Design Anatomy

Bree Banfield and Lauren Li

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DESIGN
UPDATED WEEKLY

Welcome to Design Anatomy, where we examine the world of interiors and design. With a shared passion for joyful, colour-filled, and lived-in spaces, Bree Banfield and Lauren Li are excited to share their insights and inspiration with you.YouTube channel launching soon.

7H AGO

Leÿer Design Studio: Designing Spaces That Welcome Real Life

What if a home could feel calmer, look warmer, and bring you closer to your neighbours—all at once? We sit with interior designer Rebecca Leijer of Leÿer Design Studio to explore design with restraint that still feels generous, and the surprising community benefits of a street‑facing, glass‑fronted home in Torquay. From the first sketch to the final touch, Rebecca shares how simplicity, texture, and tactility can deliver spaces that welcome sandy feet, morning light, and real life without dating fast. We dig into the budget realities shaping residential design right now and why pairing building design with on‑site know‑how changes everything. Rebecca and her builder husband are combining forces to deliver a full‑service studio: think early cost clarity, fewer nasty surprises, and smarter paths like extending at ground level instead of paying for scaffolding on a small second storey. We compare laminate and stone with open eyes, defend the “big three” of tapware, tiles, and lighting, and map priorities so clients protect what truly changes how they live. Then we jump to hospitality, where deadlines are brutal and ceilings do the heavy lifting. Rebecca reveals the bamboo canopy that redirected the gaze in an Anglesea venue and the burgundy spray that unified a tricky Ocean Grove ceiling—proof that one bold, well‑placed move can transform a space fast. Along the way, we reframe trends and timelessness: cork can be cool or tired; stone is forever until your taste evolves. The goal isn’t to dodge fashion, but to choose materials you’ll love longer, and build confidence through a curated, step‑by‑step process. Check out Rebecca's socials: Insta @leyer_td & website Leÿer Design Studio If you’re craving a calmer home, fighting scope creep, or curious how a single design gesture can carry a room, you’ll find practical ideas you can use tomorrow. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: what’s the one element—lighting, tiles, or tapware—you’ll never cut from your budget? Bree is now offering a 90-minute online design consult to help you tackle key challenges like colour selection, furniture curation, layout, and styling. Get tailored one-on-one advice and a detailed follow-up report with actionable recommendations—all without a full-service commitment. Bookings now open - Book now Join Lauren online for a workshop to help break down pricing & fees for 2026! You'll learn: What has worked for Lauren over the past year What hasn’t worked, and what she has changed The exact fee structure Lauren now uses across all projects For more info see below The Pricing Shift: How I Structure My Fees in 2026.

52 min
MAR 4

In Conversation with Cléophée Poli: The Art of Turning Everyday Spaces into Living Galleries

What if your home could meet you where you are, every day? We sit down with Paris-based designer Cléophée Poli of Cléo Interior Design Studio to explore the psychology of home and why the best interiors are built around how people live, not what’s trending. Cléo’s path from luxury hospitality to interiors sharpened her instincts for service, diplomacy, and solving problems before they start, and she shares the scripts and strategies that keep projects humane and on track. We trace how culture and climate shape design choices, from Australia’s indoor–outdoor ease to Paris’s nimble apartment living and Scandinavia’s cocooning warmth. Cléo designs across borders for expats and international clients, translating codes and expectations while protecting a clear vision. You’ll hear how she adapts drawings across regions, keeps trades aligned, and uses communication as the true universal tool of design. Then we dive into a standout project at the famed Marché Paul Bert: a packing-and-shipping studio reimagined as a living gallery. With rotating vintage curated from market dealers, caramel and buttery tones, and a custom rug inspired by Eileen Gray and art deco geometry, the space proves even a practical brief can carry real theatre and soul. Along the way, we talk about sourcing vintage that gives rooms presence, building relationships with dealers for off‑market finds, and resisting trend fatigue by choosing objects with weight and memory. If you’re rethinking your space, this conversation is a roadmap: honour your rituals, design for your climate, and choose a few pieces that speak so loudly they quiet the rest. Check out Cléo's socials: @cleointeriordesign , www.cleointeriordesign.com & Paul Bert Project Subscribe, share with a friend who loves design, and leave a review to tell us what makes a space feel like home to you. Bree is now offering a 90-minute online design consult to help you tackle key challenges like colour selection, furniture curation, layout, and styling. Get tailored one-on-one advice and a detailed follow-up report with actionable recommendations—all without a full-service commitment. Bookings now open - Book now Join Lauren online for a workshop to help break down pricing & fees for 2026! You'll learn: What has worked for Lauren over the past year What hasn’t worked, and what she has changed The exact fee structure Lauren now uses across all projects For more info see below The Pricing Shift: How I Structure My Fees in 2026.

