THE HOME RENOVATION BOOK FOR PEOPLE WHO AREN'T DESIGNERS
Home Unlocked : Modern Classic Design
Know what you want before you spend a cent on changing it.
Most renovation advice assumes you already know your style. This one starts a step earlier — helping you work out what you're actually drawn to, then walking you through the decisions that turn it into a finished home. Written for people who never went to design school, and never intended to.
Find your design type — four common design directions and their many subsets, with questions and worksheets that get you to a cohesive look instead of a scrapbook
Understand the structural stuff — the science of knocking down walls, and creative solutions to the five most common layout needs
Everything kitchen and bathroom — plus floor finishes, wall treatments, and the curb appeal and outdoor lighting most people forget entirely
Hundreds of photographs — real finished interiors, not renders, so you can see how a decision actually resolves before you make it
Whether you're buying a new place, building from the ground up, or just refreshing the décor on a rental — whatever the size, whatever the budget.
Home Unlocked : Modern Classic Design
Midnight. Paint Swatches. No Idea What to Choose.
Every renovation reaches the same point. You're on the floor surrounded by samples, tabs open on three different tile suppliers, and a contractor waiting on an answer by Tuesday.
You've saved hundreds of images. You know what you like when you see it. But liking things individually isn't the same as knowing what belongs together in your house.
What stays and what goes? Which wall can actually come down? Is that finish going to look dated in three years? And why does the room still feel off when every single piece in it was chosen carefully?
The problem was never a lack of inspiration. It's that nobody handed you a way to turn it into decisions.
Start With Your Style. Everything Else Follows.
House Story is built on a simple premise: finding your style is the first step to creating the home you want. Not the third step, after the tile is ordered.
It opens with four common design types and the many subsets inside them — described plainly, so you can recognise the thread running through everything you've been drawn to. Thought-provoking questions and worksheets take you from a vague preference to something specific enough to hand a contractor.
Then it gets practical. Knocking down walls. The five layout problems that turn up in house after house. Floor finishes and wall treatments. Kitchens and bathrooms in full. Curb appeal and outdoor lighting. DIY projects and bookshelf styling for the personal layer at the end.
It won't renovate your house for you. It will mean you're not guessing.
Inside the book
What You'll Discover
01
Find Your Design Type
Four common design directions and the many subsets within them — described clearly enough that you can finally name what you've been drawn to all along.
02
Questions & Worksheets
Prompts that move you from ‘I like this’ to a cohesive brief you could hand to a contractor without hesitating.
03
The Science of Knocking Down Walls
What opening up a floor plan actually involves, plus creative solutions to the five most common layout needs.
04
Everything Kitchen & Bathroom
The two rooms that swallow most of a renovation budget, covered in full — before anyone measures for cabinetry.
05
Curb Appeal & Outdoor Lighting
The most forgotten detail of any home. Also the first thing anyone sees, and the last thing most budgets reach.
06
Make It Personal
DIY projects and bookshelf styling — the small final layers that stop a well-executed house feeling like a showroom.
Hundreds of Photographs
Real finished interiors, photographed properly — not renders, not mood boards. Seeing how a decision actually resolves in a real room is what makes it feel possible rather than theoretical.
Across your home
Room by Room
01
Layout & Flow
How a home is arranged decides how it feels to live in. Opening things up, and the five layout problems most houses share.
02
Kitchens
Usually the largest single line on a renovation budget. Worth thinking through slowly, well before the cabinetry quote arrives.
03
Bathrooms
Small rooms where every choice is visible and permanent. Fittings, finishes, and working around what can't be moved.
04
Floors & Walls
The surfaces that carry a whole house. Get these right and separate rooms start reading as one home.
05
Curb Appeal & Lighting
What your home says before anyone reaches the door — and the outdoor lighting almost everyone leaves until the money has gone.
06
DIY & Styling
Projects you can realistically take on yourself, and the shelf-level details that make a room feel like someone lives there.
