The Design Files: Inside Yvonne Shafir's colourful contemporary home

Who: Yvonne Shafir

What: Spanish Mission-style residence, transformed into a colourful contemporary home

Where: St Kilda East

When Yvonne Shafir and her cat Violet moved into this St Kilda East property, it was a “blank canvas”.

Everything in the Spanish Mission-style home was white, except for the lime carpet. Shafir immediately set to work, painting the outside deck and fence pink, and introducing her growing art collection, in the pursuit of “turning the house into a home”.

While Shafir may live alone, colour is a constant companion and character that fills this home.

The playful residence offers a story in each room, including a “fantasy garden Christian Lacroix-inspired mural in the hallway” and an installation in the office called Day at the Beach.

As you move through the home, narratives unfold – from the Hollywood-glam bedroom to 19th-century Parisian boudoir bedroom, and Thai temple en suite. Shafir cheerfully proclaims “overall, a botanical surreal thematic is at play”.

Shafir moved into the home in 2017, after spying it on a newsfeed. “After decades of apartment living in New York and a stint in Melbourne’s north, I wanted a suburban experience, with a garden and no flight of stairs in sight.”

In a short period of time, she has well-and-truly made this 1930s property her own, and has become pals with the neighbours. Shafir says the street is a “kitty cul-de-sac”, where her cat Violet has also “made friends [and frenemies]”.

Although Shafir has created a truly personalised home for herself here, she acknowledges that the space is never truly finished.

She says “the house is in a constant state of flux” where colour “is the main character in the house soap opera, which traverses time and places”.

Shafir enthusiastically concludes “at the risk of sounding pretentious. I see the house as a total art work: Gesamtkunstwerk” – a German concept, referring to singular work of art that makes use of many art forms. A brilliant and unashamedly creative approach to home decorating.

Play with pattern

If there’s one thing most home owners are more terrified of than colour, it’s pattern. My advice? Loosen up, and live a little!

• Investing in bold bed linen is the easiest way to inject pattern at home. Oversized florals, leafy foliage-inspired prints and retro geometric patterns are all having a moment. Try Kip & Co for grown up bed linen with a twist.
• Introduce pattern underfoot, with an eye-catching rug. The right rug can be all you need to lift a space, think of it as an artwork on the floor. Try Armadillo & Co and Koskela for beautiful, ethically handmade rugs.
• Wallpaper comes in and out of fashion, but there’s a reason it keeps returning. A beautiful wallpaper lends so much character to a space, and becomes the most memorable aspect of a home. Try wallpapershop.com.au for inspiration.