Best Interior Designers in Dunedin: Colour, Layout and Full Home Schemes

Finding the best interior designers in Dunedin starts with matching the scale of your project to the right studio, from a single colour scheme through to a full new build interior. Interior design in Dunedin covers space planning and layout, colour and material selection, window furnishings, and kitchen and bathroom design, and two of the studios here work from Stafford Street in the central city. Robyn Buis Interior Design and Gina Riley Interiors both work directly with private clients across the greater Otago region.

1Robyn Buis Interior Design

Robyn Buis Interior Design is a studio on Stafford Street in central Dunedin, led by senior designer and owner Robyn Buis, working on residential and commercial interiors. The studio is also a showroom and retail space, with a sample library covering drapery and upholstery fabrics, wallpapers, tiles, flooring, fittings and custom furniture. It suits anyone from a homeowner wanting a full interior and exterior scheme down to someone after a single cushion or a colour for a front door.

Services

• Interior design for residential and commercial projects, from moving existing furniture around to a full interior from the ground up
• Interior and exterior colour schemes, including colour draw downs, specification lists and Photoshop renderings
• Kitchen design with mood board, in depth product specification and liaison with tradespeople
• Bathroom design with mood board and product specification
• Custom drapes, blinds, shutters, upholstery and soft furnishings, plus timber flooring, wool carpet and tiles

Highlights

• Robyn Buis holds a diploma in Interior Design and has over twenty years of experience across residential and commercial design
• She has lectured on the Creative Studies and Interior Design course in the Design Department at Otago Polytechnic for over ten years
• The Stafford Street studio runs as a working space, showroom and retail destination with a comprehensive materials sample library
• Handmade lampshades are made in store, with small group lampshade making workshops available by appointment
• A free initial half hour consultation in the studio, and a published pricing guide showing how the hourly rate translates into a project

Location & Contact

Name: Robyn Buis Interior Design
Address: 5 Stafford Street, Dunedin
Phone: 03 477 3982
Website: robynbuisdesign.co.nz

2Gina Riley Interiors

Gina Riley Interiors is an interior design studio based in Dunedin and run by Gina Riley, specialising in residential projects for private clients across the greater Otago area. The studio works on new builds and on enhancing existing homes, with a remote option for people who want guidance without in person visits. It suits busy households after practical, budget conscious design, including custom storage and child friendly spaces.

Services

• Interior design consultation covering room arrangements, colour schemes and furniture and decor selection
• Online design run entirely remotely, through video calls, email and phone
• Full service interior design, an in person package with comprehensive specifications and detailed drawings
• Design for new builds and for refreshing or modernising an existing house

Highlights

• Gina Riley holds a Diploma in Interior Design and graduated from the Interior Design Business School in London
• She is also a qualified Chartered Accountant, with a corporate career that included The Walt Disney Company, the BBC and Credit Suisse
• Having built and renovated her own family homes, she designs around family life, from sports gear storage to child friendly spaces
• A complimentary call is available to talk through a project before anything is committed

Location & Contact

Name: Gina Riley Interiors
Address: Dunedin
Phone: 027 303 6396
Website: ginarileyinteriors.com

3Eco Workshop

Eco Workshop is an architectural design studio at 31e Stafford Street whose in house interior designers work alongside the architectural team, so layout, daylight, colour and finishes are planned with the building rather than after it. The studio covers new builds, renovations and extensions across Dunedin and the wider Otago region, and is moving to the name EPOCH Architecture. It suits owners of a new build or a substantial renovation who want the interior resolved on screen before materials are ordered.

Services

• Interior design for new builds and renovations, planned alongside the architecture
• Room layout and daylight planning, including how light moves through each space
• Colour and material palettes for walls, floors and finishes
• Photorealistic renders and 3D walkthroughs of an interior before construction begins
• Kitchen and bathroom renovation design, house extensions and architectural draughting

Highlights

• Every designer holds LBP Design 2 accreditation, a Licensed Building Practitioner qualification covering residential building design
• The team are members of Architectural Designers New Zealand
• Your Way Home, a fixed price design and build pathway delivered in partnership with SB2 Build
• A free first meeting with no obligation, followed by a written fee proposal before you commit

Location & Contact

Name: Eco Workshop
Address: 31e Stafford Street, Dunedin 9016
Phone: 03 455 1505
Website: ecoworkshop.co.nz

4Oreily Design

Oreily Design is an interior design studio led by director and designer Donna Gibbons, working across Dunedin, Otago and the Southern Lakes region. The studio and showroom is in Queenstown rather than Dunedin, so it is worth confirming travel arrangements at the outset. The team covers residential and commercial interiors, from a single room refresh to a large scale renovation, and collaborates with architects, builders and suppliers through to the final project walkthrough.

