Innehållsförteckning för May 2025 från Belle

EDITORIAL Editor-in-chief Tanya Buchanan Creative director Lauren Camilleri Art director Shayne Burton Deputy editor Peter Griffiths Senior copy editor Deborah Grant Stylist, Homes Sophie Wilson Editorial Assistant Rhiannon Lidbury Contributing editors Steve Cordony (Style director-at-large), Karen McCartney (Architecture), Kirstie Clements (Luxe Files), Judy Pascoe (Library), Carli Philips (Melbourne), Harry Roberts (Art), Jean Wright (Design) EDITORIAL OFFICE GPO Box 4088, Sydney, NSW 1028 Tel (02) 9282 8000, email: belle@aremedia.com.au CONTRIBUTORS Emma Bestek, Tom Blachford, Sharyn Cairns, Lisa Cohen, Bon Engel, Tom Ferguson, Alexandra Gordon, Simone Haag, Ed Hansen, Stephanie Hope, Alana Landsberry, Jack Milenkovic, Ridhwaan Moola, Eliza O’Hare, Chris Pearson, Prue Ruscoe, Tim Salisbury, Anson Smart, Kristina Soljo, Alicia Taylor, Emily Walkemeyer, Dave Wheeler, Jen Wilding, Sarah Wormwell ADVERTISING Commercial manager, Homes Michelle O’Hanlon Brand executive Mikaela Lezcano Advertising production manager…

SYDNEY PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY Mark Maurangi Carrol’s paintings (above), with their muted, washed-out tones bleeding into raw, textured surfaces, evoke faded family snapshots, momentary flashes of memory or mimeographed echoes of half-remembered dreams. His scenes of figures in ambiguous landscapes carry an air of haunting familiarity, their ghost-like quality balanced by a compositional formality. The title of his three-part exhibition, ‘Ueata’, comes from the Rarotongan word for ‘catching shadows’, used to describe early daguerreotype photography in the Cook Islands. nasha.com.au MELBOURNE MIXED BLESSINGS A private lexicon of symbolic forms slips between diaphanous layers of colour on David Egan’s canvas, often alluding to religious themes or mystical associations: rosary beads, holy icons or ritual meals. Hovering in a grid-like matrix, these recurring apparitions – including beads he refers to as ‘cells’ –…

For Eleonore de Vienne, national operations manager for textile purveyor Boyac, the commute to work is as easy as they come. The apartment she shares with her husband, Ryan Tkalcevic, is conveniently located above the Boyac showroom in Sydney’s Woollahra, so all team meetings and client appointments are only a flight of stairs away. The building’s location on leafy Queen Street also holds special significance for Eleonore and her mum, Susanna de Vienne. “My mother and father, Patrick de Vienne, established a textile business called Fabrica on Queen Street 40 years ago, and it has always been a dream of ours to create a Boyac showroom in this location,” says Eleonore. “Having the apartment above is a wonderful extension of the space.” Formerly a dental practice, the blank slate of…

1_DESIGNER SHADE Poolside glamour calls for a scalloped umbrella such as this customised 2.9-metre octagonal design in Amber Tweed from Original Parasol Co. $2245. originalparasolco.com 2_PURIST PLEASURES Lifestyle brand Saardé has opened a flagship store adjacent to The EVE Hotel and created a bespoke product range for the 102 rooms. ‘Kairos’ angular carafe in Green, $89. saarde.com.au 3_ROCK SOLID Artworks by Dinosaur Designs’ founder Louise Olsen feature throughout The EVE Hotel. The 4-leg ‘Rock Tower’ table is from the latest DD collection. $3000. dinosaurdesigns.com.au 4_CUSHIONING EFFECT Relax and kick back on the Sage and White Stripe outdoor bolster from Original Parasol Co. $220. originalparasolco.com 5_BATHROOM BLISS Saardé ‘Vintage Wash’ towel collection, from $15 for a face washer, and Hand & Body Moisturiser in Saint-Raphaël, $39. saarde.com.au 6_BIENVENIDO The EVE Hotel’s…

