Bringing hope & healing through trauma-informed design
Hi! We’re Kylie & Jane.
Welcome to Design for Hope
We love transforming spaces and lives through thoughtful, healing interior design.
We started Design for Hope with the simple idea that your physical environment has a strong influence over your health and wellbeing. Whilst running our first social impact project at Erin’s Place, a shelter for women and children fleeing domestic violence, we realised how significant an impact it had on the residents and the staff.
We were just finishing the dining room when a mother approached us and said, "I can’t tell you how much I love this, it touches me right here [touches her heart], and not just for me, but so my son can see what a lovely home can be." Her words really moved us and unknowingly she had planted the seed for Design for Hope. We fell in love with this work and wanted to help others experience the same sense of worthiness.
As a committed social enterprise, our mission is to help NFP organisations to better support their clients through intentional therapeutic design that restores dignity and promotes wellbeing. We are dedicated to helping to heal those who have experienced trauma, and every day, we work towards creating spaces that make survivors feel worthy and help them rediscover their identity.
Our focus is on our clients’ therapeutic objectives, addressing challenges such as physical and psychological safety, emotional and behavioural regulation and trust building. Through our audit process we've uncovered unknown issues for our clients and were able to change room designs in response. For instance, we discovered that noise management was creating an issue around the feeling of privacy.
To ensure consistent, science-based outcomes, we've developed a rigorous framework that identifies how those using a recovery space experience it.
We’d love you to be a part of our journey. Whether that is helping you create a trauma-informed space, through donations (made directly to our clients), or spreading the word about what we do, your support can help us make an even greater impact. Contact us using our contact form to learn more.
Our journey has been fuelled by a relentless drive to impact lives positively. We believe in the power of our business to drive social change.
A qualified Registered Psychologist, Kylie has spent the last 27 years working with large organisations and government bodies. For the past 15 years, Kylie has also dedicated herself to studying and pursuing her love of interior design. Merging these two passions, she brings unique expertise to the world as a Design Psychologist specialising in Trauma-Informed Design. With her extensive experience and unbridled passion for both psychology and design, Kylie is quickly becoming a recognised leader in these emerging fields. Her innovative approach and comprehensive understanding of the intersection between design and psychology have made her a sought-after authority in her field.
Kylie Sandland, Design Psychologist
Jane Baxter, Partnerships & Operations
Jane’s speciality lies in business and project management. She loves nothing more than to plan, schedule and monitor projects as they blossom into reality. As a thoughtful and analytical problem solver she is able to anticipate and overcome obstacles. Her decision-making process is driven by a deep understanding and utilisation of data, allowing optimal end-to-end project management. A strong team player, she thrives in collaborative environments, especially when it's time to brainstorm and shape innovative ideas. Jane finds joy when she’s part of transforming an idea, taking it beyond its initial vision to unlock its maximum potential.
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