Services

• Architectural interior design for residential and commercial projects, from concept to completion
• Kitchen design and bathroom design
• Property styling, partial or full, including sales suites, display homes and virtual styling for marketing visuals
• Curtains, blinds and shutters, wall finishes, paint finishes and decorative lighting
• Spatial rendering, colour and material selection, and custom furniture

Highlights

• Donna Gibbons has over forty years in the design industry, starting in fashion design before moving into interiors
• Interior designer Trish Dryden brings over twenty five years across real estate, construction and design, working alongside Central Otago architects
• The studio carries premium curtain collections and offers a window furnishing estimate service

Location & Contact

Name: Oreily Design
Address: Queenstown
Phone: 03 390 0077
Website: oreilydesign.co.nz

Interior Designers in Dunedin at a Glance

How to Choose the Right Interior Designer in Dunedin

• Match the studio to the scale of the job. A colour scheme or a single room refresh needs a very different engagement from a full new build interior with working drawings and specifications.
• Ask how the design will be presented. Mood boards, colour draw downs, floor plans, specification lists and photorealistic 3D walkthroughs all show a scheme in different ways, and some are far easier to change your mind about.
• Check the qualifications and the trade connections. A diploma in interior design, an LBP Design 2 licence or membership of a body such as Architectural Designers New Zealand tells you what the designer is qualified to sign off.
• Find out how fees work before you start. Hourly in studio and on site rates, fixed fee packages and staged design proposals are all common, so get an estimate of hours or a written fee proposal in writing.
• Consider whether you also need the building work designed. If walls are moving or the project needs consent, a studio with architectural designers in house saves a handover between two firms.

Frequently Asked Questions About Dunedin Interior Designers

What does an interior designer actually do?

An interior designer plans the inside of a building so it works for the way you live and looks the way you want. The work runs from the layout of each room and the way daylight moves through it, to colour, materials, lighting, window furnishings and the fittings you touch every day. On larger projects the designer also produces specifications and drawings that trades price and build from.

How much does an interior designer cost?

There is no single price, because it depends entirely on scope. Some studios charge an hourly rate, with a different rate for studio work and on site visits, while others quote a fixed fee for a defined package such as a bathroom or kitchen scheme. Ask for an estimate of hours or a written fee proposal before the work starts, and check whether travel is included.

Is an interior designer the same as an architectural designer?

No, although the two roles overlap. An architectural designer is responsible for the building itself, its structure and footprint, and for getting it through building consent. An interior designer is responsible for what happens inside it: the layout of the rooms, the daylight, the colours and the finishes. On a new build the two work best in parallel, so a window can land where the morning light is wanted.

Do I need an interior designer for a renovation, or only a new build?

Both benefit. On a new build, planning the interior early means the architecture and the finishes are decided together while changes are still cheap. On a renovation, a clear brief keeps scope creep down, which matters in Dunedin where a lot of housing stock went up long before insulation was standard and the job is often about making an older home warmer and more usable without stripping out its character.

Do I need building consent for interior work?

It depends on what is being changed. Redecorating, new floor coverings and replacement fittings generally do not need consent, while moving or removing walls, altering plumbing and drainage, or changing the structure usually do. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment publishes guidance on what needs a building consent at building.govt.nz, and your designer or the Dunedin City Council can confirm it for your project.

How do I check a designer’s credentials?

Interior design is not a protected occupation in New Zealand, so there is no single register to check. What you can verify is any building related licence a designer holds. If they say they are a Licensed Building Practitioner in the Design class, that is searchable on the public register at lbp.govt.nz. Otherwise ask about qualifications, professional memberships and a portfolio of completed work in a similar style.

Which parts of the city do interior designers in Dunedin cover?

Most work across the whole city and out into the wider Otago region rather than sticking to particular suburbs, so the nearest studio is not necessarily the right one. Several are based in the central city, around Stafford Street and the surrounding blocks, which is an easy stop if you want to see fabric, wallpaper and tile samples in person. Others work from further afield and travel in, and remote design services remove the distance question altogether. If you are outside the city, ask early whether site visits carry a travel charge.

Can I see what the design will look like before the work starts?

Usually, yes. The simplest version is a mood board with physical samples of fabric, paint, tile and flooring you can hold up against each other in the actual room. Beyond that, some studios produce floor plans, colour draw downs and rendered images, and a few build a 3D model of the house and turn it into a photorealistic walkthrough, so you can move through a room that does not exist yet and change a finish while it still costs nothing to change.