Secret Design Studio

We had a Dr. Retro house call with Alister in February 2022 and are very happy with the service, insight and direction we were able to achieve from the experience. Alister was super flexible in planning and preparing for the meeting, and taking our questions and other input in a way that made sense to us. For the actual house call, Alister came out to our house and talked in detail through the questions, sharing really specific and valuable information we had not been able to find anywhere else, in our case about 1950/60s steel windows and improving the thermal performance of the house around this feature. Alister is really knowledgeable, passionate and a clear communicator, and I'd recommend him to anyone who is seeking to improve or maintain house from the mid-century period.

Alistair visited us in Werribee for a Dr Retro House Call, and he was incredibly generous with his research, time, and expertise. We were presented with an immaculately researched set of designs and ideas for our home, as well as its limitations. He opened our eyes to myriad possibilities, as well as answering our many questions with patience and insight. Alistair has given us a wonderful foundation for renovations moving forward, and we couldn't recommend this service more highly.

We had recently purchased a house which was built in the 80s with stunning internal brick walls, high ceilings and mid century concepts. We wanted to do some home renovations to bring out the features but were unsure where to start. We came across Dr Retro and engaged Alistair to provide advice. The consultation approach and house visit was very valuable and informative and has helped steer us in the right direction. We would never have been able to imagine some of the proposed ideas and we can confidently proceed with the home enhancements. Alistair provides a great service, takes time to research ideas and propose home enhancements. Alistair has vast experience and great knowledge which shows in his presentation and the discussions. I would highly recommend Alistair to home owners who are looking to do house renovations, particularly for mid century / +1980s character homes.

It took me a number of years to finally get Alistair through for a Dr Retro House Call at my house in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne.It feels great to now know what I could do, what to focus on and where I should start.Alistair is extremely knowledgeable on all things retro and mid-century; and I highly recommend booking a house call in!

Highly recommend booking a visit from Alistair. He did so much preparation prior to our consultation and provided multiple options to our problem areas. With more than 3 kitchen quotes prior to Alistairs's visit, he came up with a design we hadn't thought of - in fact he came up with multiple designs. Fresh ideas and we achieved so much in his two hour visit. Thanks Alistair

Alistair kindly visited our home in Mount Pleasant, a suburb of Wollongong when he was on his recent road trip. We are in the planning stages of renovations to our 1966 home.Alistair was well prepared for the consultation, he really tried to answer all our questions and get through a lot of information during the two hour visit. Alistair communicated very clearly with us before, during and after the consultation. Alistair's research of the local property market and the style of house meant that he gave design advice based on getting the best value for the money spent on renovationsAs many others have said Alistair has a detailed knowledge of mid century design and a true appreciation of the design and the need to preserve home os this era.We are in the process of replacing all the original aluminium windows with timber windows and felt lost in terms of the dimensions of windows, wondering if we should increase the height of windows to be more in line with todays style. Alistair was very clear in his advice to keep the windows at the current height as they work well with the overall design of the house.We feel that the greatest benefit for us from Alistair visit was his clear message to appreciate the mid century design features of our home ,and to work with this to enhance this design. We feel a lot clearer moving forward with our renovations.It was really gratifying to spend time with a professional who has such a passion for the period of houses he is working with. We would definitely recommend Alistair to anyone planning to renovate, purchase, extend etc mid century home.Liza and Paul

We have had Dr Retro make a house call on the mid-century house I grew up in. It's difficult to re-imagine the house you know all the ins-and-outs" of in any other way

Alistair’s Dr Retro house call was an invaluable experience, he provided detailed, thoughtful insights & options for our consideration & was a wealth of knowledge regarding our mid century modern home. He was refreshingly realistic & honest regarding costs, design & recommendations. We certainly hope to engage Secret Design Studio for any future work we require. Highly recommend this service.

We met with Alistair over Zoom to consult on our 1965 home and to choose paint colours. We're grateful for his advice, knowledge and for accommodating our accelerated timeline! His service is top notch and includes specifications for the painter which were so helpful!

I reached out to Alistair to assist with colour and trim selections and to conduct a general sense check of our project. At our first meeting we were highly impressed with the depth that he had analyzed our plans, specifications and the amount of pre work he had undertaken to provide potential solutions for every area of concern he had identified. This went above and beyond our expectations and we look forward to continuing to work with him as our build progresses.