Cremorne House

Another project completed by the No Chintz team is a lovely apartment in Cremorne for a young mother and her son, recently re-settled in Sydney after many years abroad.

I spoke with the client Nicola, and with the No Chintz interior designer she worked most closely with, Lisa.

Q: Hello Nicola! How did this project come about?
I moved back to Sydney from London after eight years away, and I had very little furniture or belongings with me. I bought this apartment in February last year, and before I even moved in — I had Chrissie and Lisa come over to see the completely empty space and talk about what I wanted to do. It was a great opportunity to sort everything out before moving in.

Q: How did you come to work with them?
They had previously worked with my Mum when she renovated about five years ago — soft furnishings, reupholstering furniture. I saw how beautifully they captured her style, and even though it's a very different aesthetic, I just knew I wanted that same experience.

 

The Brief & Design Vision

Q: How did you convey your style to them?
I had a few ideas and was very open to their guidance. My brief was that I wanted elements of a London style that I liked — quite vibrant colours, which I think are more popular over there. I was setting up a new home for me and my son, and I really wanted it to be an explosion of joy. A warm, happy space. They instantly had lots of ideas.

The two anchoring ideas I came in with were: a colourful bespoke bedhead. I sent them an Anna Spiro fabric I'd already pictured for it. The other was an L-shaped banquette dining nook with colourful cushions. Those two things became the foundation, and Chrissie and Lisa used that fabric as the inspiration point, pulling all the colours throughout the rest of the apartment from it.

 

The Design Process

Q: Who were you liaising with most?
Mostly Lisa. Chrissie and Lisa both came to the initial visit together in around April — I was moving in June and from there Lisa was my main contact. I went to the Willoughby shop a week or two later and she already had swatch books, mood boards, and a full concept for the living room, dining room, and bedroom ready to go. We made relatively few changes.

Q: Were there moments where you had to choose between options?
Yes — Lisa would sometimes present a more conservative option and a bolder one. I always went with the bolder choice. I think it was fun for them to work with a client who was happy to take chances. It really shows in the result.

 

Standout Features & Decisions

The Bookcase
I had always pictured a built-in bookcase in the living room. I was thinking green, and showed them some green options — but they pushed it to the next level with a strong, beautiful chartreuse/yellow. My four-year-old son Frankie, after we'd stayed at a little cottage called Apple Blossom Cottage at Christmas, decided he wanted to give our home a name too. He said: "I'd like to call it Sunshine Cottage Yellow." Now my whole family calls it Sunshine Cottage. 

The Dining Nook Wallpaper
The dining nook has no windows, and when Chrissie and Lisa first walked in it was painted the same dove grey as the rest of the apartment. They immediately suggested a warm yellow wallpaper to make it really striking and cosy: such an amazing idea.
 

The Dining Nook Cushions
I wanted lots of colourful scatter cushions in the nook, but Chrissie immediately said that would drive me insane; I'd spend my whole life rearranging them. She suggested tacking them to the wall instead so they're always in place. And the technical construction was remarkable — they had to be made like a quilt, so the feathers don't shift. A hundred things I never would have thought of.

The Blinds
The living room blinds are unlined because I fell in love with the beautiful, filtered light — the apartment is on the first floor and sits amongst the trees. However, there's an apartment building next door, so Chrissie and Lisa suggested splitting the window into three separate blind segments so I can lower just the one facing the neighbouring building while keeping the others open. Brilliant. Frankie's room has lined Roman blinds because he needs his sleep!

The Rugs
They suggested a large rug taking up most of the living room floor — soft underfoot for playing with Frankie — to create one cohesive space rather than two disconnected areas. They used the same rug in the study in a different colour.

 

Special & Sentimental Touches

Q: Were any pieces from family?
The little cabinet in the entryway. I grew up on a farm in southwest NSW, and that piece was in the homestead — it was used in the pantry for plates and things. Very special to have it here now. My mother noticed it straight away when she visited. There are lots of little bits like that scattered around — even a mirror that belonged to her.

It's particularly lovely for Frankie to grow up with that history around him.

Frankie's Reaction
Frankie has become wonderfully expressive about interiors! Every week when I pick him up from preschool, he notices something new in the apartment. The day the dining nook cushions were installed, he wandered around the corner while I was talking to Mum at the front door — and suddenly we heard: "Oh my GOD, this is AMAZING." Age four. He is not exaggerating.

 

No Chintz designer, Lisa reflecting on the project: 

Nicola had recently returned to Australia after years living in the UK and purchased a Neutral Bay apartment for herself and her son. The apartment was a complete blank canvas — grey painted floorboards, grey walls, grey everything. She wasn't planning to change the bones of it, but she needed it to feel like home.

Nicola is a naturally stylish, colour-loving client. She'd spent years in neutral apartments overseas, and this was her first real opportunity to do something that was entirely her own.

Our client’s parents had previously worked with No Chintz Willoughby, and her mother recommended the studio when Nicola was setting up her new home. We met at the apartment for the initial consultation alongside Chrissie, and from there took the project through to completion – it was a natural fit, as I had recently moved to the Mosman store, just a short trip from Neutral Bay.

With everything already neutral, the team had full freedom to introduce colour. Chrissie and I came to Nicola with a considered colour scheme, and she loved it almost immediately — a few small tweaks, and they were underway.

The palette centred on warmth: chartreuse, yellow, pinks, and layered colour throughout. The grey backdrop, rather than being a limitation, made the colour choices sing against it.

Nicola had been thinking green for the bookcase. I boldly suggested chartreuse — an unexpected leap of faith that she took, and it became one of the apartment's standout features.

A bespoke pink and white striped pendant shade in the kitchen dining nook, not a conventional choice, but exactly the kind of considered flourish that made the project special.

As the apartment evolved, Nicola built an art collection that grew alongside the interiors. Her eye for interesting pieces which she chose independently, complemented the palette perfectly, drawing colour off the walls and adding depth to the overall scheme.

Nicola brought a few small pieces inherited from her grandmother — older-style furniture that the team worked with rather than against. A historic floral fabric gave them a starting point; contemporary fabrics alongside it kept the look fresh.

Nicola was an ideal creative partner — she brought her own ideas and strong instincts, was deeply involved in fabric choices, and was always willing to consider something a little more adventurous. The process was smooth, natural, and joyful from beginning to end.

"She would give me ideas, but it was never one-sided. She was very much part of the decision-making. And her eye for art was just lovely — she could do that on her own and it always worked perfectly with what we'd chosen for the home."

The result, says Lisa, is an inviting apartment that feels generous, warm, and entirely personal. Completed over roughly six months, the bulk of the work done in the first three, with finishing touches added as fabrics arrived. The project touched almost every room. What began as a cool grey box became a colourful, layered home that genuinely reflect Nicola, and her little son.

 

 

If you would like further information on any of the fabrics, colours or finishes used in this project please contact your nearest No Chintz store.

For home makeovers, or to transform your favourite room, look no further than our Interior Decorating Services. From wall colours to curtains and floor coverings, Chrissie and the team of No Chintz decorators are available for onsite consultations to make your home dreams a reality. 

For more inspiration check out our completed projects or hear what our happy clients have to say.

Tina Gomes Brand is a freelance writer who searches out all things creative from food and architecture to travel, fashion and interiors. Brand writes from a broad experience of interacting with various cultures and collaborating with creative people everywhere.