Best Interior Designers in Whanganui: Kitchen, Colour and Whole Home Specialists

Choosing between the best interior designers in Whanganui comes down to matching the right level of help to your project, whether that is a kitchen and joinery design, a colour scheme for a villa, or a set of renders to look at before the builders start. The interior designers in Whanganui below cover spatial planning, colour consultation, kitchen and bathroom design, furniture selection and window furnishings for homes and workplaces alike. Stella Design Co and Terry Lobb Colour and Design are two of the studios profiled here.

1Stella Design Co

Stella Design Co is a boutique interior design studio run by Sophie from 199A Wicksteed Street in central Whanganui, with kitchens and interior joinery as its main focus. The studio takes on full home renovations and new builds as well as single rooms, and also designs interiors for businesses. It suits homeowners who want floor plans, elevations and finish selections they can hand straight to a builder or cabinetmaker.

Services

• Kitchen design for renovations and new builds
• Bathroom design, including fixture and tile selection
• Laundry design, on its own or matched to the kitchen
• Interior design covering colour palettes, furniture, flooring and soft furnishing selection
• Bespoke interior joinery for wardrobes, home offices, shelving and bar areas

Highlights

• Winner and highly commended in the First Time Entrant category at the Kitchen Studio awards, 2020
• Runner up for Best Small Space at the Kitchen Studio awards, 2021
• Certified Designers Society Student Scholarship recipient, 2020
• Sponsored by Blum New Zealand to study the BCITO and NKBA Diploma in Kitchen Design

Location & Contact

Name: Stella Design Co
Address: 199A Wicksteed Street, Whanganui
Phone: 021 125 1612
Website: stelladesign.co.nz

2Terry Lobb Colour and Design

Terry Lobb Colour and Design Ltd is an interior design and colour consultancy based in Whanganui and led by creative director Terry Lobb. The practice covers interior colour specification, kitchen, bathroom and laundry design, furniture layout and window furnishings for both homes and workplaces, and can carry a project from concept through to installation and styling. It suits clients who want one designer coordinating colour, joinery, soft furnishings and trades across a whole house.

Services

• Interior colour consultation and specification
• Kitchen, bathroom and laundry design for new homes and renovations
• Spatial design and furniture layout, with lighting, flooring and wardrobe selection
• Custom made curtains and blinds, with free measure and quote on acceptance

Highlights

• More than 20 years working in interior design, kitchen design and bathroom design
• Works throughout New Zealand, with the lower half of the North Island as the main area
• Experience designing for clients with allergies and for colour deficient clients
• Product sourced from New Zealand, Europe, the United Kingdom and America to suit the brief
• Takes commercial and workplace projects alongside residential homes

Location & Contact

Name: Terry Lobb Colour and Design Ltd
Address: Whanganui
Phone: 027 602 3298
Website: terrylobb.co.nz

3Studio Gibson

Studio Gibson is a Whanganui interior design and 3D visualisation studio led by Anna Gibson, working to fixed design packages rather than open ended hourly work. The services run from a two hour clarity session through to a full design roadmap with mood boards, selections and photorealistic renders, plus facade concepts for exterior colour schemes. It suits homeowners who want to see a space before committing to it, and builders or other designers who need visuals for client approvals.

Services

• Design Clarity Session, a two hour working session on layouts, colours, finishes or styling
• Design Roadmap Package with mood boards, colour palette, furniture concepts and fixture selections
• Design Partner Package with ongoing selections support, site visits and design check ins
• Photorealistic 3D rendering, priced per room
• Facade concepts, supplying a high resolution image of your exterior in a chosen colour scheme

Highlights

• Founded by Anna Gibson, who holds a Bachelor of Computer Graphic Design and a Diploma in Interior Design
• More than two decades of creative experience across graphic design, branding, styling and photography
• Rendering work supplied to other interior designers and to builders, as well as to homeowners

Location & Contact

Name: Studio Gibson
Address: Whanganui
Phone: 021 041 0855
Website: studiogibson.co.nz

Interior Designers in Whanganui at a Glance

How to Choose the Right Interior Designer in Whanganui

• Decide first whether you need a single consultation, a full design package or ongoing support through the build, because studios price those three things very differently.
• Check the designer has done your type of project before, since a character villa renovation asks for different skills from a new build kitchen.
• Ask exactly what you receive at the end: mood boards, floor plans, elevations, a finish schedule, or 3D renders you can show a builder.
• Confirm who orders the product and coordinates the trades, and whether that sits with the designer or stays with you.
• Agree the design fee and what it covers, including how many rounds of revisions are included, before any drawing work begins.

Frequently Asked Questions About Whanganui Interior Designers

What does an interior designer in Whanganui actually do?

An interior designer plans how a space works and how it looks, then specifies the pieces that deliver it. That usually means layout and spatial planning, colour and finish selection, kitchen, bathroom and laundry design, lighting, flooring, joinery, furniture and window furnishings. Some designers stop at a documented plan you implement yourself, and others stay on to order product, brief the trades and style the finished rooms.

How much does interior design cost?

Most studios quote per project rather than per hour, and the fee scales with how many spaces are involved and how detailed the drawings need to be. As a rough guide in Whanganui, an initial brief appointment sits at around $275, a two hour consultation at around $495 plus GST, a single room render from a few hundred dollars, and a full design package from roughly $1,200 upwards. Ask for the design fee in writing before work starts, and check whether product supply and project management sit inside or outside that number.

Do I need a building consent for an interior renovation?

Cosmetic work such as repainting, new flooring, curtains or replacing cabinetry like for like generally does not need consent. Moving or removing walls, altering the structure, changing plumbing or drainage, or reconfiguring a bathroom usually does. The rules and the current exemptions are set out on the government building website at building.govt.nz, and your designer or builder will normally handle the application on your behalf.

Are interior designers registered or licensed in New Zealand?

Interior design is not a licensed occupation here, so there is no national register to check the way there is for builders or electricians. Judge a designer on qualifications, portfolio and references instead. The restricted building work inside your project is a different matter: structural and weathertightness work must be carried out or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner, and you can look anyone up on the public register at lbp.govt.nz.

Which parts of Whanganui do these designers cover?

Coverage is district wide rather than suburb by suburb, so a studio based in the central city, around Wicksteed Street, will travel out to the rural blocks as readily as it works a few streets away. Designers working from Whanganui also take projects further afield across the lower North Island, so distance is usually a question of travel cost rather than availability. If your property sits well outside the city, say so at the first enquiry and ask how travel is charged, because it is often billed on top of the design fee.

Can I hire an interior designer for just one room?

Yes, and it is one of the more common briefs. A single kitchen, bathroom, laundry or living room is a normal piece of work, and several studios offer a short consultation aimed exactly at people who are stuck on one or two decisions. Room by room also lets you spread a larger project over time while keeping the finishes consistent.

What is a 3D render and is it worth paying for?

A render is a photorealistic image of your space built from the design drawings, showing the real cabinetry, finishes and colours before anything is ordered. It is worth the money when you are making an expensive or hard to reverse decision, such as a dark kitchen, a bold exterior colour or a wall that is coming out. Renders are also used to get sign off from a builder or a client, which is why some designers buy them from a visualisation specialist rather than producing them in house.

How far ahead should I book?

Start talking to a designer as early as you can, ideally before plans are finalised and well before you have a build slot booked. Design work takes weeks rather than days once revisions and product lead times are counted, and joinery in particular has to be drawn, priced and manufactured before it can be installed. An early conversation also lets you find out what a studio’s current lead time looks like and plan the rest of the project around it.