Chrissie Jeffery

Chrissie Jeffery is the creative force behind No Chintz, an Australian company specialising in bespoke textiles, home furnishings, and interior design. With a career spanning decades, Chrissie has built a reputation for her bold use of colour, intricate patterns, and a strong commitment to quality and originality. Her work reflects a passion for sourcing unique fabrics and blending traditional and contemporary designs to create stunning interiors.

No Chintz, founded by Chrissie, is renowned for its custom services, including upholstery, curtains, and bespoke homewares, which cater to both private clients and commercial spaces. The brand emphasises sustainable craftsmanship and celebrates the artistry behind fabric design, often incorporating influences from global textile traditions. Chrissie’s work has been featured in numerous design publications, and her personal style—a mix of eclectic textures and vibrant palettes—mirrors the brand’s aesthetic.

Apart from her business, Chrissie has transformed her own home in Sydney into a showcase of her design philosophy. Her apartment features bold colour schemes, a rich collection of art, and layers of textiles that tell a story of years spent exploring and curating unique pieces.

 

In conversation with Chrissie Jeffery

The last time I met Chrissie Jeffery we managed to get locked out of her Potts Point apartment, but this possible calamity quickly revealed just how connected she is to her local community when a neighbour we meet on the street comes to the rescue.
“Everyone's very friendly and kind. You could knock on a door in the middle of the night here and someone would help,” she tells me.

Community is something that Chrissie, who grew up in a small country town in northern NSW, treasures. “It is so important. We all look out for each other here,” she tells me as she searches for a hidden key.

These connections are not restricted to the domestic front — Chrissie’s working life is also filled with ‘family’. From the clients she has worked with for decades, creating beautiful environments for them to live in, to the skilled and dedicated team in her workroom, they are all much loved and valued by this decorator with a wonderful eye for colour and textiles.

But where did it all begin?

“After I finished school I came to Sydney and went to East Sydney Tech to study dress design. I moved into interiors mostly through one of the girls there, Briony Fitzgerald. We were great mates. I met her on my very first day at East Sydney, we were both signing up for the course and standing in the line together. Her mother Ann Gyngell has been an amazing mentor to me over the years. She has been a big influence on me,” explains Chrissie. “She opened my eyes up to the world of colour.”

When Chrissie and Briony shared a house in Woollahra, Ann gave the pair some old Marimekko curtains.

“They were wonderful. I loved all the colour, the pattern and the movement. I think it made me really look at colour,” recalls Chrissie. “The most exciting thing for me when I was growing up was always collecting beautiful old clothes. I loved the fabrics so I always had this deep love for textiles. Colour came later when I moved to the city and I met Ann and saw how she used colour.”

After a short stint in fashion, Chrissie decided to open Stitches Soft Furnishing in 1983. She was only 23 years old.

I ask what made her take just a big step at such a young age. The answer is simple. “I liked making things,” she says. “And I really liked making things, I wanted to make. Remember it was 1983 and I was seeing things like Colefax and Fowler. Beautiful over the top, soft furnishings. I wanted to make this stuff. I wanted to put it into people's homes… I wanted to play around with fabric seriously. And I knew I didn't want to make fashion. I wanted to make things for people's homes. I like the puzzle of people's homes and making things.”

The skills learnt at East Sydney Tech were to stand her in good stead.

“If you go through that course, you can sew, you can cut and you can construct. The courses that we did then were extraordinary. I could do millinery, I could make a bridal veil and I could make a tailored suit. We were taught how to do things properly,” says Chrissie. “If someone said they wanted something, I'd say, ‘I'll have a go’.”

The doors of No Chintz in Sydney’s Crown Street were opened in 1989.
“The name came about because it was the end of the 80s and I was just over chintz. I'd spent 10 years sewing chintz curtains. I wanted simpler, more down-to-earth stuff like muslins, tickings and stripes,” she explains with a smile.

Soon Chrissie was making regular trips to India to source the fabrics she desired, working with families that she now counts as friends.
“Finding a good Indian mill is very hard so once you do find the right one, it’s very important to keep working with them,” she says. “I bought them colours and patterns that were very different for them and that’s where I started my own designs.”

Chrissie’s design process is driven by problem solving.

“To me, it's sort of like a number of questions and puzzles that need to be resolved. I see it as all these blocks that have to come together to become cohesive,” she says.

A magazine editor once asked Chrissie to create a room for a shoot.

“I had no client and I felt a bit lost. It was extremely hard, almost impossible for me to do it,” she says.

Clearly, learning about the people who will live in these interiors is key to her success.

“It’s about the sort of people they are, the possessions they have, the light in the room. You have to pull it all together and give them something that they like to live in,” she says. “I want the room to nurture and make them happy.”

Working with existing art and furniture is important. “I can't waste things. I'm a recycler so I love reusing what they've got.”

At home Chrissie loves to constantly tweak the interiors and regards her husband Richard as “just like having a very opinionated client”. But he balances her creative ideas and the outcome is always something both are happy with.

“I like to wander and get ideas then I like to play with them at home. and pretty much do. I have no one to dictate to other than Richard, who has strong opinions but I can push things around a bit.”

She asks questions as she works on an interior.

What enhances this space? Does it need warming up? Does it need cooling down? Does it need to be calmer? What colours do we want in the sofas or the rug or the wallpaper? Do we put curtains on the walls if we're having wallpaper?

There are a few golden rules she likes to stick to. “I pick the fabric before the paint. It’s far easier to change the colour of a wall than it is to find the perfect fabric for a room,” she advises.

As we talk, Chrissie is reminded of an early memory.

“When I was about four, I went to a preschool where they had this great big doll's house for everyone to play with. After a while I wasn’t allowed to play with it because I scolded everyone when they put the toilet in the living room. I got very annoyed and opinionated about it and was sent home with a note!”

Luckily for us, those strong opinions have led to many beautiful designs over the years.

“If you had asked me on my first day of business as a 23-year-old, where I would be today, I would never have imagined this. I simply wanted to put a roof over my head.

“I feel very fortunate, and I have been surrounded by wonderful people. Not only have I employed great people, who've been so supportive and worked with me hand in hand, but I've had also great clients who have trusted and believed in me.”

 

Words by Victoria Carey