Planning Interiors for a New Build

A new build is the one project where the walls haven’t been decided yet. That makes it the cheapest point to move a power point, widen a joinery recess or rethink a ceiling. This guide covers when to bring in interior design, what to look for on the plans, and which selections to lock in before construction starts.

SECTION N–N | LEVEL: FLOOR TO WALL | HALLWAY, STAIR AND GLAZING | REFERENCE IMAGE

01 PLANS

When to start and what to check before sign-off.

02 JOINERY

Recesses, services and built-in storage.

03 LIGHTING

Wiring positions before the ceilings close.

04 FINISHES

Seeing and documenting selections for the builder.

LEVEL — PLAN

When to bring in an interior designer

The short answer is while the plans can still change. Architects and building designers set the structure, the openings and the room sizes. Interior design tests how those rooms will actually be lived in: where the sofa goes, whether the island leaves room to walk past an open dishwasher, and whether a bedroom has a wall long enough for a wardrobe.

Once the slab is poured and the frame is up, each of those questions turns into a variation. On paper, they cost a redraw.

What to check on the plans

Furniture drawn to scale in every living and bedroom, not just labelled.

Door swings and window positions against beds, desks and joinery walls.

Circulation around kitchen benches, stairs and the main entry.

Where plumbing and electrical services sit relative to future cabinetry.

Our New Build Interior Design service starts at this stage, working from the plans alongside Space Planning.

LEVEL — BENCH TO CEILING

Selections to settle before construction

BENCH — JOINERY

Joinery needs walls built around it

Built-in wardrobes, laundry cabinetry and living-room units work best when the recess, bulkhead and power are planned for them. Decide early where integrated appliances, concealed rangehoods and joinery lighting go, so the frame and wiring suit. See Custom Joinery Design and Kitchen Design.

CEILING — LIGHTING

Lighting is fixed at rough-in

A standard electrical plan often puts downlights on a grid. Plan the light around the furniture instead: pendants centred over the island and dining table, wall lights beside the bed, and dimmable circuits for living areas. Moving a cable later means cutting plasterboard. More in Lighting & Finishes.

FLOOR TO WALL — FINISHES

Finishes shape the build sequence

Flooring thickness affects door heights and thresholds. Tile sizes affect set-out and falls. Stone benchtops need measured cabinetry. Choosing flooring, tiles, benchtops and paint as one palette through Colour & Material Selection keeps the builder’s orders consistent.

LEVEL — DRAWING SET

See it, then write it down

Plans and sample boards are hard to picture at full scale. 3D Interior Visualisation shows the kitchen, the stair void or the main bedroom before anything is ordered, so proportions, sightlines and material pairings can be tested while changes are still free.

Approved decisions then need to reach site intact. Design Documentation turns them into joinery drawings, lighting and electrical layouts and finishes schedules that builders and trades can price and build from, which leaves less to interpret on site.

LEVEL: PLAN | HAND-DRAWN LAYOUT | REFERENCE IMAGE

LEVEL — NEXT

Before the plans are signed off

01 Furniture laid out to scale in every room

02 Joinery recesses and services agreed

03 Lighting planned around furniture, not a grid

04 Flooring, tiles and benchtops chosen as one palette

05 Drawings and schedules ready for the builder