Renovate w/ Gilly's - An Interview with Jemmervale Designs

As part of the Renovate with Gilly's series, this time we have interviewed Jemmervale Designs,  husband and wife duo (Paul and Jannah) from Shepparton, Victoria. They've found a new love working with timber and design and have become huge Gilly's supporters. We absolutely love their stylish and sleek designs. Check out their interview below!

We are a husband and wife duo (Paul and Jannah) from Shepparton, Victoria. We have a background in Occupational Therapy and Teaching, but are loving a change of career in working with timber and design. We have three young children who love to be part of the process especially our little boy who loves being in the shed with Dad. 

It began as a hobby, making things out of timber for our family and friends who then encouraged us to make things to sell. Paul soon became a passionate craftsman and soon our small Etsy store became so big that our part-time hobby became our full time occupation. We now have our own online store, along with selling through platforms such as The Block Shop and Buy From the Bush.

Making a house a home is what inspires us. We love making beautiful pieces for peoples homes that are more unique than what is on offer from the larger chain stores. Making furniture for our family and friends has been the starting point for many of our products. We are also inspired by our customers who request particular things for their homes too. We are constantly striving for beautiful designs, that we can make affordable and to a high quality. We want our customers to have value for money.

Would have to be the first large scale project we made; a cubby house for our three beautiful children. It was supposed to be a quick, small summer project but as ideas began developing, before we knew it we had built a gorgeous little cottage that now adorns our back yard. It was during this time that we realised how much we love working together as a team in the designing and handcrafting process. Soon after, we were making furniture for friends and family who in turn encouraged us to start our own business...and so the Jemmervale Designs journey began.

Know your customers and the best platform to reach them. Do your best to have a professional approach from the beginning and always offer good customer service.

We started running our business full-time three days before the first cases of Covid-19 were found in Australia. We have had many challenges running a business in the season, such as sourcing timber after the impact of Covid-19 building boom and bushfires to very long shipping delays. We also have three young children which has kept us busy with family life, seasons of home schooling, and running the business.

1. Get lots of inspiration from Pinterest, or Google so that you can get a feel for different approaches, design ideas, materials etc.

2. Sketch and design….talk it through with someone, more time planning will pay off!

3. Plan the steps of how it will come together, the process is really important to the finished project.

4. How are you going to finish it…the finishes really matter! 

5. Don’t skimp on materials and tools. Better quality materials and using good tools really improves the end result.

We want to move into a bigger shed so that we can upscale our business and keep up with demand. We want to continue to grow our product range and type of timbers that we use.

Always look for good people to work with. Suppliers who you have a good relationship with and who offer good customer service are so much more valuable than shopping around for a cheaper price. Time is money, and trustworthy suppliers are worth their weight in gold. Don’t deal with suppliers that don’t offer good customer service.

We love using the Gilly’s products we have tried so far. So easy to use and the finish comes up beautifully every time. The smell of the chopping board oils in orange and lemon are really divine!

We love the chopping board oil. And our favourite smell is the lemon, although the orange oil comes in a close second.

Good customer service, great products at an affordable price. We also love that we are buying something that is natural and Australian made. Can’t go wrong!