The Cheapest Time to Change Your Mind Is Now
Grout colour. Socket placement. Whether that wall comes down. Handle finish. The height of one shelf.
None of them feel significant on their own. Together they decide whether the finished house feels considered or merely completed — and every one of them is dramatically cheaper to reconsider on paper than in place.
The most useful time to read a book like this is before the first trade arrives. Not because it makes the decisions for you, but because you'll make them already knowing what you're aiming at.
More Than a Coffee Table Book.
Beautiful enough to leave out. Built to be worked through.
More Than a Coffee Table Book.
Beautiful enough to leave out. Built to be worked through.
A saved image disappears the second you close the app, and it never told you what to do with it anyway. A book stays open on the kitchen table through the whole project — annotated, argued over with your partner, carried to the showroom.
That difference matters more than it sounds when you're making choices you'll live inside for the next decade.
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House Story
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Saving More Images
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Tells you where to start
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Worksheets you can actually complete
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Covers the structural decisions too
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Open on the table while you plan
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Still useful on the next project
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No algorithm choosing what you see
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Who it's for
Written for People Who Care How Home Feels
01
The New Homeowner
You have the keys and a house full of rooms that aren't yours yet. Somewhere sensible to start, before you start spending.
02
The Renovator
Work is coming. This is the thinking you want finished before the first wall comes down and the invoices begin.
03
The Ground-Up Builder
A blank plot and a thousand decisions. Getting clear on your design direction early is worth more here than anywhere.
04
The Renter
No walls coming down, but plenty you can change. Décor, styling and finishes that make a rental feel like it's yours.
05
The One Who Can't Decide
No shortage of inspiration — just no way to narrow it. The questions and worksheets exist for exactly this person.
06
The Thoughtful Gift
For a housewarming, a first home, or someone deep in a renovation. Useful enough to be kept, handsome enough to leave out.
You Won't Read It Just Once
You'll come back to it when the spare room finally becomes a study. When the kitchen quote lands and you need to decide what's worth keeping. When your taste shifts and the room you loved three years ago suddenly feels wrong.
A renovation book earns its place on the shelf by still being useful at the start of the next project. Homes are never really finished — and neither is the thinking behind them.
Questions Before You Buy
Everything worth knowing before House Story lands on your table.
What is House Story actually about?
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Finding your design style, then using it to make better renovation decisions. It covers four common design types and their subsets, questions and worksheets for landing on a cohesive look, the science of knocking down walls, solutions to the five most common layout needs, floor finishes and wall treatments, kitchens and bathrooms, curb appeal and outdoor lighting, and DIY projects for personalising a space.
Do I need to be renovating to get something out of it?
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No. A large part of the book is about identifying what you're drawn to and why — useful whether you're refreshing one room, planning a full renovation, or simply enjoy reading about interiors. The structural material is there when you need it.
Is it any use if I'm renting?
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Yes. It's written to work whatever the size and budget, explicitly including sprucing up the décor on a rental where structural changes aren't an option.
Is it a picture book or something I work through?
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Both. It's built around hundreds of photographs of finished interiors, and it also includes thought-provoking questions and worksheets designed to get you to a cohesive vision rather than just browsing.
I have no design background. Will it be over my head?
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It's written for exactly that reader. The design types are explained in plain language and the advice assumes no training in design or construction.
Does it cover kitchens and bathrooms properly?
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Yes — both get full treatment, which matters given they typically absorb the largest share of a renovation budget.
Would this work as a gift?
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It's a natural fit for a housewarming, a first home, or someone in the middle of a renovation — practical enough to be used and attractive enough to be left out.
Will it guarantee my renovation turns out well?
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No, and we won't pretend otherwise. It gives you ideas, structure and a way of thinking about your own home. The decisions stay yours.
Your Home Should Feel Like Yours
Not like a showroom. Not like someone else's saved post. Like the place you actually live.
That feeling rarely arrives by accident. It comes from knowing what you're drawn to, understanding why, and making a long run of small decisions that all point the same direction.
That's where House Story starts.