This refined and eclectic Sydney home is a lesson in how to go big on creativity in a small space

For this home that was once an ordinary new build home of modest proportions, designer Tamsin Johnson proves her thesis that when it comes to design, 'big isn’t better’.

‘In fact, it was the small rooms of this apartment that drew me to it. It gave me the opportunity to fully flex my creative muscles, and the result is something quite special.’

The property under discussion is in Potts Point, a desirable Sydney neighborhood known locally, because of its European feel, as the ‘Paris End’. Housed in a contemporary block, neither the building nor its interior was remarkable. ‘But there were decent bones and it was in a ten-out-of-ten location,’ says Tamsin.

Tamsin goes on to explain, ‘I gutted it, so really it can be considered as entirely new.’ The brief wasn’t strict, but Tamsin’s client, a young doctor, was seeking comfort and an escape from a busy working life.

‘I wanted the redesign to transport, seclude, and immerse; for it to have a degree of intensity and visual nourishment for the owner,’ she says. ‘My client also loves cooking, so the kitchen ideas needed sophisticated functions and more consideration than most, and I think it has become one of the salient features.’

Known for her flair for fusing pieces from across periods and continents to create spaces that are at once beautiful and liveable, Tamsin’s projects conjure a sense of unapologetic luxury and effortless style.

For this scheme, she drew inspiration from the sumptuously embellished decoration seen in European hotels of the early 1900s. ‘I love the Continental approach, where every aspect is considered and enriched with detail and intensity. The outcome steeps the owner in comfort.’

Old-world elegance was to be the overriding theme, but first, the fitting of steel-framed doors and windows and the enlarging of interior openings between rooms was required to extinguish any hint of the mundane former build.

Now luxuriant, eclectic, and with a faintly unhinged sort of refinement, there are nods throughout to modernism, brutalism, and art deco. ’The mix is a heady one,’ she says. ‘I had Vienna and Paris in mind, but also Milanese modernism. I think the resulting dialogue is complex but strangely harmonious.’

Vintage furnishings from Tamsin’s Sydney showroom were drafted in to decorate the home. Her favorites include a 1980s green ribbon baroque chair by Anacleto Spazzapan: ‘It adds the perfect degree of lunacy. It shocks the room to attention.’ Then there is the 1950s Venetian pendant that dominates in the kitchen: ‘This is peak Venetian glass-craft and utterly extravagant,’ she says.

But it’s the built-in bespoke joinery that pleases her most. ‘Not furniture per se, but I love the living room joinery, particularly the fireplace. It has such heft and sculptural strength that forces its way in against all the finery.’

Luxurious materials feature throughout and Tamsin’s creativity when decorating with marble, in particular, is extraordinary. It proliferates across the living spaces, as does velvet used on seating in the sitting room and media room. ‘Texture and layering with glass, sculpted timber, velvet, stone, mirror - there is a good sort of calamity that makes you believe you won’t stop finding something new in it all,’ she says.

‘There is plenty of soft versus hard, too, which I love. The color story, however, is saturated but mild - nothing vivid, so it is ultimately calming.’ Small spaces, according to Tamsin, don’t need prescriptive solutions. ‘I don’t mind the sensation of a “full” room and the appeal that has, like settling in at a little bar or cafe.

Having said that, mirrors naturally add a few extra dimensions. That, and ensuring some of the antique pieces are designed to fit an apartment.’ Tamsin’s schemes are underpinned by the meticulous planning of proportion, form, color and texture.

‘For me, designing apartment interiors is an opportunity to create something rich and nourishing in its intimacy, and to do that you need to not fear the scale of it, and push a lot into it.’ No pared-back neutrals to be found here, no minimalist, clutter-free haven. This jewel box of a home is about maximalism, writ large… in a small but extremely special space.

Q&A with designer Tamsin Johnson

The designer shares her style inspiration

BIGGEST INDULGENCE

Holidays in very, very nice places. Let’s call it research.

YOUR STYLE IN THREE WORDS

Perennial, enriched, fresh.

GO-TO COLOR

Hmmmm… this changes too much.

DESIGN HEROES

Axel Vervoordt, Adolf Loos, David Hicks… too many.

FAVORITE PIECE OF ARCHITECTURE

Maison de Verre, Paris. I think.

LAST THING YOU BOUGHT FOR YOUR OWN HOME

A parchment corner cabinet. Absolutely stunning and pure.

HOME GADGET YOU WOULDN’T BE WITHOUT

A phone charger.

SECRET ADDRESS

Tamsin Johnson Showroom on Victoria Street in Paddington, Sydney. Come say hello!