My Interior Design Journey; How/Why my Style came about

My journey with interior style and design has come full circle as an adult. I left a very earthy, rustic environment over at my parent's place. Think boathouses, with bamboo blinds, white lofty linens, raw timber benchtops and stone baths. My parents loved all the things that are trending now, to be honest. The Tuscan urns, rendered walls and jute carpets were all things I recognised instantly when it came to visit us in the city in early 2021.

here’s a bit of a taste of where I grew up;

So, moving from that environment to Melbourne, I saw urban, minimalist design to be the cool, new thing. I always wanted to live in town when I was young so leapt at the chance to incorporate a more clean minimalist aesthetic. I also noticed that Melbourne in particular was obsessed with mid-century design (still is.) So I went with mid-century inspired lamps, sofas and accessories to fit that norm, but kept it all white because that was the vibe back in 2016 (the over whitening tool on face tune was my best friend when editing pictures for Instagram.) I was, like any new young person to the home scene, obsessed with IKEA and its affordable take on this rather expensive style. That and a couple of West Elm cushions met the brief.

In this new style, I still incorporated natural design. There was always a jute rug in the room and some linen drapes. The foundation always remained surprisingly. As I got on, I realised that it wasn’t working for me. I didn’t like how ‘dollhouse’ everything felt. It wasn’t clinical like others describe an all light coloured space. It was more the missing texture that just felt off for me.

Because of this, I could see my style returning to my roots. Opting for timbers, still blonde in tone at this stage, and got me some down cushion inserts that added some dimension to those West Elm pillows. Instantly, I felt more at ease.

Here’s that progression - please excuse the severe cushion chops and diamond styling. We all started somewhere I suppose.

Moving forward to the last 3 years, I fell in love with the transitional style as seen in the US. The Amber interior design style was like a breath of fresh air for me. I loved the incorporation of natural materials meeting old charm. So I went into that and opted to visit West Elm’s sister brand Pottery Barn. Mind you, I’m not all big box. I just use these brands to describe the general vibe. I also went on to find some more natural decor pieces. A lot of stores have things set at really high prices. But I found in places like Freedom and Papaya, their main customer base didn’t understand the natural ranges the stores brought in briefly so it was all discounted and I jumped on all the good deals. Picking up dough bowls, trays, vessels and stone lamps for such good prices. Great for me! not so great for that poor buying team who had an eye at just the wrong time.

So then, from there, I moved from the traditional small suburb of Hawthorn to Melbourne CBD. I loved what Hawthorn gave me in terms of that rich historic home, with tree-lined streets and golden retrievers/poodles. But, I feel like it got really tired after a while. I feel like it's there and always will be so I can appreciate it all on a holiday/weekend trip rather than live there full time at this stage in my life.

When I saw this loft-style apartment in the 1910 old postal holding building I couldn’t not apply to live in it. I dreamt of living in the city in an old loft-style apartment and to be honest, this is the best you’re going to get in Australia and at the price, I’m happy to be paying. But, with all this came the question; How am I going to style this place?

I didn’t want to do an Industrial style, it just doesn’t feel like that trend has been gone long enough to feel fresh. I didn’t want to go back to the minimal aesthetic. And I also didn’t want to have to sell everything I had accumulated over the last 10 years. So I opted to strip it back, remove the traditional elements (store them in the cage downstairs and under my bed for now. But I did get rid of that four-poster bed!) and just bring out the natural beauty, and more worldly look and feel to my pieces all placed together.

My style now is very much inspired by Axel Vervoordt and my parents to be honest. It all came full circle in that I take comfort in what I grew up with and also love that it's so timeless and chic, and in many cases super affordable. It’s like seeing people with enough money to have Amber Interiors, Jake Arnold or Axel Vervoordt come in and do their house and it is full of similar things to me on 20 times the budget feels so good. It’s really about the eye/taste level than the money. What it’s really about is appreciating the natural environment and taking comfort in imperfections. That's what it takes to achieve a timeless, global, effortless home. You can run on trends, but it’s so much money. I’d rather appreciate them in restaurants, hotels and cafes than tackle them myself.

I think this style with remain. And the reason for this is because I can interchange it to be whatever I feel at the time in whatever space. Which is a smart, conscious and authentic approach to designing your home, and anything really in your life.

I think the main reason I make this journal entry is just to show that design in general is a slow process. In interiors particularly, expect things to take time to develop. There are a lot of intricate details that you learn as you go on. Enjoy your past styles, have a laugh even, and continue to evolve. That’s what makes a space feel like a home and authentic to you. Which is the best feeling to have in the rooms you grow with.