Three Birds Renovations share the number one mistake renovators make

“How do you know which shade of white paint to use?” As one-third of design juggernaut Three Birds Renovations, Lana Taylor fields questions like this almost daily from bamboozled home decorators.

“I get it! There are too many options out there,” she says with a laugh. “Do we really need thousands of whites to choose from?”

But for those wannabe home renovators hoping for a magic hack or winning shade, Taylor might disappoint.

“We do try to help people work out if they want a cool white or a warm white as a starting point,” she says. “But after that, the biggest trick is to go and get some samples and paint big swatches on the wall next to each other and look at them in shade, sun, in the morning, at night.

“Lots of people try to skip it, but you really can’t beat that old-fashioned technique.”

It’s a message that underscores the design studio’s ethos – educate and empower – and is reinforced in the their second book, Dream Home How-To, released last month (published by Murdoch Books).

Their first, Three Birds Renovations, turbo-charged their social media presence and remains Australia’s best-selling “reno bible”.

“The number one mistake we see is people not allowing enough time to plan and make decisions carefully,” Taylor says. “You hear it all the time but, truly, planning and research is the first and best place to start.”

Taylor says forecasting a year ahead of time allows for careful budgeting and scheduling of tradespeople. At the pointy end, it will also ensure the fittings, fixtures and materials you have your heart set on will be available when you need them.

“You will save yourself so much money and so many disappointments if you put in the work,” she says.

Taylor and her business partners, Erin Cayless and Bonnie Hindmarsh, who have been friends for 20 years, left their corporate jobs to “flip” houses in 2014.

Fourteen renovations later, their empire has evolved to include two digital courses, The Reno School and Three Birds Styling School, which have already upskilled more than 20,000 students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has only added to the design trio’s popularity.

“People stuck at home have been more interested in improving and investing in their homes than ever before,” Taylor explains.

“They’re working from home and schooling the children, and they’re just thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I just need this place to be a bit bigger, or be lighter and brighter.’”

The new coffee-table edition shares insights, tips and tricks from the many Three Birds projects, with a bonus chapter showcasing the house transformations of their star students, the ones who brought their “vision board” to life.

“It all starts with your vision board,” Taylor says. “The test of a good vision board is, if you were going away and someone was renovating your home for you, would they be able to get the feel of the place exactly how you want it, based solely on your vision board?”

Taylor, who is enthusiastic and generous with her design knowledge, says she is proof that Three Birds Renovations can make a successful renovator out of anyone.

“Renovating isn’t in my blood; I wasn’t born with a design eye,” she says. “But I have learnt through our experiences, and I would now be extremely comfortable renovating a whole house by myself.

“Three Birds exists to bridge the gap between the mum-next-door doing her first renovation, and the tradies, the architects and all the experts who do this kind of thing every day.”