Substance Within

Sally is incredible. First, she is a really great listener. From the first time she met us she was hearing our words and taking our cues. She has made choices which we wish we had half the talent to make every step of the way. Second, she is so creative. We had one room which we needed a very special solution for and the outcome totally makes the house for our young family. Third, she is responsive and flexible. It feels like we are in a patnership and it’s long term. She takes us as far as we need to and then allows us to come to her as we are ready. It is a no pressure and comfortable interaction every time. We appreciate Sally so much and think of her every time we walk into the beautiful spaces she has created.

We engaged Sally to work with us on refurbishing our office foyer. Sally listened to our brief, quickly understood our client demographic and provided design options and solutions to suit. Her ideas were creative and advice knowledgable. Sally coordinated trades, sourced furnishings and communicated regularly throughout the project. We highly recommend working with Sally.

Sally helped us at short notice during our renovation by giving guidance on overall colour schemes and provided great suggestions for a number of items (carpets, benchtops, cupboard colours, fittings etc.) we required for completing our builders' tender. She also gave clever insights into how we might look at repositioning elements in our kitchen and bathroom which we adopted into our final design, together with creative ideas around lighting and seating. Overall Sally was extremely responsive and a pleasure to deal with.

From the very first showroom meeting, through product selection, site measure and finally install of our beautiful carpet Sally was an absolute delight to work with. I was lucky to be part of several interactions between Sally and her client and they were all highly professional and respectful. Sally showed great knowledge of the client's needs and was able to express them with ease; we were able to put together an integrated product scheme which included one of our carpets which is effortlessly elegant and sophisticated. Sally shows great attention to detail in her work, I would highly recommend working with Sally on any project. We look forward to working with her again!

We came across Sally from Houzz when we were planning to build an office desk and pantry shelf in 2020. Space planning in these two went remarkably well that, we ended up going with Sally for our bathroom and wardrobe renovations. Sally has a great sense of design and colour selection. She is extremely good at space/lighting planning and considered all our preferences even from the smallest of details. When you work with her, you can be rest assured with a remarkable outcome. Also, we went with her for all relevant procurement needs for our projects and it was just as seamless as it can get. Overall we would highly recommend her to any of our family/friends

We have loved working with Sally.....so much so that after getting Sally's input with our original task for kitchen design we have continued working with her on our expanding project throughout our home. Sally has understood our brief and worked tirelessly to find unique options and make our vision come to reality. We were so keen to build on the character / style of the house and were committed to a modern rustic design approach, Sally captured the essence of our dream kitchen (and now broader home) beautifully. Working with Sally she was always very respectful of any budgetary considerations and provided different options for us to consider. Sally has relationships with a team of highly skilled, respectful tradesmen who's craftsmanship is beyond compare. It is so much fun working with someone as enthusiastic as Sally, it's contagious. There were times when it was overwhelming and challenges that seemed impossible to navigate, though Sally got results and helped with our sanity and took so much pressure off us which was a godsend. We have some amazing individual touches that we would not have had without Sally, from our amazing new carpet, to using existing artwork as a feature and our almost impossible to source custom kitchen handles, just to name a few. Sally is engaging, flexible, patient and persistent.....she will find a way to make the impossible possible. Thank you Sally, we will be eternally grateful for bringing our dream to life.

Sally will always go above and beyond to provide our mutual clients with results that exceed their expectations. Communication is key to a successful project and Sally is very approachable and proactive. Whenever we work with Sally on a project we know there will be clever and intuitive design elements involved! We love installing materials and finishes with interesting colours and patterns that we don’t see all the time. Substance Within are certainly focused on creating a unique style for each client. We will continue to welcome collaborations with Substance Within.

Sally was very easy to work with. She was really aware of my budget (and kept to budget), she was able to access very experienced trade people who are very diligent and component in their work and she has provided me with great suggestions for my refurbishment. She is flexible and full of good ideas. When I was not keen on her suggestions she would them come up with alternative options so that my needs and desires were met. As I am nearing the end of my project it is great to see how things have come together so beautifully.

Sally has been a joy to work with in styling our apartment! With her professional expertise in interior design and decorating she helped inspire us from the beginning in creating a vision inspiration board. With this in mind she sourced unique pieces from a large selection of suppliers. Due to Covid it was very challenging to be able to go out and look at items in person, however, Sally made this process so easy by providing swatches and a digital floor plan so we could visualise how each item would look like and fit into the space. This made our choices so much easier! Our home has come together so beautifully all thanks to Sally and we enjoy coming home to our space everyday. I cannot recommend and thank Sally enough!

I have had the absolute pleasure of working with Sally from substance within over the past two months. She’s been spot on from her design ideas to the smallest finishing touches and actually listens to her customers to make sure they get exactly what they want.

Working with Sally was a very enjoyable experience. This was our first time using an interior designer, and we weren’t too sure what to expect. Sally was great at listening to us and providing us with fantastic options without overwhelming us. There was great open communication. We also love the concepts and products she chose for us and are so happy with the final result.

Sally provided design and planning for the interiors of my extention. Her insight, ideas and collaboration have proven to be invaluable to the project. Sally is a delight to work with. She is responsive to communication and I have found her reliable and trustworthy. I initially sort her services for our bathroom, that turned out beautiful, so I extended her scope of work to include the living areas. I am very pleased with the results so far. I would highly recommend Sally to anyone considering a renovation project. Kym Patterson

My very small bathroom was extended to accommodate our young family of five. Sally designed the layout of our new bathroom perfectly to suit our needs, coordinated with trades, sourced great products and implemented the gorgeous aesthetics. She made sure she listened to what we wanted, but was also great with her suggestions and ideas. Always friendly, easy to communicate with and nothing seemed liked too much trouble. We couldn’t be happier with the end result. There is a real wow factor when entering our bathroom now, that we could not have achieved without Sally. We will definitely be using Substance Within for further projects in our home.

