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The process

Design with Storybook. Build it your way.

Who does what

Storybook is your designer.

Construction stays in the hands you choose.

Storybook Designer Homes

Bespoke design, consultation, plans and documentation, landscaped 3D visualisations, permit support and budget guidance. Storybook has access to 2,500+ archived designs.

Storybook Construction Supplies

The individual material kit for your design - the materials for your specific home, supplied as a kit, whichever construction pathway you choose.

You - or your registered builder

Construction itself. Storybook does not build, manage or supervise construction. You build as an owner-builder, or engage a registered builder - Storybook's advice stays available either way.

From first conversation to construction-ready

The five stages

  1. i

    Share your land, wish list and budget

    A relaxed, obligation-free conversation - at the Frankston South studio, or by video. You talk about the block, the household and what you hope to create; your consultant gives honest, design-led budget guidance from the very first meeting.

    Storybook provides: design consultation and pre-construction advice.

    You bring: block details (if you have them), a rough wish list, an honest budget range.

  2. ii

    Explore relevant Storybook precedents

    Storybook holds exclusive access to more than 2,500 previous Storybook designs. Your consultant selects designs created for land, families and budgets like yours - not to copy, but to show what works and spark the right conversation.

    Storybook provides: curated archive designs matched to your land type and budget.

    You bring: reactions - what feels right, what doesn’t.

  3. iii

    Develop your bespoke design

    Your designer composes the home around your life and sculpts it to your land, then refines it with you iteration by iteration - layout, roofline, light, budget.

    Storybook provides: bespoke custom-home design, shaped with you.

    You bring: decisions, feedback and the occasional compromise.

  4. iv

    Resolve plans, visualisations and approvals

    The design is resolved into floor plans, site plans and full documentation, presented as landscaped 3D visualisations so you can read the home in its garden. Storybook supports your permit application.

    Storybook provides: plans, documentation, 3D visualisations, permit-application support.

    You bring: sign-off - and growing certainty about your construction pathway.

  5. v

    Choose your construction pathway

    Construction begins - by you as an owner-builder, or by your chosen registered builder. Storybook Construction Supplies delivers the individual material kit for your design, and your designer remains available for pre-construction technical advice.

    Storybook provides: material (kit) supply and ongoing technical advice. Storybook does not build or supervise construction.

    You bring: the build - in whichever hands you choose.

A finished Storybook home at dusk within its garden

Stage five

Two ways your home gets built

There is no wrong answer - only the pathway that fits your time, appetite and confidence. Many clients arrive unsure and decide during the design stages.

A

You build as an owner-builder

You take legal responsibility for the construction of your own home - engaging and coordinating trades yourself. It suits people who want deep involvement, direct control of costs and quality, and the potential to avoid a traditional builder's margin.

  • Plans and documentation prepared with owner-builders in mind
  • The material kit arrives itemised for your design
  • Pre-construction technical advice, whenever you need to check something
  • Owner-builder permits vary by state - your consultant will point you to the right authority

Honest note: owner-building asks real time and organisation of you. Storybook will tell you plainly whether your project suits it.

B

Your registered builder builds

Prefer to hand construction to a professional? You engage a registered builder of your choosing to manage and supervise the build. Your builder contracts with you directly - Storybook's documentation gives them everything they need to price and build accurately.

  • Complete plans and documentation for tendering and contracts
  • Your builder can price the project with the material kit supplied
  • The design intent is protected - the character you approved gets built
  • Storybook remains available for design questions during construction

Your contract for construction is with your builder, not with Storybook.

The material kit

TAILORED TO YOUR DESIGN.

A Storybook kit is the individual material supply for your bespoke design prepared to match your documentation, so the materials arriving on site are the materials your home was drawn with.

One team resolves the design, the documentation and the materials - and construction stays in the hands you choose.

Ask about kit supply
A Storybook home during the construction process
Lightweight architecture suits both pathways.

Plain answers

Fair questions

No. Storybook Designer Homes is a bespoke custom-home designer, and Storybook Construction Supplies provides material (kit) supply. Neither company builds, manages or supervises construction. You build as an owner-builder, or engage your own registered builder.

You take legal responsibility for constructing your own home and coordinate the trades yourself, under an owner-builder permit from your state authority. Storybook supports you with buildable documentation, the material kit and pre-construction technical advice - but the build is yours.

Yes - many clients do. You engage any registered builder you choose; they contract with you directly and build from Storybook plans and documentation, with the material kit supplied if you wish.

Yes. Storybook is based in Frankston South, Victoria, and serves clients Australia-wide.

Design consultation and pre-construction advice, bespoke custom-home design, floor plans, site plans and documentation, landscaped 3D visualisations, permit-application support, design-led budget guidance, access to 2,500+ archived Storybook designs, and individual material-kit supply.

Whatever you have: your block details (or the blocks you're considering), a rough wish list, and an honest budget range. Nothing needs to be polished - the first conversation is about your land and your life, not paperwork.

Almost certainly - challenging land is the studio's specialty. Around 60% of Storybook's work is on sloping sites, alongside narrow blocks, corner sites and knockdown rebuilds.

Book an obligation-free design consultation. Your consultant will show you previous Storybook designs matched to your land type and budget, and explain both construction pathways in plain terms.

A Storybook home with steep gabled rooflines in an established garden at dusk

Stage one is a conversation.

Bring your land and your wish list.