Photography: Kate Enno / Styling: Annalese Hay
A chance meeting between interior designer Melissa Balzan and her former client was the stroke of luck that sparked homeowners Fran and Con’s project. “I have been friends with Fran for many years and bumped into her at an event,” explains Melissa of Melissa Balzan Design. “She asked if I would come and see her new apartment and cast my eye over some of her selections. Our working relationship grew from there.”
Con and Fran purchased their Melbourne apartment off the plan and had already tweaked the layout. “We felt we could create more spaciousness and light by linking the family room with the dining and living areas,” says Fran.
With the home’s open-plan potential freshly unlocked, they turned to Melissa for the finishing flourishes. “Fran was deciding what furniture pieces she loved and what she wanted to change,” says Melissa.
Who lives here?
Fran and her husband Con, who work in hospitality and are passionate travellers.
What was your vision for the interior? Fran: “To make it a comfortable family home as well as creating a classic design style with layers of decoration.”
Which rooms get the most use? “We use the kitchen and family room extensively for family and friends. My husband uses the study as a working office and to hold business meetings.”
What are your favourite features? “We love the design of the living room with the separate study area. It’s a very inviting, north-facing space to enjoy with family and friends. And we love the dark joinery and wall lights in the study, which create a moody and intimate club-like atmosphere.”
Part-decoration, part-curation, the project focused as much on rehoming the couple’s existing decor as it did on sourcing new pieces. Both Fran and Melissa envisaged a sophisticated space with lashings of refined grandeur, and both were inspired by the interiors of American designer Suzanne Kasler.
“We wanted every space to be different, but still work in harmony with each other and flow from area to area,” says Melissa. She used a palette of blue, white and timber against washes of beige and grey for cohesion, while delineating different zones by varying the shades and saturation.
In the rooms that remain dim for most of the day, Melissa took a cocooning and somewhat counterintuitive approach – which initially had Con and Fran unconvinced – with winning results. “The rooms that did not receive as much natural light were made darker,” says Melissa. “It worked beautifully and one of my favourite rooms is the study, which was papered in a dark grasscloth and layered with dark fabrics. We also used wall lights, feature lights and lamps throughout the apartment to create mood and ambience.”
Kitchen
A pair of Miele ovens are teamed with a microwave and steam oven to make light work of hosting Con and Fran’s big family. “My clients often have their grandchildren to stay, so we were mindful of the fabrics we used in the family room and on the kitchen stools,” explains Melissa. “These not only needed to be practical and hardwearing, but also look smart.”
Dining area
Fran and Con knocked through the wall that separates the living space and dining area, and linked the rooms with sliding doors. “We purchased the dining room rug from Behruz Studio after seeing it in the showroom – it was perfect and married the traditional formal sitting room beautifully with the more relaxed living area,” she says of the open-plan zones. A John Robinson artwork now overlooks the finely edged dining table by Raymond Henry.
“I wanted to create a layered, refined home, incorporating existing pieces collected over time by my clients.”
Melissa
Sitting area
“The large rug in this room was new and custom-made for the space by Whitecliffe Imports to set the tone,” says Melissa of the formal sitting area. She incorporated the home’s existing chandelier, along with Fran and Con’s antique mirror and Louis chairs.
Melissa used a rich grasspaper from Ascraft at one end of the formal sitting area. Fran and Con already owned the chest of drawers and lamp base, which was refreshed with a custom shade in silk ikat fabric from Tigger Hall Design.
“When purchasing new pieces, not only did we try to find items we loved, they also needed to have longevity.”
Melissa
Main bedroom
“It took a while to find the perfect bedhead fabric and textiles for the accessories,” she says of the couple’s bedroom. “We visited every fabric house numerous times before it all went ‘click!’”
The textiles palette includes Nina Campbell ‘Bintan’ in 05 on the bedhead and Jim Thompson silk from Milgate for the curtains.
Guest bedrooms
To bring strokes of character and colour to the second guest bedroom, Melissa upholstered the custom bedhead in Galbraith & Paul ‘Lattice’ fabric in Marine on Cream Linen.
With their lyrical Manuel Canovas ‘Nina’ print in Cardinal, the curtains are showstoppers. Melissa repeated the fabric in a cushion on the couple’s armchair, which she recovered with an Ian Mankin textile from Domestic Textile Corporation.
‘Banyan’ in Charcoal Blue on Oyster from Bennison Fabrics is stunning in the other guest bedroom with Yves Delorme linen.
Alfresco area
“My clients enjoy staying at the Firmdale Hotels, which are beautifully curated and layered,” says Melissa of the Kit Kemp-designed venues. “It was this same feeling we wanted to achieve within the apartment.” The hotel-worthy style inside extends to the alfresco area, where a broad, sheltered terrace is flanked by camellias in vessels from Kellock Pots and Planters.
Melissa bathed the alfresco area with layers of lighting sources, from the romance of candlelight, courtesy of a trio of hurricanes, to the stately lantern pendant overhead. For a similar pendant, try EF Chapman ‘Darlana’ outdoor lantern from The Montauk Lighting Co. For an extra wash of illumination, the interior lights brighten the terrace.
We love… layered lighting
Given the opportunity again, Melissa would go even further. “In retrospect, I would have added more layers and wallpaper – maybe on our next project together!” adding, “I love this apartment and am very proud of how it turned out.”
Interior decoration: Melissa Balzan Design, melissabalzandesign.com.
SOURCE BOOK
Interior design: Andrea Zidziunas, caisson.com.au.
Builder: Davies Henderson, davieshenderson.com.au.
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