How fashion content creator Maxine Wylde applied colour theory to her home makeover

Fashion content creator Maxine Wylde knows how to pull an outfit together.

The Melbourne creative is known for the colour theory-based styling videos she shares with her 600,000-plus Instagram and TikTok followers.

“Colour is the biggest factor in my outfits,” she says. “I like working with colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel or that have similar tonal vibes.”

Wylde recently applied this approach to revamp the living room and hallway of her apartment.

Her first step was to identify the space’s “hero pieces” – a 1970s credenza from Castorina in Fitzroy, a wine-coloured rug and a pink lounge.

“I wanted to look at it as a big outfit, essentially,” she says. “I wanted to find colours that kind of married all of my furniture pieces together and made them all make sense.”

Wylde’s solution was to paint her previously white walls in Dulux’s Potters Pink and Lama. She also repainted her cobalt blue dining table – custom-made by local furniture maker Chair Boi – in Dulux’s Light Rice Half, repositioned her artwork, and added a floor-to-ceiling mirror.

The result is a “warm and inviting” space that Wylde, who studied interior design, says reflects her maximalist style and tonal approach to dressing, and confirms her theory that “colour loves colour”.

“It mirrors my style in that it’s eclectic and mismatched,” she says.

“We’ve got every shade, from burgundy to brown to pink, and we’ve just filled in all the gaps – I think that’s the biggest reflection of my style; that’s how I go about getting dressed.”

After

Before

Wylde’s approach to furnishing her home links with her love of vintage clothing. She regularly turns to Instagram to find “treasures”, with Curated Spaces, Domestic Fantasies and Mood Objects among her favourite vintage furniture resellers. 

Her tip for incorporating colour into an interior space is to start by assessing what you already have.

“Is there something you don’t really like? Something that just doesn’t match? Look at them all as a whole and maybe pick a few paint colours that you’re drawn to and see what works best.”

Interior designer Briellyn Turton also looks to fashion as a source of inspiration for her work.

The founder of Studio Brie and host of Channel Nine’s Australia’s Best House specialises in creating “personality-driven interiors” and encourages people to use their wardrobes as a starting point for their home design.

“This could be as simple as finding a solution for a colour palette – if you like to wear a lot of blue, you will likely respond well to it in your interiors – or a more detailed exploration of patterns and textures you gravitate towards,” she says.

Turton often shares fashion-related content on her personal Instagram page, which boasts 12,500 followers, and says there are similarities between her clothing choices and how she styles her home.

“I’m quite eclectic and lean towards pieces of interest,” she says. “Where I can, I focus on items that are Australian-designed and made.”

Fashion and interior design trends often mirror each other, Turton says, with recent examples being chocolate brown tones and a move towards embracing unique aesthetics rather than abiding strictly by one style.

Turton’s number one tip for people looking to design a space that reflects their personality is not to rush the process.

“The spaces you inhabit have a major impact on your daily life, so we want to get it right,” she says. “Spend time researching far and wide for inspiration … meaningful design takes time.”

The founder of Melbourne bedding brand Heatherly Design, Georgie Leckey, has seen parallels between fashion and interiors in her 15 years in the industry.

“Textures and fabrics move from fashion to what we do,” she says. “Boucle was the obvious one – that was trending on runways long before it hit interiors.”

Leckey looks to brands like Marimekko, Oroton and Ralph Lauren for inspiration, and recently partnered with interior designer Rebecca Jansma to create a green houndstooth bedhead inspired by London-based fashion label Erdem’s autumn-winter 2024 collection.

“[Jansma] spotted this incredible black and white houndstooth with a floral overlay,” Leckey says. “She elevated that with that fabulous trim.”

Heatherly Design has also released bedheads inspired by tonal dressing and tailored Ralph Lauren suits, and Leckey says vegan leather is another trend that’s moved from fashion to interiors.

She says a customer’s style of clothing often corresponds to the type of bedhead they will like.

“When a client walks into the showroom … very quickly you can gauge by how they are presented as to whether I’m going to be moving to a contemporary or a traditional design.”

For Turton, fashion and interior design both offer ways to express a sense of individuality.

“To me, what you wear is a form of self-expression, as is how you decorate your home,” she says.