Court and Riss from Bone + Blanc

Court and Riss form the interior design duo that is Bone and Blanc. Located in Newcastle, Bone Blanc pride themselves on creating spaces that their clients are proud to call home. When chatting with the girls they explained, “We like to call ourselves yin and yang/chalk and cheese. Court is the logical and technical mind and Riss is the free spirit who thinks out loud. Together we make the perfect combination as we balance each other and thrive on each other’s passion for design. Anyone who knows us knows that if you see us, we are usually wandering around, laughing till we cry and finding inspiration everywhere we go.” The duo has been long-term users of Style Sourcebook for a while now so we thought we’d take up the opportunity to take you on a tour of some of their recent bathroom renovations and chat to the girls about all things renovations and the benefits of hiring an interior designer.

How did Bone and Blanc come to be?

We met while working together at a previous design job. We both worked there for a number of years and found that throughout that time our friendship grew closer and closer. We started to have freelance design work on the side and it became so much that one day we just looked at each other and said “why don’t we have our own business”. Eventually, we both took the leap into the unknown and haven’t looked back since. 

Did you both study interior design and if so, where?

Court did her schooling in Canada at Sheridan College and has a Bachelor of Interior Design. She then has gone on to design custom joinery for a few years and then moved into Project Home Interior Design.

Riss has her diploma of Interior Design from The Interior Design Institute and first started doing property styling for a number of years and then also went onto Project Home Interior Design.

What services do Bone and Blanc offer?

We offer a full service. We will go in at the beginning of a new build/renovation and sit down with the client and go through their plans and change anything that doesn’t work for the interior design concept they want to achieve. We will then help them choose hard finishes and fixtures for all the spaces and then once the build is complete, we will go in and help them buy furniture and style to finish each space. 

Mount Hutton Project mood board can be viewed here.

Mount Hutton Project tiles from Earp Tiles.

Where did the inspiration for your Mount Hutton Project come from?

Mount Hutton Project

Now, this was a fun one. This client came to us with a few ideas in mind – one of them being the flower-patterned tile that she had no idea what to do with. When clients come to us and are wanting to do something a little bit 'bolder’ we run with it and that’s exactly what we did. 

This client's home had already been mostly renovated so we had a really great idea of what her style was which made selecting finishes a lot easier. We chose a very simple tile for the floor and wall and added the feature tile to the shower shelf only so it could really be a centerpiece. To break up the floor and wall tile we also did V Groove paneling behind the vanity. This helped add some depth and texture within the room. The client has a coastal home so adding a vanity with rattan was definitely a no-brainer. Paired with brushed nickel tapware and some simple styling this bathroom turned into its own little timeless oasis. 

“We use Style Sourcebook religiously with our clients. It is such an amazing tool to convey an overall look and feel of a space to a client. Most clients can’t picture materials together so this is a simple way to put all of the elements together in one space so they can see the bigger picture.'

- Court & Riss from Bone + Blanc

What was it that made you want to pursue a career in interior design?

For both of us, it started at a young age – drawing floor plans, wanting to rearrange our bedrooms constantly, begging to go through display homes. We always tell people when they ask this question that we believe that a “design mind” is just something you either have or you don’t. For both of us interior design is something that consumes our lives and we thrive in the environment because we are so passionate about what we do. We can both agree that there is nothing better than creating a space for a family to grow and create memories in.

Talk to us about how you use our mood board creator to design your projects.

We use Style Sourcebook religiously with our clients. It is such an amazing tool to convey an overall look and feel of a space to a client. Most clients can’t picture materials together so this is a simple way to put all of the elements together in one space so they can see the bigger picture. We will do a mood board at the beginning of a project to get approval from our client to move ahead with the design vision and then go from there. 

What are your top 3 pieces of advice for someone renovating?

The 3 biggest pieces of advice we have would be:

Hire a designer – This will be the best investment you make in your renovation. You will find this saves you a lot of headache and stress. It will ensure your vision actually comes together the way you want it too. You’ll find they also have ideas that you probably would have never thought of.

Pinterest/Instagram – These are amazing tools to gather inspiration but don’t get stuck in a rabbit hole. Once you find something you like, just run with that. It’s so easy to get caught up in so many different design ideas that you just end up confusing yourself and it makes the process a lot harder than it needs to be. 

Hire Quality Trades – We see this too often where people want to “save” money and hire cheaper trades. It’s like what they say, ‘you get what you pay for’ and unfortunately you will find that the mistakes that the cheaper trades make will end up costing you more in the long run. 

Wrightson Avenue Project tiles from Tile Cloud.

We love your Wrightson Avenue Project! Talk to us about how this one came to life.

Wrightson Avenue Project

This was one of the first freelance jobs we did so it probably holds a little soft spot in our hearts. This client came to us and told us he had already picked this floor tile that he just loved but didn’t know what else to do with it. This is where we came in, we did a mood board for him so he could see all the different elements together and then went and selected the materials for him to purchase. The floor tile is definitely the ‘hero’ in this bathroom so we wanted something simple on the wall but didn’t want it to be boring. We ended up picking a white tile with a fun pattern lay paired with a white grout so we still achieved the texture but it wasn’t in your face. Adding the brushed brass tapware and a timber vanity really just warmed up the space and allowed for a clean palette for us to then go in a style it. 

Wrightson Avenue Project mood board can be viewed here.

Beautiful timber vanity from Just In Place.

Brass tapware from ABI Interiors.

What are the benefits of working with an interior designer?

Renovating and building to the average person is one of the most stressful things you can do. You’re trying to work full time, pick a million finishes for your new home all while trying to juggle a social life. Hiring an Interior Designer takes the guesswork out of any decision you need to make. You will find when you hire an Interior Designer that:

They will narrow down your choices from 10000 things to 10 things to choose from

They will make sure everything is organized for your builder to order which will make your building process go smoother

Their knowledge is worth the money alone – they have been through a thousand renovations and know what works and what doesn’t work. 

They will hold your hand throughout the whole process, so you feel comfortable with the choices you are making and the money you are spending. 

Your home design will feel cohesive from the inside out because it won’t stray from the style you are trying to achieve, and they will always help pull you back in line when you go on your Pinterest tangent…. Ha!

Where do you find inspiration for your interior projects?

We are constantly on our socials like Instagram and Pinterest. We clip anything that we like whether this is furniture, layouts, tiles, or joinery because we know that we can draw inspiration for future projects from little items in every photo we see. 

What’s the most rewarding part of being an interior designer?

The absolute best part of being an Interior Designer is seeing the relief in your client’s eyes when they lock in all of their selections and they say, “you made that so easy” and then going on to see the finished product a few months later and seeing the joy in their eyes knowing that they get to call that space home. We believe everyone deserves a safe place that they can call their oasis away from the reality of everyday life. 

Who are some of your favourite suppliers in the industry?

We definitely have some favorites that we find we use on all of our projects. To name a few they would be ABI Interiors, Tile Cloud, Earp Brothers, Havwoods, Dulux Paints, Loughlin Furniture

What are some of the tools/software you use when it comes to designing projects?

Depending on the scope of work we usually will use Style Sourcebook, Sketchup, AutoCAD, and Photoshop.

What’s next in store for Bone and Blanc?

The question of the year! 

There is a lot on the cards for us. We will be releasing ‘How to Guides’ for our followers to purchase so keep an eye out for those. We will also be collaborating with a few new builders this year to create some pretty amazing work. 

The biggest thing for us is that we do this because we love it. We truly just follow what makes us feel good and what feels right. This helps fuel our passion so we can provide amazing content for all of our followers and clients.