Want to get started on designing your home using ‘enoughness’ as your inspiration?

Jane Hilliard, Founding Director and Head Designer at Tasmanian design studio, Designful, shares how to consider ‘enoughness’ when designing your home.

This is Part 1 of my conversation with Jane Hilliard.

Hello! This is Episode 237, and in it, I’m speaking with Jane Hilliard. Jane is the Founding Director and Head Designer at Tasmanian based design studio, Designful.

I’m so excited to be bringing Jane to the podcast, because she and her team have the most inspiring and fantastic way to consider and navigate your home design journey, wherever you’re located.

I first came across Designful’s work last year, and since then, have been really enjoying the projects they create, and the ethos their work is founded on. 

If you’re wanting to design, build and renovate a sustainable home that truly reflects you, supports your lifestyle and creates a haven for you and your family … and you’re curious about what that means for your design journey, I think this episode will be super helpful for you. I can’t wait for you to hear what Jane has to share.

Let me start by asking you a question.

What does “enough” look like for you? What does enough home, enough stuff, enough time … what does this all look like for you? Have you thought about it before? Have you thought about it as you embark on your renovation or building journey?

For many homeowners wanting to create their future family home, it can be a battle of figuring out how much home can their budget afford. How much can you maximise, stretch, and squeeze into what you have to spend, what can fit on your site, and what you can make possible in this once-in-a-lifetime dream you’re bringing to reality.

And as humans, it’s natural to want more, to want to expand, and grow and exceed our expectations. However, that can also be a really challenging way to navigate your project journey. Because more doesn’t necessarily mean better when it comes to home design. And maximising, stretching, and squeezing, doesn’t necessarily deliver the best outcomes, the most enjoyable project experience, or the greatest lifestyle in and beyond your home.

If you’re stretched so far that you have to work harder to pay for it all. If the house is so big, it’s hours and hours each week of work and effort to maintain. And if you’re maximising something that doesn’t work at its core, isn’t functional, doesn’t feel great, then you’re actually just maximising problems and frustrations for your everyday life.

You may have heard me say this before: Build less and build better. Quality over quantity will improve your everyday life, every time.

Well, let me introduce you to Jane Hilliard, because she, and her team at Designful, take this even further. 

Jane is the Founding Director and Head Designer at Tasmanian design studio, Designful. She has a Bachelor of Environmental Design and is a Registered Building Designer.

Jane’s aim is to create change and lessen our impact on the planet through the built environment – it’s a challenging task!

Jane strives to make good design available to more people whilst practising enoughness. Enoughness is about understanding what you need to live a healthy, happy and reciprocal life with those around you and our environment and not taking or using more than this.

Her endeavours and passion for sustainability, integration, user well-being, affordable housing and buildability have created the foundations of what Designful provides.

Jane says: “I question clients and prompt them to really consider their lifestyle. What are their true necessities? What is enough? What are their true values? We work out what the needs and desires are for the build – together.” And you’ll hear Jane talk about this in more detail in our conversation.

Jane and Designful take budgets very seriously and invest time in creating concepts that address all requirements of a project, functional, financial, aesthetic and environmental. They like to look at what can be removed to make space for the meaningful.

You’ll hear more about how Jane developed these ideals, and how you can use them in your own project, across this episode and the next. 

And what I hope is that it gives you permission to figure out what ‘enoughness’ looks like for you, so you can create a home that truly supports the life you want to lead, in every aspect of your life.

In this episode, I ask Jane questions such as:

• How she developed a career in building design and started Designful
• How she defines ‘enoughness’ when it comes to home design and building or renovating
• Whether homeowners consider this approach as only for those who are empty nesters, or live in natural environments or are creating second homes.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW.

RESOURCES:

Find more information about Jane and Designful here >>> http://www.designful.com.au/

Follow Designful on Instagram >>> https://www.instagram.com/designfulstudio/

Review their accessible, pre-designed homes at Homeful by Designful >>> https://www.homefulbydesignful.com.au/

Access the support and guidance you need to be confident and empowered when renovating and building your family home inside my flagship online program >>> HOME METHOD

Learn more about how to get started with your home design with the Happy Home Design mini-course >>> HAPPY HOME DESIGN

Access my free online workshop “Your Project Plan” >>> FREE WORKSHOP