Design Notes

Gab Waller
“The most important factors in my success are personalization, consistency, honesty, and speed. This combination has been vital to the development and growth of my business.” - Gab Waller Queen of the coveted, Gab Waller has reduced the little black...
FORME
The 3rd collection of the Rachel Donath brand and the second of her own design, FORME is a bold ensemble of sculptural silhouettes. Each of the five new editions honour her ethos of ‘objects as art’ to become timeless modern...
A Girl's Room
"I wanted a room that opens the imagination up, fosters wonder and encourages a little girl's magic. " - Rachel Donath Emotionally and physically, here is where we are right now: a moment in time that for any creative is...
3 Rules for Small Space Styling
By choice or circumstance, many of us live - or have lived - in small spaces. From inner city apartments to homes that are renovated within the limitation of narrow grounds, the challenge of small space styling becomes as much...
Bold Move! Statement contrast do's and don’ts
Bold interiors, full of colour and contrast, have returned to centre stage. In a sharp shift from the neutral tones we have become used to, there’s an uptake of the vivid in a kaleidoscope of the eclectic that sees pattern on pattern...
Led by heart: your questions answered, by Rachel Donath
Two years since its launch, The Inventory has evolved from a humble side hustle into what it is today - an eponymous label whose pieces are not only recognisable but occupy some of the most unique and elevated homes, globally. ...
Lyre legs and a scalloped edges - our forever love of fluid forms
Nature has always inspired design. From Royère to McQueen and many other designers across fashion and interiors (all of them wildly different but equally impressive) it has been the single most important source of inspiration - an endless resource that incites awe for...
Sun-Saturated: the post-pandemic style shift that's here to stay
Post-pandemic, we’ve all changed. For some, it may feel subtle but collectively, there is an obvious and monumental shift in our psyches that has found visual expression in the creative domains - in art, fashion and interiors. It’s a turn...
Three Common Design Mistakes and our Workable Fix
Like any creative discipline, interior design is about experimentation and discovery - an artistic process through which ideas are explored but also rejected; a process that is developed through time and finesse. For every good idea there are many more...
By 40 - the 3 pieces you should own by this milestone birthday
In the milestones of life, 40 has always been significant. More than the getting of wisdom, it’s an age that represents authenticity; of shedding the unnecessary insecurities of our youth to claim, and really define, who we ultimately are. While...
Atlas interiors - 4 ways travel inspires us and how it translates into the home
While the presence of COVID is still being felt in our communities, for the first time in years the world has re-opened to travel and with it, a craving for new experiences. Having been denied us so long, our renewed freedom is...
As seen on the Grace Tales: The Tale of Rachel Donath
Click here to read the full story on The Grace Tales If you read The Grace Tales regularly, you’ll know we’re a little (or a lot) interior obsessed... Which is why when we first discovered the work of Rachel Donath,...
The Art of Play: 3 Rules for injecting whimsy into any interior
Adding whimsy to an interior can often feel daunting. Where classic lines are time-won, playful elements are defiant - departing from ordinary rules and convention to add something unexpected and youthful: a way to spark joy, find fun, add sentiment...
A Pattern Language - unpacking the purpose of a complex device of design.
From the bustling interior of a bistro to the elegant private rooms of the industry’s most elevated homes, pattern is a language of depth and dimension, adding texture and interest through a layer of elements that recur and connect, accent...
Higher Love. Creating ambience with Lighting
So much of the ambience of an interior is shaped by the interaction of its elements. Mostly, these are obvious - the tangible structures of furniture and art finding harmony and resonance with each other. However, just as negative space...
Real Living April Issue: At home with Rachel Donath
It is such a thrill to see your home published in a magazine, particular one that you have personally subscribed to since your early 20's! Here is the spread that was featured in the April 2022 edition of Real Living...
Sotto Voce - Five ways to accent an interior
The way we accent is a way to draw in story and ambience; to establish mood through our emotional connection to colour and interest through moments of difference, executed in texture and detail.
Romance was born - How to create beauty and mystique with mirrors

Creating charm, curiosity and romance within the narrative born of physical and philosophical reflection, mirrors are as much an object of art as a tool of refraction, bending light and directing the eye to depths outside our ordinary line of vision. On our design notes now, how to create beauty and mystique with antique and contemporary mirrors as art pieces.

Now and forever: a conversation between old and new
Across time, design is a representation of ideas. For the creative, it is a way to showcase, engage and sometimes challenge our interpretation of beauty - reflecting the world and our commentary of it through subject, form and fashion. The...
Something of the unexpected: Stainless Steel Furniture
Unexpected detail in an interior piques our interest. When executed well, it feels deftly woven into its surroundings: an addition rather than a distraction; an element of intrigue rather than something that feels out-of-place. With many design pairings feeling like...