QUALITY OVER QUANTITY Tamsin Johnson has decorating with vintage pieces in her DNA. As a child she travelled with her
sister and parents to Europe, sourcing pieces for her father’s antique shop in Melbourne’s Armadale. “I discovered quality from a very
young age, and learnt that good things would always be good,” she says. And this has become her mantra, as her Sydney beachside
home (above) illustrates. Shifting gear to a more muted tone, as befits the seaside location and the calm of the view, she has introduced
natural materials to anchor the more mannered design pieces. A Belgian sisal rug, a woven natural fibre cushion and a rattan lamp
are shown in a spare bedroom alongside the simple hang of a linen curtain. Notice the scale of the lamp on the bedside table,
which acts as more of a plinth for the lamp than a traditional table.
Take away: Seek out quality with pieces that are designed to last.THERE IS ORDER IN CHAOS Geoffrey Hatty is a pre-eminent Melbourne dealer in European and Australian vintage furniture,
lighting and objects. He is self-taught, has a rarified aesthetic and a devil-may-care demeanour. What is so interesting to observe in
Geoffrey’s apparently haphazard approach is the sensitivity with which he approaches everything he does. In this example (opposite),
he plays with notions of chaos while ultimately bringing order though links in colour and symmetry, as seen in the wall-mounted plates,
which contrasts with the Australian folk art furniture. He tells of how he has developed this wall display, adding and subtracting
plates and trying out different combinations in scale, tones and pattern until a new arrangement emerges.
Take away: An interior should not be considered static.48 / Inside Out