• Custom Website Design: We designed a standalone WordPress site for the Interior Design division, designed with a minimalist aesthetic that places products and services at the forefront.
• Dedicated Shopify Store: Our team created a separate Shopify shop section accessible via a tab in the header, featuring category filters to make browsing easy and intuitive.
• Square Integration: Seamless stock management through Square, ensuring real-time updates and eliminating the inefficiencies of previous systems.
• Consultation Booking Functionality: A “Book a Consultation” feature enabling clients to schedule and pay for design consultations directly online.
• Customised WordPress CMS: A tailored content management system, allowing Esther and her team to add, edit, and manage content without technical hurdles.
• Staff Training & Tutorials: A handover process that included live training sessions and recorded tutorial videos, empowering the team with ongoing autonomy.
• SEO-Optimised Copywriting: Professionally written content crafted with a unique brand voice, strategically targeting keywords such as “Interior Designers Newcastle.”
• Responsive Design: A mobile-first approach ensuring the site looks and functions seamlessly across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
• Analytics & Tracking: Integration of Google Analytics and Search Console to monitor performance, traffic sources, and user engagement.

When Esther acquired the Interior Design and Furniture arm of Habitat Living, she faced a unique challenge: the existing website was tied to two other business pillars (Curtains & Blinds, and Property Styling), limiting her ability to manage content and shape the brand independently.

Other key challenges included:

• Diluted identity: A shared website structure made it difficult to highlight the Interior Design and Furniture offering as a standalone brand.
• Complex inventory systems: Previous tools like Cin7 created unnecessary complications and inefficiencies for managing hundreds of SKUs.
• Commercial misalignment: The initial focus on one-off furniture sales overlooked the higher-value opportunity in interior design clients, who often spent between $50k – $100k on furniture.
• Technical needs: Any solution needed to integrate seamlessly with Square (her POS system) while remaining flexible and scalable for future growth.
• Budget and timeline: The project had to balance Esther’s commercial goals with technical requirements, all while aligning with the business handover.

We began with a discovery consultation to map out Esther’s goals and the market opportunity. By analysing search behaviour (“Interior Designer Newcastle” searched 480+ times monthly) and customer value, we recommended pivoting the strategy towards promoting interior design services over small-ticket furniture sales.

Our approach included:

• Hybrid Platform Solution: A custom WordPress site for the Interior Design brand, paired with a Shopify-powered store that integrated directly with Square for real-time stock updates.
• Minimalist, Product-First Design: Inspired by an international furniture store, we built a clean, modern design using white space and high-quality imagery to emphasise furniture and design services.
• Enhanced Customer Tools: Features such as “Book a Consultation,” filterable shop categories, case studies, and inspiration hubs encouraged engagement and built trust.
• Custom WordPress CMS: Tailored content management with training and tutorials, ensuring Esther and her team could confidently manage content without technical reliance.
• SEO & Analytics: On-page SEO targeting high-value keywords and Google Analytics integration to track performance and optimise results.

This hybrid, phased solution gave Esther the best of both worlds: the creative flexibility of WordPress and the streamlined eCommerce capabilities of Shopify, all aligned to her commercial goals and budget.

The new Habitat Living website delivered both immediate impact and long-term value for Esther’s Interior Design and Furniture division.

• Brand Independence: Esther gained full control of a dedicated website, separating Interior Design and Furniture from the other Habitat divisions while reinforcing a distinct brand identity.
• Improved Efficiency: Square integration and Shopify’s streamlined store management simplified inventory handling across hundreds of SKUs, eliminating the complexity of previous systems.
• Enhanced Customer Experience: Visitors can now seamlessly explore furniture collections, filter by category, and book consultations online; all within a cohesive, user-friendly platform.
• Commercial Alignment: By prioritising interior design services, the site positions Habitat to capture high-value clients with budgets of $50k – $100k, maximising returns on marketing investment.
• Search Visibility: SEO optimisation for “Interior Designers Newcastle” and related terms created stronger visibility in search results with the website ranking in the top 3 for the keyword.
• Future-Ready Foundation: With a scalable WordPress CMS and flexible architecture, the platform is built to evolve with the business and support future growth.

The outcome is a digital platform that not only streamlines operations but also amplifies Habitat Living’s ability to inspire, engage, and convert customers in a highly competitive space.