My husband and I engaged Substance Within when we began our home renovation in 2018. Sally has assisted us with designing our new kitchen, bedrooms, powder room, indoor and outdoor living spaces. It has been fantastic having someone to guide us through the process, and help us realise the vision we had. Our home has undergone a major transformation and is now quite contemporary and very functional. We were really impressed by Sally’s concepts which contribution to quite a lot of the structural changes we have made. We had a number of custom furniture pieces designed which are unique, stand out pieces! We are continuing to work with Substance Within as we finish the build process and continue to add decorative elements to the house. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Substance Within no matter the size of your project, Sally is very invested in her work!

Working with Substance Within, has been a pleasure. Our businesses are built on a similar ethos - going the extra mile for our clients, to deliver excellent quality results and personalised service. Sally is a creative and invested professional who provides valuable advice and added value to the projects she is involved in. Looking forward to working together again!

Sally organised a plantation shutter for me and it couldn't have been easier. She sourced a product that was well priced and great quality, and organized the installation which was seamless. Sally was a pleasure to deal with and I'd highly recommend Substance Within.

Sally was really diligent in finding the perfect bedside tables for our master bedroom. My husband and I really wanted solid wood but everything we found was either tacky and cheap looking or too expensive! Not knowing where to look next, I asked Sally for her advice and she took me to see the bedside tables at the trade showroom – they were in stock and we took them home that day! It saved us running around all over and we couldn’t be happier. Absolutely recommend Sally for her advice, product knowledge and customer service. Thanks Sal.

It was great working with Sally as she knows her job really well. Very much accommodating with budget and time and understands the need of client.

I recently enlisted Sally’s help with a small project in my home office. On completion, I was able to appreciate how an Interior Designer can add value and stay within my budget! Sally went out of her way and was friendly and accommodating. She took all the stress out of this project, liaising and following up with the relevant tradies to get the best price, product and service - I will be using Substance Within again, and would absolutely recommend Substance Within!

Sally took the hassle out of choosing a company to install plantation blinds in my lounge. Her professionalism, enthusiasm and knowledge made the process so easy. Sally discussed different options, ideas and confirmed that shutters would be the best choice. After that i left it up to Sally and the blinds were installed hassle free 10 weeks later. The price was very competitive and workmanship very good quality. Thank you Sally for being here to overview the installation. Your friendly outgoing personality and passion for design and wealth of ideas made the morning such fun. The possibility of other projects were discussed. Sally listened to my suggestions and I would be very comfortable using her design service for future renovations.

Thanks again Sally for all your input into our 2017 refurbishment. If you often feel your ears burning it’s because I am mentioning your name when people are questioning me about where I sourced various items. You were a great resource as we took on the various stages of our renovation. You always came on board supplying me with names of reliable distributers, trades people or websites that directed me to a range of available materials which you correctly perceived would be to our taste. This was not only time saving for my part but also eliminated the feeling of becoming overwhelmed when confronted with too much choice. Thanks to you our “house renovation journey” has been a happy experience, converting our house from a 70’s style to one that is more modern and up to date with today’s fashions. Libby Wilson – Mother-in-law

Sally assisted me with new window dressings for bedrooms and lounge. She listened to my needs and vision and provided valuable recommendations in sourcing a quality product and service at a reasonable price. Thanks Sally for your guidance, I am delighted with the result.

We felt Sally engaged with our vision, and was the only designer we had through who really listed to our requirements. Sally’s enthusiasm in developing our kitchen design for our needs, while keeping us current with product selections and up to date trends, not only gave us a functional kitchen but one our family can enjoy for decades. Start to finish we were kept informed and felt in control and not pressured to make decisions, we were entirely comfortable. Upwey Family of Five.

Sally has an evident passion for interior design. Her skills in researching products and sourcing materials to best suit the client is impressive. Although I was happy with my initial design I’m so glad I consulted Sally as her ideas took it from good to great. She was able to show me on paper what the tile pattern would look like on the floor with different sized tiles so I could work out exactly what size I liked and needed. She then managed to source the perfect tile when I was not able to find one anywhere. I’m so pleased with the final outcome and would happily recommend Sally as someone who listens to your requirements and then builds on them to make your home exceptional.

I have used the services of Design by Substance Within several times over the past 2 years during a major house renovation. Each time I have approached Sally for advice or assistance she has been enthusiastic and timely. Her product knowledge is exceptional and her suggestions are always tailored to suit the period of my home, my own personal style and preferences and the budget I'm working within. She has great contacts within the industry and has been able and to source the best prices for products and jobs and she is always on hand to manage trades and deliveries. She is also extremely capable when it comes to finding solutions for difficult spaces; most recently she was able to source me a beautiful mirror for a very tight hallway space, which has brought light to the hallway and completely opened up the space visually. I will continue to employ the services of Substance Within and recommend them to anyone needing design assistance.

I originally approached Sally for advice on optimising the functionality of the outdoor space so that it became an extra room. The interior of my home is small and therefore I really needed another area to entertain. The workmanship on the decking is immaculate! I would't have thought to use the picture frame boarder but I admire it every time I am in the space. The next stage will be to plant out the garden beds, which Sally is also helping to arrange when I am ready. I have also always wanted plantations shutters, but thought they were out of my budget. Sally was able to use her industry contacts to obtain a price that was considerably less than the direct quote I received! I am so happy with the affordability, professionalism and genuine care that Substance Within Design and Sally herself have delivered. I would not hesitate to recommend working with Sally on your next project!