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A day in the life of an interior designer

Musings from the desk of an interior designer and design educator. How do I spend my time and  what do I find interesting? This is a photo of my design studio which is set in the garden of our Californian Bungalow. It gets plenty of natural light and has lovely views of our garden. It is also the repository of many of my books on design. Yes that is an old Imac that I am very attached to. I still do much of my graphic layout work, for projects on this machine, but internet and auto cad  I do on my MacBook Pro that I take everywhere with me.

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Art Deco Style

10/11/2015

 
When I first became interested in design while I was still at school, I was drawn to Art Deco. Well it was the 1970s Great Gatsby, the movie with Robert Redford has started the nostalgic interest in all things Art Deco and I remember Evelyn Waugh books were relaunched with deco inspired cover illustrations. I confess I first read 'decline and fall' because of the cover. My father had purchased an  Art Deco dining suite for his parents in the 1930s and he was keen on the modern style. Our little house in the country is a classic Art Deco inspired Californian Bungalow, but when we first furnished it we chose Mid century modernist pieces as they had a casual but stylish feel the look we wanted for our second home. 
But now I want to find a home for my father's Art deco suite and to display it and appreciate it as he once did. So we have redecorated our dining room and as you can see from the photos it has a very different feel from the mid century look, see blog 3/9/2014. We only modified the colour scheme, by painting the walls a slightly deeper colour, this time we went for a Porter's colour, 'Camel'. I like the very matt finish the Porter's paint has and it complements the  classic deco timber detailing. We finally got around to restoring the tapestry brick fireplace too. This now gives the room its focal point once again. We changed the striped sisal rug for a velvet pile from Supertuft Carpets, and made the dining table with its strongly grained timber the main focus. The room now has a much more formal feel to it. It is more luxurious and glamourous finally giving this art deco furniture a fitting home. Oh the mid century suite of furniture, never fear that to has a new home, stay tuned.
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A typical Art Deco style dining table and chairs stand in front of the restored fireplace. Note the mantle clock another iconic Art Deco piece.
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I reused the original Warner cotton curtains as the chevron pattern has an Art deco feel. This time we went for a plain plush pile rug, a left over piece of carpet left over from the 'playroom' It is a classic taupe colour and is bound with a discreet grosgrain border.
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The double doors with their sunburst glazing bars look at home with the 1940s radiogram. The Chinese painting hints at the decor of the sitting room, my next project!
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Tunja our kitten sits on the 'bridge' chair.This is awaiting its new upholstery fabric. The lamp on the side table is a gift from a friend.
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In this photo the ceiling is visible you can see the dentil edge cornice and corrugated ceiling rose. We reused our light fittings as they had a bauhaus modern feel, that fitted in with our take on Art Deco. The uplighter a popular fitting of the 1920s bounces light to highlight the ceiling details.

    Author

    Hi I am Elizabeth  an interior designer who lives in Melbourne, Australia in a little Californian Bungalow cottage with my partner, Max, who is also an Interior Designer, and our beloved furry children, Doris & Ernest. I believe that design can make our lives more rewarding and productive. I love, architecture and design theory but my everyday passion is fabrics and decoration, as I don't think we should get too serious but have fun with our homes and enjoy the process of creating our own environments.   I am interested in classic cars, and collect Georgian and Mid Century furniture.

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About Us

Design-Digest is created by the design team at Crichton Interiors. All images used in this site are photographed by the author unless referenced.

Company

Crichton Interiors was established in 1958, in Melbourne. 

Our Services

Working in both traditional and contemporary interiors, we specialise in designing and producing hand made soft furnishings as well as offering a full design service from documentation of concepts to schematic and working drawings. Incorporating antiques and artwork is our speciality.
Contact us at: crichtondesign@bigpond.com

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contrast lined contemporary styled curtains
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Werribee Park Mansion drawing room featuring specially commissioned silk damask