Kitchen and joinery-led interior designer based in Hawke’s Bay, working across New Zealand.
For women who want a design partner to turn an overwhelming home into one that feels organised, under control, and easy to run regardless of whether it’s a kitchen, bathroom, or full home design.
Traditional interior design is dead.
THE OLD WAY
Designers start at the end with colours, mood boards, and decor. You are told the fix is more baskets or better organisation. But pretty finishes sitting on a broken layout never actually solve the problem, they just disguise it temporarily.
THE REAL PROBLEM
Because nothing has a dedicated, built-in home, clutter piles up on every surface; the bench, dining table, and any shelving. The constant cycle of tidying leaves you feeling frantic, exhausted, and like you are failing at running your own home, while everyone else online seems to have it figured out.
OUR WAY
We start where the chaos comes from: the floor plan and the built‑in cabinetry. We design kitchens, bathrooms, laundries, wardrobes, and storage from the inside out, giving everything a home. When the plan and joinery are right, benches stay clear, clutter drops, and the house feels far easier to run day to day all while looking beautiful.
KITCHEN DESIGN —
BATHROOM DESIGN —
WARDROBE DESIGN —
LIVING ROOM JOINERY DESIGN —
LAUNDRY DESIGN —
SPATIAL PLANNING —
KITCHEN DESIGN — BATHROOM DESIGN — WARDROBE DESIGN — LIVING ROOM JOINERY DESIGN — LAUNDRY DESIGN — SPATIAL PLANNING —
The Difference?
What our process looks like
Each step is designed to give you clear visibility—on layout, storage, pricing, and feasibility—before anything is built, so your design and budget stay aligned from first call to final handoff.
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First, we book a 20‑minute fit call to decide whether we’re the right match and what you need from me.
If you’re local this happens at your home; if not, we meet online and look at your existing plans and photos of the space, and I give you a pricing estimate over the phone.
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If we decide to go ahead, we book a longer deep‑dive session to create your project brief.
We talk through how you use each space, what isn’t working, and what you want to change, and I’ll review your Pinterest board and any images you love so I understand your personality and aesthetic—without creating mood boards yet. -
Next, I create concept floor plans and detailed cabinetry layouts for every space you’ve engaged me for (kitchen, bathrooms, living, etc.).
We sit down together to walk through each option alongside 3D visuals of each option to help with visualisation and discuss what you like and don’t like, and choose the plan that will move forward into final documentation.
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Once the concept plans are drafted, I check feasibility and early pricing against your space and budget.
This stage is about making sure the ideas can actually be built and giving you an early sense of cost before we commit to full documentation.
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After we refine the concepts, I produce final plans and technical documentation.
This includes the detailed drawings your builder or cabinetmaker needs to understand exactly what to construct, where, and to what dimensions.
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With the plans set, we lock in materials, colours, fixtures, fittings, and key products for each space.
I also prepare 3D visuals so you can clearly see how the finished rooms will look and how everything works together before anything is built.
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Finally, I hand the full package to your builder or cabinetmaker and brief them on the design.
During the build, I’m available for ongoing support—answering design questions, clarifying drawings, and helping with small tweaks so the finished space matches the design intent.
Real homes.
Real changes.
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Kitchen Renovation
NAPIER HILL
Before: Bottlenecks everywhere, frustrating corner cupboards, and 20cm of usable bench space everyone had to fight over.
After: Two adults can prep dinner without colliding. The appliances are hidden, the bench stays clear, and the room resets itself. -
Extensive Rebuild
NAPIER HILL
Before: A planned extension that looked great on paper, but the daily flow was chaotic and expensive layout decisions were still hanging.
After: A flawlessly engineered layout where every room earns its space. The builder had a clear, complete brief before he started.
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New Build
HERALD ISLAND
Before: Building their dream home, but terrified they would get the storage wrong and be stuck with a house that was as messy as a 90s’ ‘eclectic’ home.
After: Kitchen, wardrobes, and built-ins engineered together. The entire house has a dedicated place for everything from the exact day they move in.
Meet Your Designer
Nichole Davis, the joinery-led designer behind FBD Interiors. I’ve designed over 500 kitchens and interiors for New Zealand homes, from single rooms to extensive new builds. While my work has won national awards and been featured in design media, what matters most is that your home feels calm, beautiful, and easy to live in.
I find the exact friction points in your layout and engineer the built-in systems to fix them, then hand your trades complete, builder-ready documentation so there is never any guessing on site. You avoid expensive mistakes, the project runs smoothly, and you step into a home that looks like you that effortlessly runs itself.
Design is about 10% of your spend. It protects the other 90%.
The advice that is meant to protect your budget is exactly why it blows out. Getting three quotes on an unfinished plan means you are getting quotes for three different kitchens, or bathrooms, wardrobes.
When you pay for professional design upfront, you lock in every specification before quoting. This means no hidden builder costs, no "we thought you meant," and no mid-build surprise invoices. The quoted number becomes the final number.
Let's clear the overwhelm before we start.
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This is why we never expect you to visualise your kitchen from a 2D plan and a tiny tile sample.
You will see exact, photo-real 3D renders of your space before you commit to a single finish. We lock the layout first, then we layer the design, meaning the risk of a very expensive "I thought it would look different" is almost completely removed.
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When you get quotes without a locked design, builders have to guess your finishes—which means every quote is actually for a different kitchen.
By working with us first, you hand your trades a complete, builder-ready specification document. Because there is no guessing on site, the quotes you receive are accurate, comparable, and final.
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No. Right now, you are probably spending your evenings scrolling Pinterest, feeling overwhelmed by 400 different opinions.
We take over the mental load. We map the zones, solve the storage problems, and present you with clear, guided decisions in the exact right order. You get to enjoy the fun parts of the process without project-managing the chaos.
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Your design fee is not an extra cost—it is the insurance that protects the rest of your budget.
The most expensive mistakes happen when decisions are made out of order, or when trades have to improvise on site. We engineer the space so it actually works, and provide the technical documentation that keeps your build on time and out of the redo pile.
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A standard builder’s allowance usually covers the bare minimum: basic cupboards that do not account for how you actually cook or live.
When a joiner does "free" design, the cost is hidden in the build, and their job is manufacturing, not solving your morning routine. We engineer the joinery-first systems that actually lower your mental load, and hand your builder a locked specification so that allowance doesn't suddenly double.
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Ideally, before the slab is poured. If you wait until the builder asks you to pick your kitchen colours, it is already too late to fix a broken layout.
We start by analyzing your architectural plans to catch the hidden friction points, ensuring the walls, windows, and plumbing are in the exact right place from day one.
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Absolutely not. We actually need to see the reality of your daily life—the appliances taking up all the bench space, the corner cupboards that don't work, and the school bags dumped on the island.
You don't have a tidying problem; you have a layout problem. This is a completely judgment-free space, and our goal is to design the systems that fix it.
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You do not have to choose between a pretty space and a practical one.
We do not design fragile show homes; we design camera-ready spaces that are kid-proof and guest-ready. By creating dedicated zones for the school-run scramble and using durable, future-proof finishes, your home will look incredible while actually surviving your family's daily routines.
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Yes. We take the decision fatigue entirely off your plate. You do not need to know the technical answers, the right order to pick things, or how to explain your style to a tradesperson.
We guide you through plain-English options, make expert recommendations based on your habits, and give you the confidence to simply say "yes".
