Creative Chameleon Interiors was born from the inner passion of creativity & flows it’s fruition through design. Our mission is to design & create custom spaces either inside or out that are exclusive to the clients. We pride ourselves with a distinct eye for detail, high quality products and services, & our “DESIGNS FOR CHANGE” philosophy in all of our work.
Hello there let me welcome you to my story. My name is Arlene Parsons, I am the Owner & Senior Designer of Creative Chameleon Interiors. After working 43 years in the Ceramic - Porcelain & Decorating Industry as an Artist.I am now fulfilling my dream of being an Interior Designer.
My extensive background in Art & Design has made the transition to Interior Design that little bit easier, but hard work & being passionate is the base of all my work.
This is my beginning - Creating & Designing is in my blood as I come from a long line of Artisans, I started my journey when I was 9 years old. I use to help my parents teach & manufacture home wares in their Ceramic & Decorating business ( Reward & Hillcraft Ceramics) in Victoria after school & in the school holidays. I attended Macleod Technical School & this is where I studied all the Art subjects, including History of Art & Technical Illustration & Design. In 1982/83 I attended Melbourne College of Decoration this is where I studied Visual Merchandising to help with the Family Ceramic Business's Marketing, at the College they also had classes in Interior Design which I dreamt of doing. Unfortunately I had to full fill that dream later in life.
I worked in the family business until 1993, then I branched out & started my own Ceramic & Porcelain Decor'e Business (Nostalgic Dolls & Crafts & A & R Parsons Designs). I manufactured as well as taught a variety of Arts & Crafts from Ceramics, Pottery, Porcelain Doll Making, Silk Painting, Watercolour & Acrylic Painting, Sculpting, Candle & Soap Making, Sewing & Needle Craft just to name a few. In 1996 I purchased my first home in a small Victorian country town called Broadford which is located 70 minutes from Melbourne just off the Hume Highway. The house was a small Victorian miners cottage it was beckoning for a full renovation makeover, I could see the potential she had when I first set my eyes on her.
She needed to be totally gutted from the start, here is where the spark ignited my burning desire to follow my dream of becoming an Interior Designer. We fully restored her with a lot of blood sweat & tears. We used as much original & old recycled items & materials as we could. I loved the Victorian period with its fine detail, we included hand painted ceiling panels & ceiling roses in all the rooms. We followed the detailing from light switches to cornices to lead light panels & even to the high detail of exterior decoration as well. With a total house renovation under our belt I felt proud of what we had achieved. I could not have done it without the help of my husband Rob & father in law Jim. It was a better feeling in 2005 when she was sold before Auction for more than what we really wanted.
This was just the stepping stone to bigger & better things & that little step closer to my dream. With 3 kids under 5, Rob & I relocated interstate in 2005 to the Flagstone Estate in Jimboomba in Queensland. Here we had a builder to build our current home, but I did paint it inside & out to my colour pallet as well as including feature walls through out the house. I kept the flame for my dream flickering in the background, now the kids are at High School, in 2015 I finally had time to complete my dream to become an Interior Designer.
Now I am a qualified Interior Designer my dream is full filled & my Interior Design journey has taken me to some amazing spaces.
I have always loved to create & design, I can adapt to any artist medium & that is how Creative Chameleon Interiors was born. With 43 years in the Design & Decorating industry Creative Chameleon Interiors can not only design your interior spaces we offer an exclusive Custom Made & Limited Edition Home Wares to compliment your personal space. Our wealth of knowledge & vast artisan network we can source those items that makes your space unique.