INSIDER is for homeowners who want to take an active role in designing, renovating, building or managing their own home, but don’t want to figure everything out alone.

You might be managing your own renovation, designing a new home, working directly with a builder or trades, or pulling together your own interiors.

If you want your home to function beautifully, look considered and feel like you, while having access to designer thinking and practical guidance along the way … INSIDER was created for you.

Yes. INSIDER has been created specifically to help homeowners make better design decisions for their own homes.

Rather than simply telling you what looks good, we share the thinking behind good design- how we approach layouts, function, proportions, budgets, finishes and all the small decisions that make a home feel properly resolved.

You remain in control of your project. INSIDER gives you the knowledge, tools and guidance to make those decisions with greater clarity and confidence.

Your INSIDER Membership gives you access to the tools, resources, plans and design thinking we’ve developed across 400+ real projects, including:

• Weekly live Q&A sessions with Melissa Bonney and guest designers, industry experts and creatives

• Our growing Q&A video library, filled with practical design advice and real project answers

• Downloadable guides and resources covering building, renovating, decorating and managing your project

• Design and project tools, including our Budget Spreadsheet, calculators and planning resources

• Exclusive access to our Architectural Plan Library, including selected Designory house plans and CAD files

• Access to our Interior Plan Library, with resolved kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and more to download and adapt

• Exclusive supplier perks and member discounts

• 20% off upcoming Designory retreats and workshops

• New resources, tools, plans and content added as the membership grows

INSIDER is designed to support you throughout your project, so you can understand what’s coming, make better-informed decisions and have somewhere to turn when you get stuck.

Yes. We’re planning to introduce an additional level of INSIDER membership in 2027, designed for members who want even more hands-on support, including access to sourcing resources and tools to help you source like a designer.

When the new membership level launches, existing INSIDERS will have the option to upgrade. You’ll simply pay the difference between your current membership and the upgraded level, so there’s no need to wait to join.

es. INSIDER is designed to keep growing.

We regularly add new guides, tools, Q&A content and resources, and we’re currently developing even more downloadable plans for spaces such as kitchens, bathrooms and beyond.

We also have curated design schemes on the way, giving members ready-made starting points for pulling together finishes, colours and materials with more confidence.

All new resources released within the membership will be included for existing INSIDERS, so your library will continue to grow as we do.

INSIDER is a 12-month membership, so memberships cannot be cancelled partway through the membership period.

From the moment you join, you’ll receive access to our exclusive collection of architectural and interior plans, downloadable tools, guides, digital resources, Q&A library and member-only live Zoom sessions for the full 12 months.

We’ve designed INSIDER as a year-long resource you can return to as your project evolves — from those early planning decisions through to the details that arise during your build, renovation or interiors.

Absolutely.

Renovations often involve hundreds of interconnected decisions, many of which need to be made earlier than homeowners expect.

INSIDER helps you understand the renovation process, see important decisions coming, manage your budget, resolve individual rooms and access expert guidance when something specific arises.

Whether you’re renovating one part of your home or undertaking a major whole-house renovation, you can use INSIDER throughout the process.

Yes.

INSIDER can support you from the early planning stages through to selections, interiors and the details that arise during construction.

You’ll have access to architectural plans, project tools, budgeting resources, design guides, our Q&A library and live sessions where you can bring questions relating to your own project.

The goal is to help you better understand the process and make more considered decisions before they become urgent on site.

No.

You don’t need to understand architectural drawings, have studied interiors or know all the terminology before joining.

That’s part of the reason INSIDER exists.

We want to make professional design thinking easier for homeowners to understand, with practical explanations, tools and resources that help you build your knowledge as your project progresses.

No.

INSIDER isn’t a traditional course with a fixed beginning, end or series of modules you need to complete.

Building and renovating rarely happens in a perfectly linear order, so INSIDER is designed as an evolving resource you can return to whenever you need it.

Use the tools and information relevant to your project now, then come back when the next stage or decision arrives.

Yes.

Our member-only Live Zoom Sessions are designed to give INSIDERS the opportunity to submit real questions from their own projects.

Members can reserve a place, lodge their question in advance and tune in to hear practical guidance from Melissa Bonney, founder of The Designory, designer and real estate expert.

From time to time, Melissa will also be joined by other designers, industry experts and creatives.

It’s an opportunity to hear not only what we would do, but how we would think through the problem.

Questions might relate to your floor plan, kitchen layout, bathroom design, materials, finishes, budgeting, project planning, lighting, joinery or another design decision you’re struggling to resolve.

The live sessions are particularly useful for those questions where the answer depends on the specifics of your home rather than a generic design rule.

INSIDER is about helping you understand the thinking behind the decision, so you can apply that knowledge more confidently throughout the rest of your project too.

INSIDER is not a replacement for professional services where they are required.

Instead, it is designed for homeowners who want to be more informed and hands-on in their own project.

It can help you understand design principles, make more confident choices, manage your project more effectively and know when you may need additional professional advice.

Any architectural, engineering, regulatory or other work requiring appropriately qualified professionals will still need to be undertaken by those professionals for your individual project.

