• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Interiors Addict

Heart Your Home

@interiorsaddict on Instagram   @interiorsaddict on Facebook   @interiorsaddict on Pinterest  
Subscribe
  • Job Board
  • About
  • Before & Afters
  • RENO ADDICT
  • Kitchens
  • Bathrooms
  • Kids Rooms
  • Bedrooms
  • Living Room
  • Shopping
  • Expert Tips
  • Recipes
  • Parenting
  • Travel
Interiors Addict
  • Job Board
  • About
    • Our Story

      Australia’s largest interior design, styling and renovation blog for the everyday Aussie. By former journalist and magazine editor Jen Bishop, the original interiors addict!
      READ MORE

      We’re big on Instagram!
      @interiorsaddict

      • About
      • Contact Interiors Addict
      • Work with Interiors Addict
      • Advertise / Find a job in Interiors
      • Press
    • Get Your Free Ebook

      This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
    • bookcover-jens-reno
  • By Room
    • Browse by Room

      Where you can search for all our posts about a specific room. Only interested in kitchens and bathrooms? We got you!

      • Kitchens
      • Bathrooms
      • Kids Rooms
      • Bedrooms
      • Living Room
      • Home Office
      • Dining
      • Laundry
      • Outdoor & Exteriors
      • Renting
    • bookcover-jens-reno
  • Before & Afters
    • Before & Afters

      Who doesn’t LOVE a good before & after? If you want to be inspired by the whole reno process, and not just the shiny photos at the end, this is the place for you!

      View Articles

      • Before & Afters
      • Jen’s reno
      • Real Renos
      • RENO ADDICT
    • 20240206_185022-01Before & after: tiles steal the show in 90s kitchen revamp
    • IMG_0235Kerb appeal: 3-bedder given fresh new look for retirees
  • Reno Addict
    • RENO ADDICT

      Looking for reno inspo? Find it all here, from other people’s projects to the latest trends, tools and products, whether you’re DIY-ing or employing trades.

      View articles

      • Reno Products
      • The Block
      • DIY
      • Reno Trends
      • Before & Afters
      • Real Renos
    • image013How Victorians can get a beautiful kitchen reno on a budget
    • Screenshot 2025-05-13 at 3.09.43 pmBeautiful backyard transformation brings Italy to Bondi
  • Shopping
    • Shopping

      Want to know where to buy the latest furniture, homewares, rugs, art and more? We’re always sharing our latest finds and telling you where you can buy them.

      View Articles

      • Furniture
      • Homewares
      • Art
      • Smart Home
      • Appliances
      • Reno Products
    • Screenshot 2025-05-19 at 1.02.34 pmClean your carpets professionally at home without the dry time
    • Kopia av Ankarsrum-Assistent_Coral_12_Ny_webInnovative new Swedish mixer lands in Australia
  • Inspiration
    • Inspiration

      While Jen’s a legitimate interiors addict, she’s no design professional, so she calls on an army of the country’s best to share their expertise with you. Be inspired by their stories too!

      View Articles

      • Decorating 101
      • Interviews
      • Expert Tips
      • Before & Afters
      • House Tours
      • Designers
      • Styling
      • Renovating
      • Real Renos
      • Covet my coffee table
    • HighRes Image 4 – 360KCX31Z9Q Woollahra Village House by Tobias Partners – Photography by Justin AlexanderInnovative new residential architecture in Houses Awards list
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle

      We’re mostly about the home but Jen also likes to share other things she thinks you’ll love, like food and travel.

      • Recipes
      • Travel
      • Parenting
    • Crispy egg noodles with seafood p. 116Foodie Friday: crispy egg noodles with seafood
    • 1293660_lifestyle Crossland Pearl GL-Porc Txt Rect 597×1195 UNI_Crossland_AMB 02_Living_PearlHow to bring your favourite travel destinations home
  • Jobs
    • Advertise on our job board
    • Job Board FAQs for advertisers

3 interiors businesses who have pivoted thanks to Covid

By Jen Bishop •

FacebookPinWhatsAppEmailTweet

As a small business owner, this global pandemic has sure been a rollercoaster. For me personally, March and April were pretty scary months as pretty much everyone (bar one extremely loyal longterm advertiser and another new one) pulled their marketing spend with Interiors Addict. I totally got it, people were more concerned with keeping their employees in jobs. But it was scary nonetheless.

