The South Yarra apartment of Sally Richardson and family. Artworks top left are decorative prints picked up in a print fair in Paris. Home styled by Sally and her sister Fiona. Photographs by Lucy Feagins, styling assistant – Lucy McKimm.
Pretty details – the artworks top left are decorative prints Sally found in a print fair in Paris. Wire sculpture top right – a wedding present from Sally’s sister’s family, by friend and artist Kate Hendry. Painting bottom right by David Bromley, on loan from the private collection of Sally’s friend and artist Jeff Martin. Photographs by Lucy Feagins, styling assistant – Lucy McKimm.
Dining room with views across the trees and rooftops of South Yarra - Photographs by Lucy Feagins, styling assistant – Lucy McKimm.
OK if you think you have a tiny home, think again. Today’s gorgeous Melbourne apartment re-defines tiny. But it’s oh so cute, and somehow so very live-able, despite its modest proportions.
This sweet little pad in leafy South Yarra belongs to interior architect Sally Richardson, her husband Ben (a winemaker at Galli Estate Winery) and new bub Orbella. YES a whole family fits in here! It mightn’t be glaringly obvious just how small the space is – it really photographs in a way that makes it seem much bigger! (Real estate photographers, take note – its all in the styling and not just the lens!). In actual fact the apartment has only one bedroom, and I think possibly the tiniest kitchen in the Universe (2m x 2m!). If you read right to the end of the post you will see a shot taken from the front door, looking through the living space into the bedroom beyond – this photo probably gives the best indication of the apartment layout. (If I knew how to use CAD I would have included a floorplan!)
The apartment has undergone a few significant changes since Sally acquired the place four years ago – mainly restoration work and a re-fit of the kitchen. It was at first ‘a multi coloured fifties number’ Sally says! This was a particular challenge, in a space of just 2m square, but she says she had lots of fun with pull-out chopping boards and other space saving details!
I have been wracking my brains to try and figure out why this home, despite it’s size, somehow feels so comfortable and so easy to live in. I think it can only be put down to Sally’s styling and design expertise – she has filled her home with such perfectly proportioned pieces, and has implemented a couple of simple but genius small space solutions! For instance, the bench seats under the windows in the dining room double as sneaky storage and eliminate the need for individual dining chairs. The result is a space that feels generous and uncluttered – with enough seating for a dinner party, should the need arise!
In my imagination this place feels a little like what living in a European city might be like – with it’s period features, rooftop views and flea-market finds. Indeed, Sally says the the apartment does remind her a little of Paris, where she studied Interior Architecture at the Ecole Nationale Superieur des Arts Decoratifs, and where she has collected a lot of the pieces you see here.
Massive thanks to Sally for sharing her beautiful home with us today… it’s so nice to be reminded that cute beats big, no matter where you live! Sally (and I!) would like to thank her sister Fiona for styling her apartment to perfection pre-shoot! Big thanks also to Lucy McKimm for her able assistance during this shoot, and for having a hot coffee waiting for me when I arrived!
CLICK HERE for the full tour of Sally’s South Yarra apartment, and many more pics!
