A peak inside top designers' homes

Stephen A Russell takes a look inside the homes of Melbourne’s leading interior designers to see if they truly practise what they preach. I n case you hadn’t noticed, home improvement is big business in 2011. Look no further than the ratings war between The Block and The Renovators on our TV screens six nights a week, or the racks of glossy interiors magazines at the supermarket checkout. In short, we all think we’re experts when it comes to feature walls and throw rugs. But how do those who make a living designing Melbourne’s smartest homes dress their own private abodes? We invited ourselves inside to find out.

David Hicks, St Kilda Road

It’s a tale of two city pads in David Hicks’ spacious St Kilda Road apartment. The bare bones are almost starkly minimalist, with polished marble floors and towering white walls. It could be austere if not for his love of vintage and antique furniture, from the beautiful dark wood Chinese cabinet in his bedroom to the Murano glass pieces in the open-plan living space. “When I first started I was such a minimalist; everything had to be clean, concealed, ordered and straight lines – very regimented,” says the designer, who has created striking interiors for the likes of fashion labels Calibre and Alannah Hill. “But if you take everything out of this place, it’s not that dissimilar to what it was. I think people get a little bit confused. It’s eclectic, but streamlined.” The vast living space is cleverly segregated into ‘‘rooms’’, with a huge oriental-style rug delineating a formal lounge, a sculptural semi-circular sofa creating a more relaxed space and a large glass table defining the dining area. A central mirrored pillar emphasises the three spaces. Hicks bought the shell direct from the developer two years ago, and the design and construction took more than a year. Now he says there’s nothing he would change. “I worked out what spaces I wanted and how they would flow.” Often, very practical reasons informed his choices. “I hid the messy part of the kitchen behind the living room wall and the other end is more like a bar where everyone hangs out. It’s my favourite space,” he says. Hicks spends a lot of time globe-hopping in his hunt for perfect decorating pieces, both for his clients and his own home. Recently he fell in love with an unusual and decidedly heavy spiked glass vase which he found in a Paris flea market. He opted to carry it home as hand luggage – from Paris to Barcelona, on to London, then Hong Kong and finally back to Melbourne – unwrapping it at every stop for customs. “I didn’t think about the logistics,’’ he quips. ‘‘It’s a real labour of love. If you find something really special, it’s worth investing in it. All my travels have brought me full-circle from minimalist to collector of vintage and antique pieces.”