  • Rebecca Tyndall
  • Emma Blomfield
  • Andrew Algar
These 3 business owners have learnt a lot more about their businesses since Covid

I started thinking about mortgage pauses and using our savings and whether blogging would even still be a viable business in the new normal. Fast forward a few months and I’m thrilled to say that business is back and things are feeling so much better. But I had to seriously tighten my belt, do two people’s jobs for a while and for much of the time with no childcare.

I know I’m not alone and I’m not looking for pity. What I did learn from going back to basics, was what I really needed to spend money on and also, by going back to doing most things myself, I took a good look at all our systems and what worked and didn’t. I also did a lot more writing content and enjoyed it (I’m a journalist by trade after all!) and thought more about what our readers want to read about. All really useful stuff. Not to mention I had a bit of headspace to work on a new arm to the business which I’ll be able to tell you more about later this year; one which will hopefully provide an additional, and perhaps more predictable and recurring, revenue stream.

I thought I’d ask some other small business owners in the industry how they survived Covid and what they learned about their brands in the process. And while none of us is brave or silly enough to rest on our laurels and declare everything’s back to normal, it’s great to hear some positive stories.

Andrew Algar owns Contents International Design, an independent furniture and homewares store in Sydney’s Supa Centa Moore Park. As a bricks and mortar retail business, COVID hit hard in the beginning. “Like everyone else, it was the uncertainty that was the hard part. If you knew it was going to be for a certain period of time you could at least plan to batten down the hatches knowing the tap would turn back on,” he said.

Inside Contents International Design

“We closed the shop doors for general thoroughfare in April and were operating by appointment with the option of taking individual pieces to clients’ homes to assist. JobKeeper was also a big help. Everyone was working remotely and did their best to help wherever they could so I’m very thankful for them.”

Their online business rose to the occasion which helped pay the bills as well as having the processes in place to be able to work remotely if/when needed. But it was really amping up customer service, which they had always prided themselves on, which allowed them to make great connections to each and every sale and customer. “It felt more necessary to be thankful for them, and this has had a huge flow on effect which we are so appreciative for.”

Thankfully, foot traffic in the store is back up now. “A lot of people are spending more time within their homes with lockdowns, and not going out or away. It’s been a good time for people to take some time to realise that their home is their own sanctuary and making it nice means spending more time in it isn’t a chore,” Andrew says.

Andrew Algar

There were lessons learned too. “It was similar to going back to the start again and being able to run the business off the smell of an oily rag! It allowed us to re-look at a few things that we thought were making a difference or adding to the business but were just costing for not much gain. Now we know this should be something done on a regular basis not just in a time when that’s necessary.

“The silver lining for me was that it made me take stock of what was the way forward and what to be appreciative for. There are things to worry about every day running a business but with something like a pandemic totally taking everything out of your control, you can only do what you can control.”

Interior stylist and designer Emma Blomfield, has been offering e-decorating since 2011 but the last few years have seen her doing much more in-person consulting. That all flipped during the first few months of Covid. “Since lockdowns have been relaxed I’ve been back out meeting with clients but have noticed follow-up consults tend to happen online where we meet on Teams or Zoom and I share my screen, showing the design work and getting instant feedback from my clients. I was very thankful for taking the time earlier on in my career to set up that service properly which meant I could just run with it when the online consults started rolling in.”

Emma Blomfield

She also used the extra time at home to work on a new business. “It had been a long time coming, I just never carved out the time for it before. Having some extra time on my hands at the start of the year meant I went all in on my plans for Decor Library (a project management platform to streamline the way interior designers work with their suppliers and clients) and now it’s a fully fledged business we’ve just launched a few weeks ago. If it wasn’t for lockdown, I may never have started the business.”

Emma said she’s never been more grateful to be self-employed with the flexibility to pivot and change as needed, and be in control of her own destiny. “It was 100% up to me to keep the business running once Covid hit and I’m pretty proud to say it’s been a mega year for me in terms of revenue when I thought I was headed for total disaster back in March.” 

She admits she used to be quite slack at checking in on her financials but this has now changed! “At the end of March, I spent about a week reviewing every single inch of my business from website wording through to analysing every single expense. I now set time aside every month to review all of those things again and am better at meeting my monthly revenue targets.” 

So now her advice for other business owners is simple: “Don’t get too busy working in the business that you forget to work on the business.” Emma suggests finding yourself an accountability buddy and meeting with them once a month. “Having someone else to talk through your goals and financial stats with is an absolute game changer. As a solo business owner it’s easy to ignore those things but that’s the worst thing you can do for the future of your business. Pay attention to all the little details, it pays off!” 

