The Novalé Podcast

Learn how to plan your renovation the right way with Novalé’s experts: Interior Designer Jamie-Maree, Head of Design Marina Novkovic, and Head of Delivery (Operations) Kristian Jones. They cover renovation budgeting, layouts, materials, timelines, approvals, and the biggest homeowner mistakes. Perfect for anyone planning a kitchen, bathroom, laundry or apartment renovation. Novalé Bathrooms & Kitchens | Website: https://novale.com.au/ | FREE Estimate: https://sales.novale.com.au/book-an-appointment?

Kim & Corey, founders of The Bathroom Guide and Vision Bathrooms Gold Coast, hop onto this very special episode to chat about their wild beginnings into Bathroom Renovations, educating customers about the industry as well as sharing their uncanny resemblance to Steve's & Marina's journey. The Novalé Podcast Ep. 19 🙏 Special thanks to the Hills Podcast Studio at the Bella Vista Hotel for providing us the space to record this episode.📍Find Kim & Corey here: https://www.thebathroomguide.com/ https://www.visionbathroomsgoldcoast.com.au/

Timestamps:

⏱ Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:34 Corey's bio 04:48 Tornado Potatoes 07:28 Start of Vision Bathrooms GC 10:09 Kim's bio 11:57 Why The Bathroom Guide started 19:00 How Kim & Corey discovered Novalé 20:03 Steve's & Corey's identical paths 23:00 Why Novalé's bathrooms look so different? 24:04 How Novalé inspired Kim & Corey 25:31 Why proper planning is crucial in renovations 30:10 Realistic project timeframes & deadlines 33:00 Maintaining quality in a growing business 35:54 Not being pushy to customers 39:47 Customers hiding their budget 46:03 Competitor pricing & dodgy renovators 54:03 Costs in a Bathroom renovation business 57:59 Marina's & Steve's advice for Kim & Corey 1:06:28 Final words to Kim & Corey

In this episode, we sit down with Anna, our talented Interior Designer at Novalé, to chat all things kitchens. From layout and functionality to materials and finishes, Anna shares her design approach and insider tips for creating a kitchen that’s not only beautiful but also practical for everyday living. Whether you’re planning a kitchen renovation in Sydney, dreaming of a designer look, or just love hearing from experts in the renovation space, this episode is packed with inspiration and ideas.

 

👩‍🎨 What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The key elements Anna considers when designing a kitchen

• How to balance aesthetics with functionality

• Common mistakes homeowners make (and how to avoid them)

• Anna’s go-to tips for timeless kitchen design

 

🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe to the Novalé Podcast for more expert advice on bathroom, kitchen and laundry renovations.

 

📍 Based in Sydney & surrounds, Novalé specialises in bespoke renovations Built with purpose, Made for life.

Meet 3 of Novalé's Site Managers (Marc, Sam & Andrew) who deliver our customers' dream bathrooms, kitchens and laundries. Every Novalé renovation has a dedicated Site Manager assigned. They ensure that the job is running smoothly and on schedule whilst doing a lot of work behind the scenes to keep sites clean, trades organised and customers at ease during the process.

Simply put, a Novalé renovation would not be possible without Site Managers like Marc, Sam and Andrew. Tune in to learn more about their stories, why they joined Novalé and what set it apart from the rest.

⏱ Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:41 Andrew's bio 02:01 Working for celebrities on super yachts 02:36 Making furniture 03:56 Andrew joining Novalé 05:31 Sam's background in Kitchens 06:32 Sam joining Novalé 06:45 Novalé's rigorous interview process 07:45 Marc joining Novalé from the start 08:08 Working for Suncorp Bank 08:31 Working with Steve as a tiler 09:53 Is 22 a good age to start a trade? 11:11 Still being on the tools as a site manager 12:06 What set Novalé apart from the rest 12:39 Why Sam joined Novalé 13:57 Why Andrew joined Novalé 15:11 Other renovator stories from our customers 16:09 Renovating with Novalé vs. neighbour's renovator 17:57 Ensuring quality through steady workload 19:56 Why Site Managers like using Buildertrend 21:28 How easy it is for customers to use Buildertrend 22:22 How Novalé does site protection 24:11 How proper site protection & cleaning keeps customers at ease 25:19 Why Site Managers like keeping sites clean 27:01 Marc's customer story 28:24 Tips for future customers 29:27 Practical Completion and handover 32:11 Andrew's funny story 33:18 Sam's Tim Tam story

Novalé is one of the only Bathroom & Kitchen renovators in Australia to attain ISO9001 accreditation. This is a global qualification generally sought after by high performing organisations with customer service excellence such as Hilton Hotels and Apple. Bryan Dunlop, Head of Operations at Novalé explains what ISO9001 is, why Novalé has it and how it affects the customer in how we consistently deliver our products and services.