1h 8m
FEB 25

Unhinged Design Predictions For 2026

Predictions are only fun when they’re a little risky, so we’re putting our names to a future that feels warmer, braver, and far more liveable. We share the moves we’re already testing with clients—laminate countertops that look sharp and wear hard, wide-blade Venetian blinds in fresh powder-coated colours, and coloured stained glass that solves privacy without killing natural light. The goal isn’t shock value; it’s designing homes that work for real life and still make your heart skip when the sun hits just right. We dig into how the shift to home hangouts is changing the brief: bigger, deeper sofas for sprawling chats, modular layouts that flex, and conversation pits for the bold. Comfort beats perfection, which flows straight into our stance on lighting—no more default downlight grids. Instead, we advocate layered ambience with wall washing, table and floor lamps, and targeted accents that flatter texture and art. If you’ve ever wondered why your room feels harsh at night, this is the fix. Texture and detail are back with a wink. Tassels, trims, and fringing add personality to drapes, cushions, and lampshades without tipping into fuss, while mirrored walls return when treated as architecture—full-height, neatly gridded, reflecting views and borrowing light in narrow halls or entries. We also unpack colour with a hot take on avocado green: pair it with warm timbers, mustard, brass, or even cobalt blue for a striking balance that dodges the 70s hangover. Threaded through it all is a mindset shift: design slow, source with intent, and let spaces evolve. We talk about resisting the fast before-and-after cycle, chasing the right vintage mirror for months, and staying open as a scheme grows. If you’re ready to host more, stress less, and build a home that feels collected instead of completed, this one’s for you. Love the conversation? Follow, share with a design-obsessed friend, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show. Bree is now offering a 90-minute online design consult to help you tackle key challenges like colour selection, furniture curation, layout, and styling. Get tailored one-on-one advice and a detailed follow-up report with actionable recommendations—all without a full-service commitment. Bookings now open - Book now Join Lauren online for a workshop to help break down pricing & fees for 2026! You'll learn: What has worked for Lauren over the past year What hasn’t worked, and what she has changed The exact fee structure Lauren now uses across all projects For more info see below The Pricing Shift: How I Structure My Fees in 2026.

28 min
FEB 18

Studio Isaza: The Art of Elevating Style & Colour of a Queenslander

What happens when you lift a 100-year-old Queenslander, drench a kitchen in deep olive, and build a business around family, community and place? We invited Jana from Studio Isaza to share the gutsy choices behind her coastal move, flood-resilient renovation, and colour-rich design language that feels joyful, lived-in and deeply personal. We start with the sea change: swapping Melbourne’s buzz for a sleepy pocket north of Byron, where trees loom large, streets stay slow, and a raised timber home gathers light and breeze. Jana explains the surprisingly lo-fi mechanics of house lifting, why it transformed ventilation and under-house living, and how a modest extension became a Scandinavian-barn-meets-Queenslander blend. Then we step inside the now-iconic green kitchen—why ceiling-to-skirting colour calms lofty volumes, how tonal drenching draws the eye to a treetop outlook, and the moment of panic that vanished once the primer white disappeared. The conversation moves through client-led colour strategy, the art of selling bold ideas, and the power of dustier, desaturated tones to make primaries feel grown-up. We dig into playful details—scalloped edges, buttery yellow mosaics, burgundy ranges—that add wit without noise. Jana’s second-career path from psychology and film to interiors offers grounded advice on starting small, using Instagram to find peers, and leveraging self-employment for flexibility rather than fewer hours. Along the way, we trade rituals that actually help—ocean swims, quick walks, shameless dance breaks—and share unexpected inspiration sources from cinema sets to fashion palettes and local nature. Check out Studio Isaza here & her insta: @studioisaza If you’re craving a push toward braver colour, planning a heritage renovation, or wondering how to pivot into interiors with kids in tow, this one’s a warm, practical guide. Listen, share with a design-curious friend, and tell us: what colour would you dare to drench? And if you loved the chat, hit follow, leave a review, and join us next week for more design anatomy in real life. Bree is now offering a 90-minute online design consult to help you tackle key challenges like colour selection, furniture curation, layout, and styling. Get tailored one-on-one advice and a detailed follow-up report with actionable recommendations—all without a full-service commitment. Bookings now open - Book now Join Lauren online for a workshop to help break down pricing & fees for 2026! You'll learn: What has worked for Lauren over the past year What hasn’t worked, and what she has changed The exact fee structure Lauren now uses across all projects For more info see below The Pricing Shift: How I Structure My Fees in 2026.

