A neglected house in Melbourne brought back to life by Anna Spiro with colour and pattern
Keen eyed readers may recognise the Australian designer Anna Spiro’s distinct brand of eclecticism from House & Garden’s May 2019 issue, in which we featured her maximalist guest cottage in Brisbane. Her latest project, the house she shares in Melbourne with her husband Luke Warwick, hums with a similar energy: bold and unusual combinations of colours and pattern mingle with antiques and a treasured collection of art. It is unmistakably Anna. But, according to the designer, marks a significant turning point in her career. A move towards a more ‘mature’ approach. ‘The house is quite wild in some regards but I feel that I have pulled back slightly compared to my house in Brisbane’.
Anna and her husband Luke, the managing director of Melbourne-based textile company Elliott Clarke Textiles, split their time between Brisbane and Melbourne. During Covid’s first lockdown the couple found themselves stuck in their respective cities, and decided the time had come to find a place where they could both live. ‘We wanted to do up an old house’, she explains. The late 19th-century Victorian house had little to offer beyond ‘great bones’ and a classic brickwork facade, which was discovered after removing the curious art deco-esque frontage added in the 1960s or 1970s. ‘It was a sad house’ she reflects. ‘I said to my husband, “we’ve got to buy it. I need to fix it.”
The previous owner had owned the house for about 20 years and used it as a storage facility for his building company. Before that, it had been a boarding house. ‘Everyone on the street was relieved when we bought it – something was going to happen to that poor house that nobody loved’, laughs Anna. Thankfully many original elements remained, including marble fireplaces, cornices and lovely skirting boards. The doors were all original, as were the timber floors. ‘It was a raw, blank canvas, which was what we wanted’.
With the exception of a wall in the kitchen coming down to open up the space, no major structural changes were made. Each of the rooms – including four bedrooms – are spread across one storey and flow off of a large, central hallway. The focus was on carefully restoring architectural features, polishing up the original floors and bringing the spaces back to life with colour and pattern.
Unlike Brisbane, which is sunny year-round and whose weather informs Anna’s projects there, Melbourne has seasons. In lieu of endless sunny days, the climate is, ‘moody and cold - with lots of browns and beautiful autumn leaves’, says Anna. This gave her a rare opportunity to create ‘warm and cosy spaces in moody colours’.
‘I enjoy the mix of things’, explains Anna. ‘My style is colour and pattern, but it's grounded in tradition. I always like to throw unexpected gestures into rooms – sometimes antique or modern things or abstract art’. Nowhere is this more evident than in the kitchen, where an aubergine coloured island sits beside pale yellow cupboards and a mint green cooker hood hung with antique plates. The Carolina Irving ikat fabric on the blinds and Jeffrey Bulluber’s ‘Fig’ on the dining chairs balancing the scheme.
Strongly coloured bathrooms and guest rooms are tempered by the airiness of the sitting room. The room is her ode to Brisbane, and her favourite in the house. ‘I love to mix pieces by established artists as well as up-and-coming names’ says Anna. Dulux’s ‘Dulcimer’ pink on the walls acts as a backdrop for the Australian artist Bronte Leighton-Dore’s ‘Blue after the Rain, Stephens Creek’, which according to Anna, ‘ties the room together and reminds me of my home at the beach in Queensland’, and a rather exceptional 18th-century Irish crystal chandelier bought from Pascal Leclerc Antiques & Art Deco in Melbourne.
‘In a highly coloured and patterned room, there’s a tipping point where it could feel garish and cheap, but you can tip it back to make it sophisticated, chic and interesting,' says Anna. ‘I think beautiful antiques and collectible art are the key’. She is drawn to the understated, clean lines of Georgian pieces. ‘They often have a very plain silhouette, which I think is lovely when you have a busy, colourful, patterned room’.
The project marries Anna’s aesthetic with a new, muted climate. ‘It’s a fabulous house’, says Anna. Far from the neglected building they bought, plenty of love and Anna’s fantastic eye and brave approach has turned it into a wonderful space.
Martina Gemmola1/11Dining chairs covered in Jeffrey Bulluber’s ‘Fig’ and blinds in ‘Trebizond’ by Caroline Irving pick up on the colours in the kitchen.
Martina Gemmola2/11Off the kitchen is a pantry painted in ‘Butter Lettuce' by Porter's Paints. The fabric on the blind is 'Meadow Fruit' from GP & J Baker.
Martina Gemmola3/11Anna’s favourite room in the house, the pink sitting room is a nod to the light colour palettes often found in Brisbane. Above the sofa covered in Jasper Fabrics ‘Nathalie Bouquet Summer’ is a painting by Bronte Leighton-Dore.
Martina Gemmola4/11An antique Suzani hangs above the sofa in the snug.
Martina Gemmola5/11‘I wanted this room to feel cosy and connected to the kitchen’ explains Anna. ‘Most people would have taken out the wall between the snug and the kitchen, but I added an internal window to join the two’. The armchair is upholstered in ‘Tulip Vine’ by Susan Deliss.
Martina Gemmola6/11‘In our room we did a soft, pretty, sea green colour’ says Anna of Porter’s Paints ‘Mojito’ on the walls. ‘Jasper’ by Michael S Smith on the headboard and Carolina Irving’s ‘Andaluz’ on the blinds ‘popped with colour’.
Martina Gemmola7/11‘I wanted to paint the mantle a contrasting colour’, she explains, and opted for ‘Befitting’ by Dulux.
Martina Gemmola8/11In another guest bedroom, ‘On Point’ wallpaper by Brunschwig & Fils accentuates the room’s generous proportions and tall ceilings.
Martina Gemmola9/11Keen to limit the pattern to ‘rooms that you don’t spend lots of time in’, Anna has installed Lewis & Wood ‘Papyrus’ wallpaper in the bathroom, which is offset by woodwork painted in ‘China Rose’ by Porter’s Paints.
Martina Gemmola10/11An antique desk anchors the study. On the walls is Brunschwig & Fils ‘Gallier Diamond’, and the blind is Carolina Irving ‘Patmos’.
Martina Gemmola11/11Woodwork painted in ‘Watercress’ by Dulux complements the ‘Cartouche’ wallpaper from Anna’s own range in this tiny guest room. The blind is ‘Sadko’ by Décors Barbares.
