'Crazy and colourful': Inside the apartment that's a home away from home for a family of six

There are people who like to surround themselves with sedate neutrals, then there are people like Natalie Jarvis. 

She overhauled the two-bedroom apartment above her store, Electric Confetti in bayside Melbourne during lockdown, and it emerged as a “crazy and colourful” space filled with LED pieces, custom wallpaper, and shimmering wall-size art. 

Jarvis worked on the project with her husband Scott, guided by dreams of renting out the fun Sandringham pad in the future as unique short-stay accommodation. 

She says that planning a quirky rental, rather than someone’s full-time home, unleashed the couple’s creativity and had them reaching for “lots of products we know excite people, and not being afraid of using colour and texture and paint and unexpected elements you might not necessarily be brave enough to put in your own house”.

The result dazzles from all directions, from the “forever” LED bedroom light to the hand-painted leopard-print bathroom and the gold shimmer wall in the living room, which flutters under a fan-forced breeze. 

You might think the bedrooms would be spared Jarvis’ wonderfully maximalist touch, but have no fear: one of the more epic LED signs sits beside the bed in what’s known as “the blue room”. 

The motel-style neon light shines against a background of palm-tree wallpaper by US-based artist Matt Crump, and there’s also a tri-vision billboard of rotating retro images that will make you feel like you’re poolside in Miami. A blue love seat by Adelaide design duo Daniel Emma adorns this space too, and is one of Jarvis’ favourite pieces (and one of the few furniture items that wasn’t sourced second-hand).   

The second bedroom exudes retro romance vibes, with rose wallpaper art, lavender paint and an overhead pendant made by Jarvis using dried flowers and artificial plants, softly illuminated by red neon lighting threaded within. 

“The rooms are all cute and quirky in their own ways at different times of the day,” Jarvis says, referring to how light plays on the walls and floors thanks to the holographic film she’s layered on the windows and glass surfaces, so the interior colours and patterns change depending on the sun.

After

Before

“At certain times in the day when the light comes through the hallway there are just little pink squares all through the hall,” she explains. 

Jarvis’ favourite space is the balcony, a perfect spot for a drink next to a striking shimmer wall showing a woman’s face, accentuated by plenty of plants and lined by “highlighter yellow” custom acrylic balustrades, which are also Jarvis’ handiwork.  

She says that, despite the dramatic transformation, the cost of the renovation was surprisingly small. 

“It was done on a really tight budget. It’s really just lights and sequins which dazzle you. There’s no real structural changes or anything … it’s just sort of a lick of paint and some surface decals and holographic pictures and shimmer.”

The couple get to enjoy the apartment now with their children since their original plan to rent it out didn’t eventuate, which Jarvis says is “probably a good thing”. She and Scott can now take customers through the rooms to show them what a custom LED piece could look like in situ. 

On weekends, it becomes a home away from home when the couple and their four kids – Matilda, 8, Stella, 6, Hugo, 4, and Rosie, 2 – use it as a little stopover close to the beach, a welcome change of scene from their Brighton home. 

“We do need somewhere just to spend time with the family, and we don’t have a holiday house,” Jarvis says. “We’re right next to the beach here, so we’re here most weekends just having a swim and serving ice cream and the kids are upstairs just doing what they do.”

Serving ice cream, you say? Yes, that’s another recent transformation the couple accomplished by turning the staff carpark into a neon-lit “little garden oasis” complete with palm trees and an ice cream truck, from which they serve customers on warm evenings. 

With all that neon both inside and outside the apartment, it begs the question – can you actually get a relaxing night’s sleep?   

Jarvis says that life with LED all comes down to personal preference. 

“My oldest kid doesn’t mind leaving the lights on, but I couldn’t.”