'Ripe for renovation': From good bones to designer 'art house'

Who Designer Zoe Murphy and family

What An interior designer’s playful family ‘art house’

Where Toorak, Melbourne

Interior designer and stylist Zoe Murphy purchased this Victorian house in Toorak in 2017 as a home to share with her husband Ben Murphy and children Myra, 10, and Roy, 8. The property was ripe for renovation, just waiting for her creative touch.

“We felt it when we saw it. It had the bones for a great transformation,” says Murphy, a designer and stylist for Living Edge as well as her own business, My Creative Office.

Murphy renovated the original front four rooms of the house around their period features: brick walls with high ceilings, architraves, cornices, ceiling roses and dado lines. The deep grey walls (painted in Dulux Timeless Grey) are as formal and moody as the original design intended but have been reconfigured for modern living.

“We restored the Victorian side, turning one of the rooms into a bedroom [with] a walk-in robe and adjoining en suite,” Murphy says. “I will always paint my bedroom, formal living and study in moodier, darker colours. These rooms are for resting … somewhere peaceful to think or relax.”

Cera Stribley architects were engaged to design a new extension for the remainder of the home. “We decided to add floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing natural light to flood in, and we added a second storey for the kids,” says Murphy.

The architectural style of this addition is deliberately in contrast to the original rooms, featuring a modern and bright material palette of blond timbers, exposed cream brick, and travertine.

Murphy designed the interiors herself, including the custom-made green kitchen joinery, the timber veneer entertainment unit, and bathrooms with vertically arranged Kit Kat tiles.

But the residence’s colourful furniture, art and sculptural decor is where Murphy’s aesthetic really shines. The Rotazioni rug designed by Patricia Urquiola for CC-Tapis was the starting point of the entire living scheme.

From here, Murphy has layered art from local galleries and sentimental items, including pieces made by her father. The one-of-a-kind green mirror and timber coffee table were both crafted by hand in the property’s old tool shed.

“The style is definitely playful and a bit ‘art house’, consisting of bright and cheerful spaces with big blocks of colour,” Murphy says. “I love collecting furniture that is sculptural and functional – most of our pieces tick this checklist.”

The completed home brings joy to the entire family.

“It’s our happy place,” says Murphy.

How to be bold with colour

Australian interiors have evolved dramatically over the past 10 years. One thing we’re consistently seeing more and more of is the confident use of bold colour.

• Colour completely changes the mood of a room. Painting a wall, door or even a whole room is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to transform a space.
• Heritage homes with high ceilings have a sense of scale and grandeur that works well with bold, rich colours. Create a cosy and atmospheric mood in a heritage space with a deep grey or blue palette. Conversely, older-style interiors can be instantly modernised with a fun, bright hue – try rust, shades of red or even pink.
• If you lack confidence with bold colours, start in the bedroom. The bedroom is the most personal of spaces, rarely seen by anyone other than close family, so if you can’t go bold with your decorating choices here, where can you? Shades of moody grey, blue and teal work particularly well in bedrooms and bathrooms.
• In living and dining spaces, consider calming greens to complement and enhance garden views, and draw the eye outside.
• All in all, Australian interiors are seeing a renaissance of colour, and it’s time to embrace it.