Weekend Interiors at HomeLane
Freelance design work for HomeLane, mostly on weekends, running alongside my role at Greentree Global — turning what clients wanted, and what they could spend, into 3D models, layouts, production drawings and quotations, while steering material choices toward low-VOC, bio-based and inherently non-emitting options.
From September 2021 to March 2022 I worked as a freelance Design Expert for HomeLane, the home interiors company. It was mostly weekend work: during the same months I was at Greentree Global, starting out in sustainability consulting.
So on weekdays I was working on how buildings are assessed, and at weekends I was designing the rooms people actually live in.
The work ran from the first conversation with a client through to a design ready to build:
- Understanding the brief. Working with customers to understand their needs, and offering design recommendations based on what they asked for.
- Pricing to fit. Generating customised quotations around each client's preferred price range, and building SketchUp models of premium products for quotation proposals.
- Showing the design. Conducting virtual showroom walkthroughs, presenting HomeLane's in-house modules, and creating 3D simulations of designs in the in-house software.
- Drawing it up. Developing layouts and production drawings for the proposed designs.
Alongside every proposal, I made the case for healthier materials. I suggested clients opt for low-VOC finishes, bio-based materials, and inherently non-emitting sources — materials such as stone, ceramic, glass and metal that don't release VOCs into the home in the first place.
Seven months of weekend design work, carried alongside a weekday role in sustainability consulting.
I wrapped up with HomeLane in March 2022, just before moving full-time into LCA and sustainability consulting at BEE Incorporation.