Renovate with Deb Pearcey

I love discovering the dreams that every client has for their home and their family. It may sound trite, but designing a home extension or renovation that brings that dream to life is thrilling. I enjoy the process as much as our clients do and feel fortunate that I’m in a position to be a small part of their experience and watch their dream become a reality.

I love focusing on the heartbeat of every home and for most families that is usually the kitchen, dining and family areas. It’s the part of the home where people come together, where you entertain, prepare food and eat and where families and friends gather. Kitchens are typically a hive of activity, so cleverly designed and innovative solutions are uppermost in my thoughts when I’m designing. However it’s as much about the connected living areas and the overall flow that I believe deserve as much thought in the design process.

The variety of clients and their stories I meet never fails to both inspire and humble me. On any given day, I could meet retirees who have worked hard and now want to enjoy the fruits of their labour; a large multi-generational family who all want to live under one roof; a family with young children and a plethora of pets who are bursting at the seams in their existing home; or young professionals working hard to climb the corporate ladder and want their home to reflect their energy and their taste.

There is no such thing as a typical client, just as there’s no such thing as a cookie-cutter home. So what I love most about my job is that there is no such thing as a typical day!

Listening! I genuinely want to understand what you want from your home. I’m curious to hear your ideas and about the lives of everyone who lives in and visits your home.

I ask a lot of questions and then I listen carefully because the more I understand about how you live, how your family functions and what’s important to you, the better I am able to design an improvement to your home that suits you and that you‘ll be proud of not just today, but for years to come.

Flow and light are probably the criteria that I consider to be must-haves. In years gone by, builders didn’t place a great deal of importance on either and homes are often dark, poorly oriented, badly ventilated with numerous small, closed off spaces. This is my favourite type of home to renovate because the difference can be so dramatic. I spend a fair bit of energy working out how I can introduce both a clear flow through the home and gain more light in every design I do.

I appreciate and can easily transition between a wide range of styles from contemporary, coastal, minimalist and character, but there’s a pretty special place in my heart for Art Deco. I was born in Napier, New Zealand – a place widely regarded as the Art Deco capital of the world (alongside Miami, USA) so you could say that it’s in my blood.

My own style at home is best described as a twist on ‘classic’. I like quality over quantity and timelessness over trend. Home is my sanctuary and I love creating spaces in it that tell my story and the stories of my family, sometimes in unexpected ways.