INSIDER members receive access to selected Designory architectural plans, including homes such as Sikata, Lavana, Samudra, Bronte and Ayana House plus the Barefoot Bay Villa and Cottage, along with their corresponding CAD files.

These plans can give you a professionally resolved starting point rather than beginning with a blank page.

They will still need to be reviewed and appropriately adapted for your individual site, local planning and building requirements, structural requirements and personal needs by the relevant qualified professionals before construction.

With the CAD file you can hand this straight to your local builder, draftsman or design professional and if you don’t have one we can help or can put you in touch with one of our preferred professionals to help.

Our Interior Plan Library gives members access to professionally resolved Designory plans for individual spaces including kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and more.

These are designed to give you a stronger starting point for your own project — allowing you to study layouts, proportions and details, then adapt the ideas to suit your own home.

They also come with their corresponding CAD files for easy adaption.

We’re continuing to develop and add more plans to this library.

Yes.

Members receive access to our project and budgeting tools, including The Designory Budget Spreadsheet.

These resources are designed to help you organise your project costs, understand where your money is going and make more informed decisions about where to prioritise your budget.

We see budget as part of the design process — not something separate from it.

That’s one of the key reasons we created it.

We’ve seen more homeowners choosing to manage their own renovations and work directly with builders, trades and suppliers, while still wanting access to the knowledge that helps professional projects run more smoothly.

INSIDER gives you practical tools, guides, plans and expert guidance to help you understand what’s coming and prepare for decisions earlier — rather than being caught on site having to make an important choice in a few minutes.

You don’t need to be at the beginning of a project to benefit from INSIDER.

You can join at any stage and start using the resources most relevant to what you’re working through now.

If you’re already building or renovating, the Q&A library, live sessions, interior plans, project tools and practical guides can be particularly useful as new decisions arise.

Yes.

You don’t need to be undertaking an entire home renovation.

If you’re designing a kitchen, bathroom or another individual space, you can use our interior plans, design resources, Q&A library and live sessions to help you better understand layouts, materials, proportions and the decisions involved in resolving that room.

That’s exactly why INSIDER includes live access to us.

Some questions can be answered with a guide or resource.

Others depend entirely on your space, your layout and your circumstances.

If your question isn’t covered by the existing resources, you can submit it for one of our live Q&A sessions and hear how we would approach the problem.

Yes.

As we add new resources, plans, tools, Q&A content and membership inclusions, existing members will be able to access the new material included within their level of membership during their active membership period.

The aim is for INSIDER to become increasingly useful as both your project and the membership evolve.

Your INSIDER Membership runs for 12 months from the start of your membership.

During that period, you can access the resources and inclusions available within your membership, including new content added during your active membership period.

Yes.

INSIDER members receive access to exclusive perks and offers from a growing selection of our favourite suppliers.

These offers will continue to evolve as we grow the membership and bring more of our Designory network into the INSIDER community.

Yes.

INSIDER members receive 20% off upcoming Designory retreats and workshops.

These experiences are designed for homeowners who want to go deeper and access more hands-on design guidance alongside the resources available inside INSIDER.

There is an enormous amount of inspiration and general design advice available online.

What’s much harder to find is the thinking behind the decision.

INSIDER draws on more than 400 real Designory projects to help you understand how experienced designers approach layouts, function, budgets, details and the relationship between hundreds of individual choices.

And when generic advice isn’t enough, you can bring your own questions to our live sessions.

It’s not simply about collecting more inspiration.

It’s about learning how to make better decisions for your particular home.

Most courses teach a predetermined set of information.

INSIDER has been designed around the reality that every build and renovation evolves differently.

Your biggest question this month might be your floor plan. Next month it could be your kitchen, budget, lighting or tile layout.

Instead of progressing through fixed modules, INSIDER gives you an evolving library of resources, plans and tools alongside ongoing live access to expert guidance.

You can use what you need, when you need it.

No resource can guarantee that a build or renovation will be completely free from mistakes, changes or unexpected problems.

What INSIDER can do is help you become better informed before important decisions need to be made.

By understanding the process, seeing common decisions coming and learning from the experience behind 400+ real projects, you can approach your renovation with greater awareness and ask better questions before committing.

INSIDER includes resources designed to help you better understand the building and renovation process, including the decisions that need to be considered at different stages.

One of our goals is to help homeowners move away from constantly reacting to urgent questions and instead have greater visibility over what may be coming next.

Because the best time to think about an important design decision is usually before someone on site needs the answer.

No.

Good design thinking isn’t reserved for a particular style, property value or construction budget.

INSIDER is about helping you use what you have more thoughtfully — understanding your priorities, making considered decisions and creating a home that functions beautifully for the way you live.

The principles behind good planning, proportion, functionality and decision-making apply across projects of many different sizes and budgets.

INSIDER will give you resources, plans, recommendations, design thinking and, as the membership grows, curated design schemes to help make those decisions easier.

But we don’t believe every homeowner should end up with exactly the same kitchen, bathroom or material palette.

The goal is to give you a strong framework for making decisions that suit your architecture, budget, lifestyle and personal style — so the finished home still feels unmistakably yours.