schemes & spaces

We have a small one bedroom flat in inner Sydney that we wanted to renovate. We loved the basic layout of the place but we needed more storage and a total revamp of the kitchen, lounge, bedroom and bathroom. But organising house renovations must be one of the most fraught processes in the world . It's not like buying a house or a car where you know (pretty well) what you will get for your money. So you have to put a lot of faith in a designer to understand what you want and deliver it. Maria certainly did this for us. From the first phone and email contact we felt a growing confidence that she understood what we liked. When she presented her final plans and mood boards to us we were equally impressed with the professionalism, the design and the choice of materials. When the renovations started she was patient with our occasional phone calls and emails to check things out or make minor changes. She used an excellent joiner, builder and plumber who did some great work. We are very happy with the final result. Maria and her team have managed to turn a small and shabby inner city flat into something that makes our jaws drop every time we walk through the door. We are very happy to recommend her.

Maria came recommended to us through a number of people, and we connected immediately. She is an excellent listener and in equal measure, interpreter of briefs! She also has fantastic ideas and isn’t afraid to put them out there. We engaged Maria to work on an internal renovation, of our 5 bedroom, somewhat dated 1970s home. Maria worked with us on the overall floor plan, including drawings and design - kitchen and bathroom(s) design, WIR, flooring and entrance/staircase. We’re very pleased with the outcome. Maria was extremely generous with her time and no request was too onerous. Her positivity was so highly valued through this renovation process. I would love to work with Maria again & highly recommend her!

I hired Maria at Schemes and Spaces to help me bring a tricky renovation project together. We have multiple small spaces over three levels that needed to work flexibly for a family of four. Even though we had renovated previously, I felt I needed some expert advice and creative assistance in order to bring my ideas together and having Maria on board certainly achieved that. Maria is so easy to work with and really listened to what we wanted. She delivered on our budget and brief and was flexible adapting to our ideas and choices along the way. Her extensive industry knowledge and great interior design flair meant we were exposed to concepts we never would have thought of, and connected to experienced professionals we wouldn't have known about otherwise. Maria has made such a wonderful difference to our project, the "WOW" factor of our completed home, ensured it works with our lifestyle and is a true reflection of us as a family.

Maria is an absolute pleasure to work with. Not only is is just a lovely person to be around, as a designer, she is thorough, meticulous and has a sharp eye for detail. I've worked with her on a few projects now and her commitment and dedication to her clients is second to none. She is creative with great ideas and has a wonderful eye for colour, putting together some beautiful and unusual colour palettes. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her!

I loved working with Maria, from the first time we spoke to set up initial meeting, right through the almost 20 months to completion. Believe it or not, I found Schemes and Spaces on Houzz. We had just committed to our renovation and started browsing in Houzz. We loved a job she did in Leichhardt and we made contact. We hadn't even finalised plans when Maria and I got started. She was incredibly helpful at reviewing plans and layouts and when it came to the interiors, she understood the design vs practicality of family living that my husband and I both sought. We completely renovated and restored a Victorian terrace and we could not have done it without her.

I have worked with Maria on a number of renovation projects. She has a great eye for design, materials and colours. She has a practical approach to design, that not only enables the renovation to look amazing but is practical and able to be built by suppliers. I enjoy helping Maria with her projects and I would recommend her to any of my clients that need to be connected with a fantastic interior designer that loves what she does. I look forward to working with her again. Regards Blake Riley Blakes Of Sydney

I engaged Maria from Schemes and Spaces to help me design an entire resurbishment of my two-bed Sydney city apartment. I actually chose her based on other recommendations I read on Houzz. We met and I liked her immediately and we agreed a fixed fee for the job. She did much more work than she probably initially thought, but never complained and was always very responsive. Her designs were great - I think particularly in the kitchen area. We didn’t agree on every initial design proposal in the apartment, as we all have our own personal ideas and Maria had to try to accomodate the tastes of both me and my girlfriend, but Maria was always flexible and we always managed to come up with something in the end that we were very happy with. Maria is a lovely person and a delight to deal with. I am very happy with my new place, and I couldn’t have gotten those results without her help. It was money very well spent. Five stars!

Maria is efficient, easy going, pleasant, punctual. I love the final product. Because she passes on her professional savings, it ends up being cheaper to use an interior designer than not to. Plus the results are SO much better. Couldn't recommend her more highly!!

Maria re-designed our difficult bathroom and she was fantastic in every respect - taking time to understand our priorities, providing advice and suggestions but not pushing us into decisions, liaising with our builder, drafting the specifications (on several occasions as we worked through options as well as budget implications) and assisting us in quotes and purchasing of fittings and fixtures. As well as Maria's technical knowledge and professionalism she has fabulous 'people-skills' - listening, flexible, appreciating our taste and making the whole process fun, rather than stressful. We highly recommend Maria to anyone who is embarking on a renovation or new build - you will get your money's worth and far more!

Maria was really lovely to work with, she had great ideas and really put me at ease with my indecisive design choices. I would recommend Maria for all your interior design jobs and colour consultantations.

A pleasure working with Maria. She is responsive in every way.... from listening to the brief , following through at every step, to dealing with any problems quickly and effectively. I would highly recommend her.

It was an absolute pleasure in having Maria consult, advise and design our new bar, fireplace and lounge areas. We provided her with our ideas and photos and she provided a beautiful design in return. There was never an issue with small variations to the design and was always enthusiastic and professional. We would have no hesitation in using Maria again or referring her to friends and family.