“The Living Gallery project was born when I started to remodel my own home and dealt with several substandard contractors, before finding the right people I could trust,” says Perko.

“Not only was this process costly in both money and time, it left me frustrated that finding reliable tradespeople was such a gamble.”

The Living Gallery is part design review website, part e-tailer, also selling premium kitchen, lighting, and outdoor products sourced from Holland, Belgium and France. 

Initially the focus of the site was to allow home owners to upload their build projects and endorse their build team. However, says Perko, there was such a demand from the design industry to be able to showcase their own designs as well, that the website has been restructured. Each listing is checked by The Living Gallery team before it goes live, to make sure quality is upheld.

?Perko (pictured, with business partner Shane Senne) says her long term goal is for the website to become New Zealand’s number one resource for all aspects of home design.

“It’s a really genuine way to endorse the good guys and hopefully raise the level of professionalism in the building and design industries,” she says. 

“It takes away the guesswork out of trying to find a home professional.”