A LITTLE TASTE OF SICILY in the hills of Byron Bay – this is the tempting tagline of luxury stay Lo Scoglio, where travel and wellbeing go hand in hand. Owned by biodynamic farmers Charlie and Angelica Arnott, the private estate set on just under a hectare in Coopers Shoot – 10 minutes from Byron – offers a welcome antidote to the daily grind. “Lo Scoglio, meaning ‘the rock’, was a name gifted to me during a quiet exchange with an elder from the Aeolian Islands,” says Angelica. “He spoke of a rock that jutted into the Tyrrhenian Sea, a meeting place where young men would gather before diving into the water below. More than a rock, it was a place of ritual and connection. That story stayed with me…

TANIA HANDELSMANN AND GILLIAN KHAW are the directors of Sydney design firm Handelsmann + Khaw, specialising in carefully crafted residential interiors. They work from a classic Victorian terrace on a charming retail street in Paddington. WHAT APPEALED TO YOU ABOUT THE SPACE INITIALLY? It feels more like a home than a commercial workspace. And there was an opportunity for us to put our stamp on an entire building. DESCRIBE THE EXTENT OF YOUR ALTERATIONS Our building had many different lives before we moved in, from a residence to a beauty salon with a maze of internal partitions. While we reconfigured the layout and did a full internal renovation, we tried returning the structure to its original spirit as much as we could. If you love Paddington, what you love is…

I have been travelling around Australia frequently this year for various design launches and I love meeting our readers and hearing all about what they are doing out there in the real world. Luxe travel, property wheeling and dealing, art collecting and sidesizing (saying you are downsizing but actually moving to a property of a similar size or larger!) all seem high on the list. And our fabulous followers are definitely in pursuit of wellness retreats and chic experiential events and generally on a mission to enhance their lives. With this in mind, we are pleased to launch our Belle Passport section with reports from stylish cruiser Kirstie Clements (page 60). After reading the accounts of her glam slow-paced travel from Indonesia to New Zealand and more, I am definitely…

WHEN SHE WAS A KID, Chloe Tozer and her family would head to Halse Lodge after a day at the beach. Just 100 metres away, the salty water and remnants of biscuity sand trailed behind surfers who also traipsed there, craving icy cool beers and chicken schnitzels as the sun set over the lush, subtropical Noosa rainforest. The old Queenslander epitomised the laid-back feel of a quintessential beach town and was loved by locals, but lost its lustre during Covid when the crowds faded away. “It really needed a lot of love,” says Chloe, the creative director of Halse Lodge. Taking out a management lease from the Anglican Church, which owns the property, Chloe brought it back to life, transforming the lodge into an easygoing, characterful space where travellers can…

If it’s true that life experience is the foundation of good taste, Sarah Parry-Okeden has had a sensational head start. “I grew up around parents who loved to travel and collect interesting vintage furnishings along the way,” she says, “so our houses were eclectic, with an emphasis on gardens and landscape.” Those experiences formed a dynamic platform for Sarah’s business, Wild Orchid Spaces, which designs and builds dream homes in Australia and the US. Sarah lives in her latest project, Romney House, with her family (husband Henry and children Ollie and Ruby plus Sheldon, a cavoodle). The home is a two-hour drive south of Sydney in the Southern Highlands, a lush, gentrified district that is big on horses, hydrangeas and weekend antiquing. The Highlands experienced a seismic real-estate boom during…

Designers don’t often have the opportunity to visit their own projects regularly – especially well after completion. However, for Melbourne-based interior designer Samantha Eisen, dropping in to this bayside home is a regular occurrence. Defying the ‘never do business with friends or family’ taboo, she successfully renovated it with the owners: her younger sister, Bianca, and brother-in-law, David. “A lot of people might be afraid of working with their siblings,” says Samantha, “but we’re very close and I know her style intimately.” Bianca and David had looked for their forever home seriously for about three years and consulted Samantha on their final two contenders. “I was a firm advocate for this one,” says Samantha, referring to the handsome Brighton property. “The character and layout were amazing for family life and…

WHILE SOME ARCHITECTU RAL PRACTICES see residential projects as a stepping stone to bigger things, the team at B.E. Architecture have set the genre squarely in their sights. “For us, it is the main game – and we actually think it’s one of the hardest aspects of architecture because each project is so personal and emotionally charged,” says the firm’s director, Andrew Piva. “There are always interesting dynamics and serious investment from the clients, which goes way beyond the financial.” Having honed their craft and process, they approach each project with a deep interrogation of what the client wants – delving into likes and dislikes, how their days unfold, how they operate individually and as a family. “We distil all that information to guide the ideas and principles that, in…