56 min
FEB 11

Spaces That Hold You: The Mood Shift Shaping 2026 Design

Feeling overstimulated by screens and underwhelmed by white-on-white rooms? We dive into the real interior shifts shaping 2026 and explain why homes are moving from performative to restorative—spaces built for calm, conversation, and everyday joy. Drawing on years inside the industry, we unpack how cultural mood, technology, and cost-of-living pressures are changing what good design looks and feels like. We start by reframing trends as signals of how we live, not flimsy fads. That lens reveals a decisive turn from digital gloss to tactile craft: honed stone with movement, handmade tiles with irregular glaze, timber with grain you can feel. Planning follows suit. Open plan fatigue makes way for thoughtful zones that support work, rest, parenting, and hosting without throwing everything into one echoing space. Kitchens become emotional centres with islands that meet dining, softer materials, and art on the walls—rooms that invite people to gather and stay. Warm colour palettes continue their rise. Think ochre, nettle green, duck-egg blue, tobacco, and clay—tones that ground timber and ease the eye. White still has a role, but as accent rather than default. Bathrooms evolve into living spaces with layered lighting, joinery that feels like furniture, and even home saunas as wellness settles into daily life. We also make the case for personality: eclectic, collected objects, family photos curated with care, and flea-market finds that carry stories. The outcome is a home that feels human—not a showroom or a shop-the-look grid, but a place that holds you. We also share a special invite: one final spot on our insider Paris and Milan design tour, with private access, line-skips, studio visits, and a guided morning at the legendary flea markets. For more info about the tour reach out to us on insta: @Design.anatomy.podcast, @sisalla_interior_design & @bree.banfield Want your home to feel calmer, richer, and unmistakably you? Hit play, then tell us the first trend you’re retiring and the material you’re bringing in next. If you loved this conversation, subscribe, share it with a design-loving friend, and leave a review to help others find the show. Bree is now offering a 90-minute online design consult to help you tackle key challenges like colour selection, furniture curation, layout, and styling. Get tailored one-on-one advice and a detailed follow-up report with actionable recommendations—all without a full-service commitment. Bookings now open - Book now Join Lauren online for a workshop to help break down pricing & fees for 2026! You'll learn: What has worked for Lauren over the past year What hasn’t worked, and what she has changed The exact fee structure Lauren now uses across all projects For more info see below The Pricing Shift: How I Structure My Fees in 2026.

54 min
FEB 4

When Good Design Still Fails: Kelly McCloskey on Real Feng Shui

What if your home looks beautiful but still leaves you flat, restless, or strangely unlucky? We sit down with feng shui master Kelly McCloskey to unpack the practical side of energy at home—how doors, corridors, water, light, and small daily habits shape wellbeing, relationships, and money. Kelly cuts through the gimmicks and myths to explain what classical feng shui actually measures: precise facing degrees, twenty-four sectors, annual flying stars, and how personal astrology and timing interact with your floor plan. We dive into entryways and why the front door is the mouth of the house, explore why mirrors can bounce opportunities out, and show how to slow fast corridors so qi settles where you live. Kelly shares the big red flags, like toilets or fridges in the true centre, and the fast, realistic fixes that restore flow without gutting your plans. We talk yin bedrooms, supportive seating, and how a simple console behind a floating sofa can calm the body. You’ll also hear real stories of homes that quietly fought their owners—and the precise tweaks that turned around fertility journeys, teenage anxiety, career stalls, and money droughts. Along the way, we blend design sense with energy literacy: clutter as a universal drag, art behind the bed as intention, lighting as targeted activation, and curb appeal as a magnet for opportunity. Whether you’re renovating, buying, or just rearranging, you’ll learn how to make rooms that not only look right but feel right—spaces that welcome qi, hold it gently, and guide it to the moments that matter. If you’ve ever wondered why a house can be perfect on paper yet wrong in your bones, this conversation gives you the map. Check out Kelly on here on @kellymccloskey_fengshui & website here Enjoyed the show? Follow, rate, and share with a friend who’s planning a reno—or snap a pic of your front door update and tag us. Your review helps more design lovers find energy that truly supports them. Bree is now offering a 90-minute online design consult to help you tackle key challenges like colour selection, furniture curation, layout, and styling. Get tailored one-on-one advice and a detailed follow-up report with actionable recommendations—all without a full-service commitment. Bookings now open - Book now Join Lauren online for a workshop to help break down pricing & fees for 2026! You'll learn: What has worked for Lauren over the past year What hasn’t worked, and what she has changed The exact fee structure Lauren now uses across all projects For more info see below The Pricing Shift: How I Structure My Fees in 2026.

