I have been in my share of derelict places, and this is by far the most derelict. Which is what makes it so cool.

It’s a Victorian terrace in a quiet street of Newtown that has never been renovated, and has not been kept in the best condition.

It is creepy.

The photos explain it better than words can, but walking through the place you identify a few things – the inside has had years and years of indifferent living piled on it, with wallpaper peeling to show more wallpaper and an old kid’s rug covering the kitchen floor. It’s been bashed about. Then there’s what looks to be squatter’s writing on the wall of the living area. And there’s the odour upstairs, which was mildly scarring.

It’s exciting and scary to walk through, and it’ll be exciting and scary to renovate. It’s got a good location, a facade that will scrub up nicely and some original features worth saving – the fireplace downstairs is bricked up but has a very pretty frame.

It harkens back to old school Newtown grit, which is another plus point. On the other hand, it will soon be a sparkling refashioned respectable home. It’s currently on the market, so someone will assuredly pick it up and have fun with it. The day I saw it I was late (no surprise there), but the inspection had been busy and there was an overflow of investors exploring it with me. It’s also been listed in SMH‘s ‘Smart Buys’ section (billed as a ‘haunted house’), so I’m not the only person paying attention. Nor should I be.

As you can probably tell, since they demonstrate a level of photographic skill I haven’t quite yet attained (still waiting for someone to shout me a DSLR and a photography lesson…), these photos are not mine. But no matter. The house is pretty, and belongs to Ellie Bradley, who heads up Xavier & Me.

So today’s post takes the form of another Q&A-with-a-professional. Below is my interview with Ellie, who takes us through her design inspirations and provides some tips for anyone hoping to pretty up their own place. It’s a bit unique insofar as the family decided to move into an already-renovated home; a rarity for design professionals.

How much did your work influence the design of your own home?
We moved into our home in October 2012 and it was already renovated. Our decision to move into a home already renovated was motivated by a year long struggle to get a DA through on another home. It was a very stressful year, so we decided to keep our home, put it on the rental market and go in search of something we can move straight into.

Rugs are used in the home to create contrast in streamlined, modern rooms.

The home was renovated back in 2010, and mixes the traditional features of the home with modern features. The home has loads of storage which was a must and we now also have that crucial extra room which I have turned into my studio. In terms of the style of home, it really was a blank canvas which enable me to fill up the home with my treasures – from porcelain tea pots, to aboriginal artworks, to loads of my cushions and rugs.

Who lives in the house?
I live here with my husband, Richard and my little boy Xavier, who is nearly 5.

How did you decide on the home itself? What was its background?
We needed more space and storage. As I work from home, I really needed (and so did my family) a separate room that I could make into my studio. It’s one of the bedrooms at the front of the house and looks out onto the street with some city glimpses through a beautiful Frangipani tree. We are slightly elevated from the street level, so it’s lovely being able to take in the day without feeling like I am in a fish bowl.

Can you take us through your approach to colour and pattern?
My approach to colour and pattern is constantly changing, as I think this is something I’m still discovering myself as I grow as a designer, but on the whole I am a big lover of bright colours and bold patterns. I love using contrasts in my designs between different materials and media or by fusing bold strong colours with complementary muted tones. I love the modernist art movement Bauhaus’ main objective to unify art, craft and technology. Their rational designs are based on simple geometric shapes and primary colours, which you see a lot of in my work.

 It’s lovely being able to take in the day without feeling like I am in a fish bowl.

 
How heavily styled is your home on a day-to-day basis?

Ellie's office.

On a day-to-day basis my home is pared back on the styling, however I do love showing my treasures and tend to mix it up. I don’t have everything out at once as I like to more curate the spaces in my home. I tend to pick up things here and there, and they don’t all work together, so I have tended towards creating a mini gallery where I change things around, move pieces from room to room. I like the fluidity of styling my home.

Do you have any favourite stores to pick up homewares from?
Planet on Commonwealth, in Surry Hills. I am good friends with the owner Ross Longmuir and he has a wonderful curated mix of artists and his own furniture and fabrics. Another favourite shop is actually one of my online retailers, Everything Beings. Amy searches far and wide for the most interesting new artwork and objects, made by independent and emerging artists, designers and makers all over the world, which she brings to us online. A recent addition to the site was a series of artworks by Australian illustrator Letitia Buchan.