THOSE OF US constantly striving for shoot-ready interiors know that the art of styling is not as easy as it looks. So, it was a delighted audience taking in the learnings from Steve Cordony’s bestselling new book, Moments at Home, when the Belle style director-at-large treated a wonderful group of Fanuli clients to a mini masterclass. Steve’s top advice? Your pieces don’t all have to be new. His skill is mixing heirloom favourites with contemporary objects and flowers to create fresh looks. It’s fun, and a chance to work with those ‘good’ pieces we often leave hidden away in the armoire or sideboard. At Fanuli, Steve mixed antique silver candelabras and bowls from his mother’s collection with Paolo Paronetto ceramics, whimsical flowers from Grandiflora and some foraged branches. Appreciative guests…

IT WAS AN EXCITING CONCEPT that took nearly a decade to complete: an insalubrious shopping centre and car park located on the border of Surry Hills and Redfern to be pulled down, with a brand new residential, commercial and hotel precinct to take its place. Change, especially in the sought-after inner-city area of Sydney, is inevitable, but the best urban plans approach the history and environs of these traditionally working class suburbs with sensitivity, an evolution of design and purpose that can both support and enrich the local community while attracting a new global audience. It appears the recently opened EVE Hotel Sydney and surrounding Wunderlich Lane Precinct (with its varied offerings) have achieved just that. The very stylish EVE Hotel is the final addition to the TOGA Group development…

The idea was simple and elegant: luxury flooring reimagined as a canvas for artistic statement. Tongue & Groove has been supplying Australian homes with quality engineered timber floorboards for almost 20 years, but owner Richard Karsay envisioned something even grander – a marriage between architectural flooring and the inspiration of global design icons. The result is the striking Co.Lab Series. “We wanted to align ourselves with visionary creatives and help them transform our oak boards into masterpieces of their expression,” he says. The first of these rewarding partnerships is with award-winning Australian interior designer Greg Natale, whose sophisticated Bosco Collection is inspired by European modernism and mid-century tiles, manifesting his tessellating designs on timber boards. This was an opportunity Greg relished. “It’s a technical product – working with undulating curves…

Poised on a hill overlooking Sydney Harbour and with liner-like views, this apartment celebrates an enduring collaboration between one of the owners and interior designer Thomas Hamel. In 25 years, he has designed 20 properties for her across the world, including homes in the UK and US. From rugs to lights, this project is peppered with the products of that partnership, layers of memories that have found a new home and are revealed in a fresh light. “It’s an amalgamation of different projects,” says Thomas. “With their scale and exoticism, the pre-loved treasures fitted in perfectly.” The empty-nester owners bought the four-bedroom apartment in 2016 when they were keen to downsize – relatively at least – from their family home in Sydney’s east. An ideal pied-à-terre for their frequent overseas…

The start of interior designer Jase Sullivan’s journey with these clients began in Byron Bay, NSW, where he designed their award-winning beach house. They loved it so much that they enlisted him to work on their guest house in Melbourne’s Middle Park – a standalone property adjacent to their main residence. “They originally bought the guest house so nobody else would build there and impose on their view,” says Jase of the arrangement. “But when I showed them the mood boards, they decided to move next door and make it theirs rather than keep it for visitors.” Avid travellers, the homeowners liked the idiosyncratic design of Kit Kemp’s Firmdale hotels and wanted colour, but when it came to the brief, Jase was given a fairly wide berth. “They said, ‘We…

When Cameron Kimber was an aspiring young interior designer in the 1980s, he spent a lot of time poring over Architectural Digest magazines, absorbing styles that were popular in New York and Los Angeles at the time. That imagery has remained vividly in his mind – “a sparkly, crystally, shiny, glamorous feeling”, he says – and inspired him to recreate such a mood in a recent makeover of a Sydney penthouse apartment in a harbourside suburb. Cameron’s longstanding clients were downsizing and desired something unlike their previous homes. “With each project,” he says, “they want a different look. Having just come from a traditional-style home this time, they specified ‘clean, light and contemporary’.” Thinking of stone and brass detailing with luxe fabrics, the designer leant into 1980s decorating glamour and…