55 min
JAN 28

Inside Studio Gemma: Humour, Hinges, And High-Impact Joinery

Ever wonder why some rooms feel irresistible the moment you touch a handle or close a door? We sit down with Gemma from Studio Gemma, the mind behind the Joinery Edit, to explore the tactile side of interiors—where hinges, board sizes and finish choices quietly decide how your home lives every day. It’s a joyful, candid tour through craft and practicality, with a healthy dose of humour and hot takes on the tiny design decisions that make a massive difference. Gemma shares the origin of her cheeky, high-signal emails and how they morphed into a trusted resource for clients and designers. We dig into the real cost levers that blow up budgets—oversized boards, unnecessary profiles, and construction methods that don’t match the brief—and how to design smarter without sacrificing character. You’ll learn why coloured internals beat white melamine, when an olive knuckle hinge turns cabinetry into furniture, and how to coordinate services so aircon grills stop hijacking your sightlines. We also broaden the lens: London’s millwork culture vs Australia’s defaults, the fear of pattern and the myth of “resale-safe” grey, and the quiet tragedy of heritage homes giving way to cookie-cutter duplexes. Gemma champions hand-painted finishes with visible brushstrokes, natural materials that age with grace, and rooms that hold personality—because houses sell best when people fall in love with them. Along the way, we laugh about painter opinions, energy drinks on site, and the art of choosing once and moving forward with confidence. Check out Studio Gemma & The Joinery Edit. Follow along on her gorgeous Insta page too @_studiogemma_ If you’re craving interiors that feel as good as they look, this conversation will sharpen your eye and embolden your choices. Subscribe, share it with a design-obsessed friend, and leave a review telling us the one detail you’ll never compromise on. Bree is now offering a 90-minute online design consult to help you tackle key challenges like colour selection, furniture curation, layout, and styling. Get tailored one-on-one advice and a detailed follow-up report with actionable recommendations—all without a full-service commitment. Bookings now open - Book now Join Lauren online for a workshop to help break down pricing & fees for 2026! You'll learn: What has worked for Lauren over the past year What hasn’t worked, and what she has changed The exact fee structure Lauren now uses across all projects For more info see below The Pricing Shift: How I Structure My Fees in 2026.

58 min
JAN 21

Best of Design Anatomy Series: 25 Years of David Hicks: A Legacy of Timeless Design

The final in our best of Design Anatomy series wraps up today, revisiting some of our most admired, inspirational & popular episodes for you to enjoy over Summer! Bree & Lauren will be back with more amazing guests in late January 2026 Symmetry, structure, warmth, and a sense of materiality that's instantly recognisable – these are the hallmarks of David Hicks' approach to design, a philosophy he's refined over an impressive 25-year career. We sit down with this influential Australian designer to trace his evolution from what critics once described as "minimalist purity" to what he now calls "decorative minimalism." David's journey began with his own apartment in Melbourne's converted Red Tulip Factory, a project that established his meticulous approach to design. Working with a grid system based on 600mm terrazzo tiles, he created a space where every joinery line aligned perfectly with tile grout – a detail-driven approach that still guides his work today. What makes this particularly fascinating is that this career-launching project was created in the pre-Google era, using dial-up internet and hand-drawn plans, when inspiration came from face-to-face networking rather than endless scrolling. The conversation shifts to how dramatically the design industry has transformed over David's career. Where designers once waited eagerly for monthly magazines or trade representatives bearing materials from international shows, today's instantaneous access to global design via social media has changed how designers work, often prioritising two-second visual impact over thoughtful functionality. Despite these shifts, David has maintained his commitment to balancing what he calls "discipline" (technical expertise in space planning and detailing) with "intuition" (the creative, decorative elements). After completing over 800 apartments, 75 homes and 125 retail projects, David opens up about what actually keeps a design practice thriving – and it's not what most people imagine. The reality of an interior designer's daily life involves far more administration than fabric selection, though he remains passionate about expanding his creative reach through new collaborations, including an upcoming tapware collection. For aspiring designers or anyone fascinated by the evolution of Australian design, this candid conversation offers invaluable insights into staying relevant while remaining true to your authentic vision with one of the best in the industry. Check out David's socials below Instagram : @davidhicksdesign Web: https://davidhicks.com Bree is now offering a 90-minute online design consult to help you tackle key challenges like colour selection, furniture curation, layout, and styling. Get tailored one-on-one advice and a detailed follow-up report with actionable recommendations—all without a full-service commitment. Bookings now open - Book now Join Lauren online for a workshop to help break down pricing & fees for 2026! You'll learn: What has worked for Lauren over the past year What hasn’t worked, and what she has changed The exact fee structure Lauren now uses across all projects For more info see below The Pricing Shift: How I Structure My Fees in 2026.

51 min

Welcome to Design Anatomy, where we examine the world of interiors and design. With a shared passion for joyful, colour-filled, and lived-in spaces, Bree Banfield and Lauren Li are excited to share their insights and inspiration with you.YouTube channel launching soon.

Creator

Bree Banfield and Lauren Li
Years Active

2024 - 2026
Episodes

63
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© 2026 Design Anatomy
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