The Design Files Daily

Melbourne Home – Paula Mills of Sweet William

The Balwyn home of illustrator Paula Mills and family (painting top left by Paula)

Living room… pretty in PINK!

Love the union jack and trinkets on the mantle… and how about those gorgeous vintage chairs with floral upholstery!?

More pretty details

This is the home of Melbourne artist and illustrator Paula Mills, husband Pete and their 3 daughters – Lia, Rosie and Liberty, and Snowball the rabbit :)  Paula and family have been here only about 8 months, but as you can see Paula has already put her distinctive stamp on the place!  I can just imagine curling up on the PINK couch, nursing a cup of sweet tea in a delicate little teacup, with a cupcake or macaroon or some other sweet treat to nibble on…  it is all just so PRETTY!

It is especially inspiring to see just how creative you can be, even in a rental property! Paula has made her house a home by displaying her artworks and bits and bobs she has collected over the years from travels, garage sales, and from op shops… ‘it’s these things, more than the bricks and mortar, that remind us of who we are and where we have come from’ says Pete.  This sense of identity is especially important as the family have have had 2 huge moves in the past 6 years – from England to South Africa and now Australia!

Paula’s favourite space is her study – her place of inspiration and refuge.  It is chock full of prints, patterns, bits of fabric, icons and quirky figurines to inspire her for the artwork she does for her online store – Sweet William.  Paula somehow juggles the Sweet William online store with regular craft markets, study at the VCA, freelance illustration, as well as the demands of being Mum to 3 gorgeous girls… it’s no wonder she feels very grateful to be able to work from home!

Huge thanks to Paula and Pete for sharing their beautiful home with us!  Do pop over to see Sweet William on Etsy and Madeit.  Paula also has two very sweet blogs worth visiting – one for her illustration, and one for Sweet William.   Jeez.   TWO blogs!?   Now that’s exhausting!

Paula’s study

More details from Paula’s study… Love the Sweet William print top left, available here!

Kitchen details – lots of collected vintage finds

Kitchen

More details and more Sweet William prints!

Pretty peonies and Paula’s beautiful vintage tin collection!

Paula’a youngest daughter’s bedroom, and another Sweet William print

Master bedroom and more vintage details… I love that teacup!
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17 Comments

  1. November 3, 2010. 7:58 am

    Many cute details :-)


  2. Christy said
    November 3, 2010. 8:20 am

    It’s gorgeous! How does paula’s hubby live there though? My hubby would KILL me if I tried to decorate our place like this!


  3. November 3, 2010. 8:57 am

    I love Sweet William! So cute! And Paula’s home is gorgeous :)


  4. rebecca said
    November 3, 2010. 9:56 am

    I LOVE LOVE LOVE this house! Thanks for sharing!!


  5. Claire said
    November 3, 2010. 12:17 pm

    I know! It’s just gorgeous. She is a lovely lady too!


  6. Diane said
    November 3, 2010. 12:53 pm

    Such a lovely home!


  7. bcylady said
    November 3, 2010. 12:58 pm

    wah! I love this house. A lot of vintages collection that neatly arranged. Good work for the pictures and post ! LOL :)


  8. November 3, 2010. 1:14 pm

    That house is gorgeous. I often like the decoration of the houses you show, but this is a house that I could also really live in. I have some suitcases like that. I should use them as a coffee table!


  9. November 3, 2010. 3:17 pm

    i love this beautiful home.


  10. michele said
    November 3, 2010. 5:49 pm

    so so beautiful! The tiny details and attention to colour and texture is amazing…


  11. Cmac said
    November 3, 2010. 10:21 pm

    So gorgeous. I hope I can decorate my home so beautifully one day. Don’t know that I would have quite the magic touch though!


  12. November 3, 2010. 10:57 pm

    Love the pink table.


  13. oomph. said
    November 4, 2010. 6:25 am

    love looking at photos like these…very inspirational.

    http://www.rockoomph.blogspot.com


  14. November 4, 2010. 8:10 am

    It looks wonderful! Sweet home…


  15. Sass said
    November 6, 2010. 11:54 am

    Wow! What a home! I drove through Balwyn a few weeks ago which happened to be during Balwyn’s “Hard Rubbish” week. It was amazing to see the kinds of rubbish Balwyn residents had put out on the lawn. We picked up some great lamps. I wonder if we drove past this amazing house. It’s so great to think that inside any house you pass, could be an incredible home like this one.


  16. Barbara said
    November 14, 2010. 11:40 am

    How fresh and absolutely “non-boring”! Thank you for sharing your beautiful home with us.


  17. tali said
    November 16, 2010. 10:51 am

    What a beautiful home! so many little details. I don’t know how they moved all this stuff over 3 countries – ouch!