Case study · South Yarra

A ninth-floor apartment, softened

Property: Two-bedroom apartment, 2010s tower
Scope: Styling and furnishing throughout, plus a bathroom refresh
Duration: 14 weeks
Services: Styling & décor refresh, Kitchens & bathrooms

Apartment living room with sheer linen curtains, a low sofa and city views through the balcony doors

The brief

A new-build apartment with a view worth keeping and afternoon sun that made the living room unusable from 3pm in summer. Everything was white, grey or glossy, and the owner had moved in with almost no furniture of their own.

No structural work was possible under the owners corporation rules, so the brief was to change how the apartment feels using furniture, textiles, lighting and one small bathroom update.

Design decisions

i.
Filter the light instead of blocking it
Floor-to-ceiling sheer linen on a ceiling track diffuses the western sun while keeping the view, with blockout blinds hidden behind for the hottest afternoons.
ii.
Low, rounded and soft
A low sofa and a rounded bouclé armchair keep sightlines open to the window, and softer edges take the hardness out of a very rectilinear room.
iii.
Lighting in layers
The downlights now dim, and table and floor lamps do most of the work at night. Warm 2700K bulbs throughout replace the original cool white.
iv.
A bathroom updated, not rebuilt
New brass tapware, a framed mirror and a reglazed shower floor lifted the bathroom without waterproofing works or owners corporation approval.

03 · Before and after