Do you have any tips for others trying to improve the appearance of their home?
Here are my top ten tips for breathing new life into your home:

1. De-clutter – Even if your have created a beautiful room, clutter can detract from the overall look. Make sure those usual suspects of kids’ toys, stationery, magazines, pile of different electronic plugs for different devices (I have one of these on my kitchen bench) have their own place so they are easy to find but not scattered or piled up.
2. Lighting – A great way to update your room is to add lighting. Draping some string lights over a bookshelf or updating your boring ceiling light to something a bit more stylish could change the whole look of a room.
3. Rugs – rugs add texture and warmth to a room. It can also add character to a neutral décor, soften a busy scheme or tie together key colours in a room. It’s also a great way to aid in room planning and acoustics if you live with a large open plan space.
4. Cushions – another great way to add colour and pattern, breathing new life into your room. Mix pattern, colour and textures to create a statement.
5. Wallpaper – There are some beautiful wallpapers out there – whether you want something busy, loud, muted or kitsch. Be brave and completely cover the walls of a small room or make a statement in a larger room by papering just one wall.
6. Reupholster – Old dining chairs, headboards and sofas can be reinvented to refresh a room’s look. Find a contemporary patterned fabric and get your old furniture reupholstered for a brand new sense of style and comfort.
7. Colour scheme – You don’t need to go overboard when finding a colour scheme for a room – unless, of course, you really want to make a statement. Pick out the pre-existing key colours of your room or choose a specific object which you wish to use as the colour inspiration and add complementary coloured ornaments or soft furnishings. If your room has a neutral décor, inject a few really bright shades.
8. Make a statement – If you’ve got a bit of cash set aside, consider splashing it on a statement item which will give your room the ‘wow factor’. Depending on budget, room type and your personal taste, this can range from a designer ornament to a framed canvas or flash contemporary fireplace.
9. Flowers – Okay, so it’s not quite going to restyle the room, but displaying flowers is a wonderful way of breathing life into a room, adding colour and making a style statement. Commit to a regular change of bouquets and vases to keep your room alive and create a feast for the eyes.
10. Mirrors – If you don’t have a feature mirror in at least one room of your house – why not? As well as creating the feeling of space and reflecting light, a mirror says you are proud of your home, it is vanity for your interior and a wonderful way to add perspective.

I have some eye-candy for you – and it’s heritage eye-candy, which is usually preferable. This development at Camperdown has just about reached completion, and hopefully it’ll add to the cool-trendy-warehouse-conversion vibe that Camperdown has been cultivating over the past few years. This particular development is, as the name suggests, a re-working of an old sugar warehouse.

The original site.

Camperdown is a well-positioned area – very close to the city, Sydney Uni, UTS and Annandale, which is one of my favourite suburbs and as such deserves a mention. It still has a bit of a creepy vibe (in my opinion), but young professional hispters seem to enjoy a bit of ‘grittiness’ (but not too much!). It’s a suburb that’s ideal for developers due to its industrial heritage – there are plenty of character-filled warehouses to redesign.

It’s a good combination for the burgeoning population – which tends to be a combination of students and fairly well-off young professionals who want to be close to the action.

I particularly like the outdoor spaces here – you’ll find that I’m a sucker for indoor/outdoor spaces, and these seem particularly seamless (a bedroom with pretty sliding door access to a courtyard is my idea of heaven).

Another thing I’m crazy about – which you might know if you’re a regular reader – is floorboards. Most apartment complexes opt for carpets for noise reasons, so it’s nice to see this development breaking the mould (presumably with soundproof insulation). Floorboards add timeless appeal to a space, so they’re always an appealing design choice.

I wasn’t intending to take these snaps, but having spent the day in Balmain yesterday, I couldn’t resist documenting some of the pretty houses I saw with my iPhone. Since I spent so long in the suburb checking out the (pretty impressive, by the way) dining scene and reading the news, I found myself wishing I had brought my camera along in order to doorknock on some doors and get a nice, long post out of the day. I was too tired yesterday morning to have that foresight, but I’m glad I semi-salvaged the situation.

I have explored a house in Balmain before on the blog, but Rozelle/Balmain (to be honest, I don’t know where the one starts and the other begins – I go by the signs on shopfronts) definitely deserve to be highlighted, if only because there is such diversity in the housing styles. ‘What diversity?’ You might say. ‘They’re all just cramped old places.’ A lot are Victorian terraces, but some are brick, some are weatherboard, and some aren’t from that era at all – there are freestanding Federations and nondescript brown brick workers’ houses that look like they were built in the ’50s lining the cramped, snakey streets.

An incredibly cute pair.

Darling St, Balmain is worth visiting. It houses some of Sydney’s brightest spots – awarded delis (the deli on Darling Street is well worth a visit – it has some very trendy, hard-to-find brands of ice cream, great varieties of vanilla paste, orange blossom water and rosewater, and glass bottles of milk, my favourite item), celebrated bakeries (including Adriano Zumbo’s shopfront), quirky wine bars, and it leads down to one of Sydney’s most spectacular views at Thornton Park. The price of buying property in Balmain is, accordingly, hefty, but definitely worth it for those who want good local joints and a quick trip into the CBD (although Victoria Street’s traffic regularly exceeds nightmarish proportions).

There were sad parts to the suburb, too. I walked past some unmistakable housing commission apartment blocks. I actually walked up to one of them to explore, but didn’t get very far when a person emerged and looked at me with a wary expression. I was also surprised to find beggars at Balmain. It was easy to make assumptions about who I thought was part of Balmain’s new, gentrified crowd, and who I thought was part of the old, government-assisted population. Whether I was right or not, on the suburb’s periphery it can present a melancholy contrast.

Yet to be handed back its old glory.