FAQ's

GOT A QUESTION?

Check out our FAQ’s below. Got a question about something else? Get in touch here.

Where are you based?
We are an Australia-wide service covering all areas – Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin and everywhere in between. All consultations are conducted remotely where you share photographs, plans (if available) and details about your home via email/Dropbox/Google Drive etc. From there, we have a thorough briefing process to ensure we understand everything about your home and what you’re hoping to achieve with it. Every single ‘Before and After’ on our website (including on our gallery page) has been done remotely and without ever setting foot near the homes!
Why Hotspace?

A great facade design is not just about choosing a nice colour scheme and updating your landscaping (otherwise you end up with the same facade; just in a different colour and a tidier yard).
At Hotspace, we design house facades differently and we know from years of  experience that the most stunning facades result from;
1) a clever blend of new design details (eg Modern, Contemporary, Hamptons, Coastal etc) and existing house features to ensure a beautiful and cohesive transformation of your facade that is still sympathetic to the original style of the home.
2) a stunning combination of neutral colours, materials and landscaping to provide interest, warmth and depth to your facade to ensure an eye-catching, inviting home that lasts the test of time.

Why not DIY my design?

It can be tempting to try and design your home’s facade renovation (or new build), especially with all the ideas & inspiration available online these days. But a gorgeous, well-designed facade is not something that can be whipped up with a few nice colours and a peppering of design ideas from the internet (in fact, this is the biggest mistake we see people make). A superbly designed facade consists of many unique design principles working together to create a well balanced, cohesive and eye-catching look. If you’ve tried and not yet succeeded in coming up with a suitable solution for yourself, perhaps it’s time to seek professional guidance. At Hotspace, we are are specially trained to turn your existing facade into a thoughtful and striking design that is specific to you, your home’s shape and style, your financial investment and your location.

What do I get from you?

Much like an architect, we provide you with all the colours, materials, dimensions and details your tradies or builder needs to carry out your facade renovation (or new build). However, instead of pages of complicated plans and legends, we provide you with an easy-to-read Renovation Design Plan so you can easily understand the details and complete it in one hit, or chip away at it over time.

How many options do I get?

We believe it’s better to focus on developing ONE outstanding facade design for your home, than two or more average ones. Our job is to provide you with the best, most thoroughly thought out design – not confuse you with lots of options!

Do you build/manage my renovation for me?
Hotspace is a design-only service (like an architect, but focusing solely on facades). We provide you with the complete house facade/front yard design (in the form of a Renovation Design Plan) which you use to implement your renovation; managing the individual tradies yourself or passing on to a builder to manage the whole project for you (**Builders LOVE our Renovation Design Plans!).
Are you architects? What happens if our design is structural?

Most of our designs consist primarily of cosmetic updates. Some very minor structural changes may be required in some cases (around 10-20% of our projects) but these are generally very simple and inexpensive to achieve. All dimensions and details are included inside your Renovation Design Plan. If further documentation/working drawings are required by your builder or council, these can be easily be drawn up by a local drafts-person.

How much do you charge?

Our fees vary according to the size and scope of your facade project, but typically range between $4400+gst and $6900+gst (payable in three instalments). This includes all the colours, materials and product details you need to know to implement your new facade design; together with a full colour illustration. All recommendations are presented in a PDF document we call a ‘Facade Design Plan’ which you can share with contractors, tradies and suppliers to ensure your renovation goes exactly according to plan! See example Facade Design Plans below.
Example_1.PDF (contemporary example)
Example_2.PDF (hamptons example)
Example_3.PDF (modern federation example)

What's the process to work with you?

We have a 6 step process to your new facade design;
Step 1) You send us a selection of photos (and plans if available) of your home, together with a Pinterest board link or any inspiration images you love.
Step 2) You complete our pre-consultation questionnaire about your current facade, what you’re wanting to achieve, your budget (if known) and a few other things.
Step 3) We meet over Zoom (or phone) for a thorough briefing session (1-1.5 hours) where we discuss everything about your facade in detail; a) the existing structure and finishes, b) potential design ideas, colours, materials and themes, c) council requirements (only if required), d) anything else we need to know/discuss.
Step 4) From there, we have all the information we need to get started on your design and preparing your Renovation Design Plan. 
Step 5) Next we complete your 3D colour illustration so you can see exactly what it is going to look like! Total design and illustration time is between 5-8 weeks depending on our workload.
Step 6) Now your facade design, Renovation Design Plan and 3D colour illustration are completed, we send these to you for review. You are absolutely free to change the design at any time (but 99% of our clients never do – they love their designs so much!).
To start the ball rolling, we require a 30% deposit on credit card and a confirmed date for our telephone briefing session.

I can pay a regular colour consultant to help me with my renovation – why should I use Hotspace?
Colour has a very important role in improving the look of your home’s exterior, but there is a lot more involved in creating an amazing transformation. Our exterior design team will help you achieve a transformation that would be impossible to do with paint alone.
Do you have a minimum requirement for the size & budget of renovations you'll work on?
Not really, but we find most of our clients spend between $30k and $130k on the exterior of their home (more, if adding a pool).
Our builder says he will give us free advice about our renovation. Why is using Hotspace any better?
There are hundreds of possibilities or potential renovation ideas for every property. Builders do generally have some good ideas, but it’s the pulling together of the ideas to create a cohesive, designer looking renovation that suits the original your style of home, that they are not skilled at. Also, the more you spend on your renovation with a builder, the more money they make! A Renovation Design Plan is an excellent tool to give to your builder to follow – to let them know exactly what you want them to do for you.