mirrors, baths, showers and vanity units.
Detailed Floor Plan
The next stage is developing a detailed layout plan which meets you specific needs and requirements. For new builds, at this stage floor plans and elevations are required and for existing spaces dimensions and existing infrastructure needs to be considered.
Choosing the product
What is the colour palette of the home? What do you want the room to feel like? Is it to be relaxed and serene, bright and invigorating or dramatic and moody. The variety of tiles and bathroom ware in the showroom is fantastic and the textures, colours, shapes, sizes are vast – together we’ll select combinations of products which are cohesive and complement each other while also delivering great aesthetics and fulfilling all functional priorities.
Quoting and working drawings for the builder/tiler
Once the concept plan and selection of products is agreed upon a full quotation is put together for all the items required. Detailed working drawings will be provided for all subtrades involved to follow. If you’d prefer to use one of our associated, experienced tradesmen then we can arrange for installation quotations to be prepared for you.
Ordering product
Ordering of product is arranged based around individual build timeframes and product availability, to ensure all items are on site when required. Product availability can vary depending whether product is currently stocked in New Zealand or needs to be ordered from one of our Italian suppliers which can take 12-14 weeks to arrive.
Installation
We work alongside all tradesmen involved throughout the construction and fitout stage of your project and are here to assist and answer any questions regarding the design, products and installation.
We love to see the finished result of the projects we’ve been involved with and the joy these personally designed spaces give to our clients.