Melbourne-based business Willow & Wood, who make and sell off-the-shelf mudroom solutions, managed to move interstate to the Gold Coast in July, in between lockdowns! They’ve used the time to really fine tune their niche and to bring all manufacturing on shore.

Rebecca Tyndall of Willow & Wood

Co-owner Rebecca Tyndall, who runs the business with her dad Russell, said: “We are completely making in Australia now. We moved our workshop to the Gold Coast in July and we’ve been super busy in the last three months. We are making a real push to get this business growing because we are the only one that specialises in mudrooms and I don’t want to lose that edge before we can grow and be known for what we do.”

For now, she’s still in Victoria while Russell and the team are busy making up north. “It’s particularly hard when I can’t even travel to my workshop but we are making it work.”

In the New Year, they’ll be discontinuing their popular Bookworm kids’ bookshelves and introducing new mudroom options to really hone in on that side of the business. “We don’t want to do fitted, built-in joinery because that’s what joiners specialise in. We’ll be sticking with our off the shelf products, adding more options, and really hoping to see the business grow in 2021.”

For more on Emma Blomfield and Decor Library

Shop online at Contents International Design

Shop online at Willow & Wood

Mudroom ideas: Willow & Wood introduce mix ‘n match
What’s a mudroom, I hear you ask? (I really have heard a lot of you ask this!). I think we’ve seen a few on shows like The Block, only they’re…
Styling your home: getting the icing on the cake right!
Styling is what Emma Blomfield calls “the fun bit” of interiors! And it’s definitely the case that a few styling tricks can totally lift your space. We’re big on homes…

FacebookPinWhatsAppEmailTweet

October 12, 2020

Primary Sidebar

Popular This Week

  • Australian bathroom standards: dimensions explained by an expert

  • Beautiful backyard transformation brings Italy to Bondi

  • Innovative new Swedish mixer lands in Australia

  • Foodie Friday: crispy egg noodles with seafood

  • World first fully customisable cot for the interiors addict mum

Follow us on Instagram

Swipe for before ▶️▶️▶️ This kitchen Swipe for before ▶️▶️▶️ 

This kitchen is small but mighty and very very pretty! Swipe through for the finer details of this reno by Casa & Co Interior Design. It sure went from boring beige 90s to stylish and full of detail and storage!

What do you think?

Read all about it on the blog now via link in bio/stories.

#smallkitchenideas #kitchentile #potfiller #featuretiles #hamptonskitchen #pulloutpantry
A Melbourne husband and wife duo have launched the A Melbourne husband and wife duo have launched the world's first fully customisable cot, offering countless options to personalise your baby's space and change it as the mood takes you!

@bold_baby_co cots are made from sustainably sourced European beechwood, and are finally available after four years of meticulous design and safety testing.

Tag a pregnant friend who'd love these!

Read more on the blog now, via link in bio and stories.

#melbournesmallbusiness #cotdesign #designernursery #nurserydesignideas #babycot
This small backyard makeover is NEXT LEVEL. @jone This small backyard makeover is NEXT LEVEL.

@jonesandco_ founder Jennifer Jones wanted an Italian vibe for her North Bondi semi and wow did @landart_home_garden_beyond deliver her vision. And then some!

Comment 'Positano' for the link to read all about it, including the antique terracotta Italian roof tiles around the curved pool, firepit, olive and lemon trees and lavender!🪻 Chef's kiss👌🏼

Size is NOT everything!

#smallpool #smallpools #smallbackyard #firepitdesign #smallgardenideas #crazypaving
Swipe for the rear of this gorgeous Woollahra home Swipe for the rear of this gorgeous Woollahra home. Heaven!

It's a finalist in the Houses Awards 2025. Head to the blog via link in bio/stories to see more of the shortlist. There's some absolute BEAUTIES.

Project by @tobiaspartners 📸 @justinalexanderphoto

#housesawards #housesawards2025 #woollahravillage #woollahra #woollahrahomes #australianarchitecture #australianarchitect
Edit: the winner is Kathy Petersen of VIC. To cel Edit: the winner is Kathy Petersen of VIC.

To celebrate @sataraliving's beautiful and biggest ever new collection we're giving away a $500 voucher! Comment 'satara' for the link to the easy entry form and more info on this everyday luxury range!

This giveaway is in no way associated with or endorsed by Meta.

#australianfurniture #australianfurniture #australianinteriors #relaxedluxury
I always LOVE a new IKEA STOCKHOLM (widely known a I always LOVE a new IKEA STOCKHOLM (widely known as the IKEA best of) collection and 2025 is in Australian stores NOW.

