MARG. Studio

MARG. Studio We’re a small town interior design studio sharing big city ideas.

From a single space to a complete home, MARG.Studio offers a full and flexible interior design and decoration service for residential, retail and hospitality projects.

Does your house have an old palm tree out the front? If so, we need to talk.When homes like this were built — over a hun...
12/06/2026

Does your house have an old palm tree out the front? If so, we need to talk.

When homes like this were built — over a hundred years ago — exotic palms were planted as specimen trees. A considered choice. A way of saying: someone lived here, and they cared about how it looked.

Here’s what I already know about your home. The original portion is solid — high ceilings, good bones, possibly some beautiful original details. At some point a verandah was filled in. Then a lean-to added at the back. Then another addition in the sixties or seventies when more space was needed again.

And now you’re here, thinking about a new kitchen or bathroom, craving more space.

Hot tip: you don’t need more space. You need a better layout.

I know it can be hard to see how it could possibly all come together. But in almost every house like this, the space is already there — it just needs to be reconnected and better worked.

These houses are at a turning point. We either take what we have and reinterpret it so it survives another few generations, or they fall into disrepair and can’t be saved.

The palm tree out the front has made it this far. The house deserves the same.

People often worry about choosing materials that will “show their age”. As if that’s a flaw.Paint softens. Brass deepens...
09/06/2026

People often worry about choosing materials that will “show their age”. As if that’s a flaw.

Paint softens. Brass deepens. Timber shifts slightly with time and use. What we call “wear” is often just the character beginning to show itself.

There can be a strange expectation that everything should look exactly as it did on installation.

Chosen properly, your materials add life to your home. They are not static. They become lived in.

Even after a few months these brass door handles at our Millthorpe project are settling in beautifully against the deep green/blue door.

The material brief from the client for this house was “bulletproof but beautiful”. Couldn’t have put it better myself!

Deja vu - Over the last month I’ve had several people tell me the same story.They spent months exploring options, refini...
03/06/2026

Deja vu - Over the last month I’ve had several people tell me the same story.

They spent months exploring options, refining ideas, building confidence in their selections — only to get to the final decision and retreat back to shades of white, beige or grey.

The reasoning is almost always the same: what if I get sick of it?

The gingham tile in our own renovation never felt like a risk. After following the process — narrowing down, refining, sitting with it — it felt like exactly the right thing. That’s what a considered design process does. It gets you to a decision you can actually back.
And for what it’s worth: a plain white bathroom isn’t immune to dating. It just dates differently — and often sooner than a choice that was allowed to settle into its own personality over time.

Make the bold choice.

This week I took a client through our building site Margaret Street to walk through the renovation. Not to see the befor...
28/05/2026

This week I took a client through our building site Margaret Street to walk through the renovation. Not to see the before and after — to see the in between.

The drawings we created alongside the finished detail. The specification sheet next to the installed product.

There is something about standing in a space and being able to point to exactly why a decision was made. Not because it looked good on a mood board — because it was drawn, documented, and resolved before a single trade started.

That is the bit that disappears in photos of finished rooms. But it is the bit that made the room.

I’ve spent the last month testing cabinet colours on site at Margaret Street. The final colour decision (the laundry) wa...
27/05/2026

I’ve spent the last month testing cabinet colours on site at Margaret Street. The final colour decision (the laundry) was made yesterday. Driving home with the rejected sample in the back seat and for a split second thought — actually, that one’s nice.
It lasted about three seconds. Because I know that colour in the back of my car, in afternoon light, is not the same colour it was on site under the laundry window at 10am. On site, it was too dark. That has not changed just because it looks different on the back seat of the car.

This is the part of colour selection that is hard to explain to clients — your eye will trick you constantly if you let it. A colour out of context will always look like a possibility. The skill is knowing which context is the one that matters.

MARG. Studio turned three in April — three years of doing this full time. It whizzed by and I almost missed it.Am I busy...
08/05/2026

MARG. Studio turned three in April — three years of doing this full time. It whizzed by and I almost missed it.

Am I busy? No. I have enough — more than enough to keep me inspired, excited, and switched on to every project we are working on.

The turning point was realising that to build a business — not just a stressful, glorified salary — I needed people. Bringing on Amber and Amy was the best decision I made. With them I have a studio, and with a studio I have the support to make MARG. exactly what I want it to be: a practice that creates homes that do more than look good. Spaces that age into better versions of themselves alongside the people living in them, and above all, bring a bit of lightheartedness to everyday life.

The biggest joy is still getting to be involved in all parts of a project — little by little, first conversation to last detail. Driving to all parts of country NSW to see clients who have been planning for years. I ran the business alongside teaching interior design for five years before going all in. I considered going to work for someone else in the early days. Cannot imagine it now.

Every space needs a little somethin’ somethin’. Details that make you do a double take or notice something new each time...
01/05/2026

Every space needs a little somethin’ somethin’.

Details that make you do a double take or notice something new each time you walk into the room.
A trim detail that highlights an unexpected colour in a fabric. An interesting turned timber leg on a piece of furniture. A weave that gives more character than a flat colour ever could. These are the things that make a space feel considered — not decorated, not styled, but full of personality.

The pieces we select are never chosen on price alone. They get selected because the material is beautiful, because they add to the story of the space, or because they will feel good when you run your hand across them. Not extravagance — well made, genuine pieces that age well and in some cases get better with time.

Character over bling. Every time.

A few showroom pics from a trip to Melbourne this week - nothing beats in person visits.

Borenore reno - A little moment of a room that was painted completed green! We started off with at least 20 paint swatch...
18/09/2025

Borenore reno - A little moment of a room that was painted completed green!

We started off with at least 20 paint swatches and got it down to these final two.

Cosy attic bedroom for the grandchildren (and their parents).

Any guesses for the final choice?! 🎨

Paint wizards -

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Belltrees, NSW

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