Welcome to Design Hotline where we answer your questions about all things renovation and design with our first ever Interior Designer guest Jamie-Maree Love! Jamie has designed over 200 Bathrooms, Kitchens and Laundries and is excited to hop on and give us some insight on:

1. Her journey into Interior Design

2. Novalé's Preferred Suppliers and why we use them

3. Top 3 tips on designing a bathroom

4. Advice to people wanting to hire an Interior Designer

Kristian, Head of Project Delivery at Novalé joins Ben to explain how we make Renovations Stress Free for our customers. With over 20 years in the construction industry, as well as plenty of years in Novalé, Kristian is an expert on this topic and currently shapes the process we currently employ today. So if you're wondering why so many of our customers in our reviews mention how stress-free our process is, look no further!

Chapters:

1. Kristian's background and how he started working for Novalé

2. Why learning a trade is a future proof career

3. Tips on getting off the tools and becoming a Site/Project Manager

4. F1 Car in the Garage - Why we expanded into Kitchens

5. Why waterproofing properly is essential in bathrooms

6. What is PVC waterproofing and why Novalé uses it with paint-on waterproofing

7. Tips for people starting a renovation

8. When does a Project Manager gets involved in the renovation?

9. Risks and unforeseen issues and how Novalé mitigates for this

10. How long does a Bathroom renovation typically take?

11. Novalé handover process and post project care

12. Doing multiple renovations at once vs. one after another

13. Renovating a Kitchen vs. a Bathroom

14. Buildertrend and why our team and customers love it

15. How Novalé chooses new talent

16. Kristian won the first ever Drippy award for Leadership

17. Bathroom reno - what would Kristian splurge on and save on?

18. Funny construction story with Kristian

Founder and Director Steve Novkovic is back on the podcast! Ben and Steve pick up where they left off in 2021 with one of the most popular topics, "How much do renovations actually cost?". Join the duo as they explore and break down the costs for a typical renovation project, how to compare quotes and renovators as well as tips on how to save on your project.

Chapters:

1. Why Steve is so excited about Novalé's project search function on the website?

2. What is Buildertrend and how does it make the renovation process stress free?

3. Common myths about renovation costs e.g. focussing on arbitrary numbers.

4. Is Googling for average renovation costs helpful?

5. Run down of our Free Online Bathroom Estimate tool.

6. What are the typical costs of a renovation?

7. Hidden or overlooked costs of renovations

8. How much do you need as a contingency?

8. How to compare quotes (and our checklist in the Reno Guide)

9. What is HBCF Insurance and why is it so important?

10. Potential risks of going for the cheapest quote.

11. Fun questions for Steve at the end!

Welcome to Design Hotline, where we answer your burning design and renovation questions as well as talk about everything interior design! Hosts Ben and Krystal (Novalé lead stylist) introduce the new "podcast within a podcast" format and answer some questions whilst waiting for our Novalé Interior Designers to hop on later.

In this episode, Ben and Krystal explain:

1. What an Interior Designer does

2. Where to find design inspiration

3. When to hire an Interior Designer

4. Where to start when designing your space and

5. a bonus styling tip from Krystal at the end!

After a long pause since 2021, The Novalé Podcast is back on the air - refreshed, rebranded, and ready to inspire! In this relaunch episode, we pull back the curtain on why we hit pause, what’s been brewing behind the scenes, and what exciting things are lined up for 2025.

 

Tune in as we:

1. Introduce Marina, our Director and Head of Brand & Design

2. Announce Ben’s full-time move into Novalé Marketing

3. Reveal that Novalé now offers kitchen renovations for everyone — not just returning customers

4. Launch the brand-new Renovator’s Guide 2025

5. Walk you through our updated website with a sleek project search

6. Celebrate the live launch of our bathroom estimation tool

7. Share how our Design Studio is now partnering with other builders and renovators

8. Drop hints about big plans for 2025

 

It’s a warm, behind-the-scenes catch-up episode — perfect for loyal listeners and fresh faces alike. Hit play and join the next exciting chapter of Novalé!