I'm getting that floor lamp at a minimum.

Karin Gustavsson, creative leader for STOCKHOLM, IKEA Sweden, said: “The purpose of the STOCKHOLM collections has always been to prove that high quality doesn’t need to come at an intimidating cost. We have worked to create a no-compromise kind of collection where every piece tells a story."

Check it out on the blog now via link in bio and stories.

Don't hang around as these pieces always sell out fast.

#ikeastockholm #ikeastockholm2025 #ikeaaustralia #ikeahack
Building new isn't the only way to get a climate f Building new isn't the only way to get a climate friendly home. CSIRO research indicates that over half of the houses Australians will live in by 2050 already exist today. And those homes — from our 1950s weatherboards to mid-century gems — offer one of the most exciting opportunities to slash emissions, cut energy bills, and reimagine home design for a low-carbon future.

Welcome to the rise of retrofit culture: a movement that’s proving you don’t need to knock down to level up.

We're having this discussion on the blog today and sharing examples of two older homes given new, more sustainable, leases on life.

Head over via link in bio and stories.

Love to know your view on knockdown rebuild vs. Renovating older homes and what you have done and why in the comments!

@reneworgau

#sustainablehousing #sustainablehome #sustainablelivingaustralia #climatefriendlyhome #passivhaus #passivhausdesign
Swipe for the before! You won't believe it! This Swipe for the before! You won't believe it!

This upcycle started with a freebie off Marketplace and with some vision, elbow grease and chalk paint, became a beautiful shelving solution for Home Beautiful stylist @style_by_lucy 

Lucy's a bit of a Marketplace pro and she even found the Samsung Frame TV on there 😯

Tell us about your best marketplace finds in the comments?

All the details of how she did this including paint colour on the blog now, via link in bio and stories.

#upcyclefurniture #upcyledfurniture #upcycledsideboard #marketplacefinds
A year in, this reluctant soccer mum has realised A year in, this reluctant soccer mum has realised 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'!

So, as I start thinking about the boys going into separate rooms later this year, I've been researching non-ugly soccer-themed linen, rugs, art, wallpaper and more for Seb's room, which I'll be as happy with as he will! 

Head to the blog via link in bio/stories for all the details and links to buy. My favourite is the wallpaper mural from @oliveetoriel 

#soccermom⚽️ #footballbedroom #boysbedroomideas #kidsroomart #kidsroomstyling #kidsroomwallpaper
Follow on Instagram
Visit Jen's profile on Pinterest.

Get Your Free Ebook

Ebook cover

Never miss the latest renovating and interiors products, news and inspo again! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll send you the best bits from the blog, direct to your inbox. Plus you'll get our latest eBook: Just One Thing To Elevate Your Interior, featuring Australia's top design talent.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Jen Bishop

About Jen Bishop

Jen Bishop is our owner and publisher and an experienced journalist and editor. She founded Interiors Addict in 2011. Jen also works as a copywriter and comms consultant to small business owners and brands, helping them with their own content as well as working out what will make them appealing to the media.

More from Expert Tips

Luxe look on a lean budget: a property stylist’s tips

Building new isn’t the only way to get a climate-friendly home

Natural stone in the bathroom? Absolutely!

Know your laminate from your hybrid? Hard flooring explained

Two long weekends in a row? It’s time to do some DIY!

How to cosy up your home for autumn with some quick swaps

5 stylist tips to make your faux florals more convincing

Why trends shouldn’t be a dirty word: Kerrie-Ann Jones, stylist

Why interior designers need good systems for business success

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alicia says

    October 14, 2020 at 9:48 am

    Great to hear some success stories. It has really made us all appreciate what we have and look at life from a different view.

  2. sue wheeler says

    May 10, 2021 at 11:39 am

    Such a lovely piece and so inspiring. I love reading this kind of story as it’s so motivating. Thanks team IA. Sue

Promo Area

Footer

Interiors Addict

Interiors Addict

  • About
  • Contact
  • Work with Jen
  • Press
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure Policy

Browse

  • RENO ADDICT
  • Jen’s Reno
  • House Tours
  • Real Renos
  • Interviews
  • Styling
  • Designers
  • Bedrooms
  • Covet My Coffee Table
  • Expert Tips
  • The Block
  • Art
  • Furniture
  • Recipes

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RENO ADDICT

Copyright © 2011–2025 Addicted Media Pty Ltd
Website care by ClickWP · Log in