Lynn and Geoff Clay

Creative shopkeepers inevitably seem to have the most wonderfully eclectic, creative homes. It’s as if their inspired merchandising skills cannot be contained only to the retail environment! A case in point is the Albert Park home of Lynn and Geoff Clay, owners of Scarlet Jones concept stores in Albert Park and Hawthorn.

Furnished with a pared back edit of antique furniture and vintage artwork, Lynn and Geoff’s Victorian home has an old fashioned sort of charm.

Written

Lucy Feagins

Supported by Dulux

The Albert Park home of Lynn and Geoff Clay. Dining area featuring Australian stripped dining table and Thonet chairs. Artwork collected by the couple from overseas and local markets including the Camberwell market and Glen Waverley Antique market. Photo – Annette O’Brien. Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Living area. Depression-era drawers and Vox Populi lamp from Scarlet Jones. Photo – Annette O’Brien. Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Living area. Quilt by Lynn’s mum and linen cushions from Scarlet Jones. Photo – Annette O’Brien. Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Living area. Vox Populi circus lamp, Cote Bastide olive jar and Jonathan Adler vases. Photo – Annette O’Brien. Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Kitchen details. Vintage French light and bench from Côté Provence, Metta teatowels and linen apron, and rug from Scarlet Jones. Photo – Annette O’Brien. Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Kitchen. Jonathan Adler fruit bowl and French ceramics from Scarlet Jones. Photo – Annette O’Brien. Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Eclectic mix of French ceramics and Lynn’s magazine collection. Photo – Annette O’Brien. Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

French ceramics collected by Lynn. Photo – Annette O’Brien. Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Main bedroom. French Art Deco bed, Linge Particulier French bed linen, blanket by Wallace Sewell and antique quilt from Scarlet Jones. Photo – Annette O’Brien. Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Main bedroom. Mexican paper cut artwork from Grays in South Melbourne and vintage French shutters from Côté Provence. Photo – Annette O’Brien. Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Lynn Clay outside of her Albert Park home. Photo – Annette O’Brien. Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Writer

Lucy Feagins

16th of August 2016

This sweet two bedroom Victorian house in Albert Park has been home to Lynn and Geoff Clay for just under three years. It’s one of four small single fronted terraces, built together with the same bricks, charming old doors and lead light entrances, standing side by side on one of Albert Park’s super wide leafy streets.

Lynn and Geoff have made a few simple updates to their home since moving in. The house originally had only an outdoor bathroom and toilet, so it was a top priority to create a new bathroom inside (!), in what was previously a study. In the kitchen, the pair also reluctantly replaced the original kookaburra stove with a new cooker, installed an industrial sink, and tiled the kitchen walls in 6″ square white tiles. Floorboards were sanded, and walls painted white throughout, with the exception of one standout peeling brick wall in the dining room – the perfect backdrop for Lynn’s artwork collection.

Lynn’s beautifully curated retail stores showcase her distinctive vintage-inspired aesthetic, and this unique sense of style inevitably spills over into her home life too. Her home is furnished with much loved antiques and vintage finds – she particularly treasures her Art Deco French bed, and the fabulous depression drawers in her loungeroom, made from rare 1930s tins.

‘As I have got older I prefer a comfortable simple life with less stuff’ Lynn says. ‘Everything I have in my home I love, be it the pieces I’ve had for 30 years or the simple water glasses and plain linen teatowels from six months ago. Not having much space makes you choose to keep only what you use and love.’

Lynn has Scarlet Jones stores in Albert Park and Hawthorn, and she has also recently started a linen clothing label with her daughter, called Metta Melbourne.

The Albert Park home of Lynn and Geoff Clay. Dining area featuring Australian stripped dining table and Thonet chairs. Artwork collected by the couple from overseas and local markets including the Camberwell market and Glen Waverley Antique market. Rug from Scarlet Jones. Photo – Annette O’Brien. Production – Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.