MEET THE TEAM

Teresa Kleeman
Design member of the Kitchen Bathroom Designers Institute (KBDI)

Teresa Kleeman
I must have been about 9 years old, I was at a family Italian wedding and I was drawing all over the paper tablecloth back in those days. My cousin’s wife Natalie watched me as I drew and drew. She asked me – What do you want to be when you grow up and I firmly said Architect. She continued to say “Teresa you want to be an Interior Designer”.
At that stage I had no idea what that even was!!!! From that moment I knew what my passion was – DESIGN.
The way it makes me feel – happy, content and passionate. There is nothing else in this world that my heart & soul would rather do. The greatest reward is creating a dream space for a client and seeing it come to life and knowing that the client is thrilled with the outcome.
At the young age of 21, I qualified in the industry and I persued my dreams. With many years experience since then and many more to come – here I am “Embracing Space.
Teresa

Awards
The Kitchen/Bathroom Designers Institute (KBDI), Houzz & the Housing Industry Association (HIA)
- BEST OF HOUZZ 2022 AU - Design & Service
- BEST OF HOUZZ 2021 AU - Design & Service
- 2020 KBDI + KBQ WINNER - Peoples Choice Award for Bathroom Design
- 2020 KBDI FINALIST - Large Bathroom Design
- 2020 KBDI FINALIST - Small Bathroom Design
- 2016 KBDI WINNER – Bathroom designer of the year (VIC)
- 2016 KBDI WINNER – Small Bathroom Design
- 2015 HIA WINNER – Renovated Bathroom $30-50K
- 2015 HIA WINNER – Eastern Victoria Kitchen Design
- 2015 HIA RUNNER UP – Eastern Victoria Bathroom Design
- 2015 HIA FINALIST – Laundry Design
- 2015 HIA FINALIST – Renovated Kitchen up to $50K
- 2013 HIA RUNNER UP – Renovated Kitchen up to $40K
- 2013 KBDI FINALIST – Outstanding Student of the Year – “Certificate IV in the Design of Kitchens, Bathrooms and Interior Spaces” (While working full time for Smarter Bathrooms and Kitchens in 2012, I completed a 1-year course with Designer Training – specialising in Kitchen Design)
- 2013 KBDI FINALIST – Small Kitchen Design
Education & Qualifications
- 2012 – Completed “Certificate IV in the Design of Kitchens, Bathrooms and Interior Spaces” with Designer Training
- 2010 – Completed “Certificate IV in Retail Management” Part Time with Pow Wow Training Pty Ltd
- 2006 – Completed 2 years Full Time study of “Diploma of Interior Design & Decoration” at RMIT University
- 2003 – Completed 1 year Part Time study of “Advanced Diploma of Interior Design” at Polytechnic Faculty of Art & Architecture
- 2002 – Short Course Certificates Completed: Interior Design & Decoration at Chisholm Tafe & Interior Architecture at Monash University
- 2002 – Completed Year 12
- 2000 – 2 Weeks Work Experience with Interior Designer – Shira Ash
Your attention to detail is impeccable, it truly shows in the end result the passion and love you have for creating spaces. Your professionalism and dedication in the whole process from start to end has been comforting knowing you had it all under control and listening to our need and wants to create amazing spaces that flowed and worked with one another.
Look forward to working again with you in the future. We couldn’t thank you enough for bringing our vision to life.
Following our very successful renovations we had her renovate our 85 year old Mum’s bathroom. Again Teresa did an amazing job under some difficult circumstances. We would highly recommend Teresa for any building or renovation work you are contemplating, without hesitation.
Once the actual work started and Wayne took over everything continued in the same way. Wayne was extremely helpful, fantastic to work with and his easy going, fun personality made the weeks of disruption much easier than expected. He sorted out any issues very quickly and effectively and we really appreciated all his updates and texts keeping us informed on a regular basis. The tradies were also all great, very friendly, polite and helpful. And our bathroom looks amazing. Thank you!!

Jo Buswell
Diploma of Interior Design & Decoration, Mercer Design College, Collingwood
Jo Buswell
Hi, I’m Jo and I’m thrilled to be joining Teresa Kleeman within the Embracing Space design family.
I have been making my way to this point in my design journey for many years now, starting from sitting with friends and family and thinking if they just …… and then happily helping them to just ….. Being lucky enough to renovate all our ‘plane Janes’ into homes filled with personality and love.
A few years ago, I decided to take the leap and study Interior Design formally, which only confirmed my passion and drive to design beautiful, functional spaces for people to enjoy, was exactly what I should be doing. I have since worked on various projects, with there being nothing more rewarding than knowing you have helped a person fall in love with their home.
Appreciating that Design is ever evolving I am privileged to be on this new journey, ‘Embracing Space’.
Jo
Communication is the key in any relationship and none more important than when looking after a client, keeping them informed and responding to queries promptly. Teresa listened to my brief and was willing to work with me to achieve the look I was after while offering great advice and a very good eye for colour and detail. She always replied to my emails and calls and nothing was a problem.
I found her to be very honest and professional and I think she is a great asset to any project.