Admit it, you definitely daydreamed about making a mad dash for the (literal) hills when restrictions clamped down earlier this year. Working among the trees? Yes please.
Chelsea Hing had it too, and she actually did it! The lauded interior designer (and TDF + Laminex Design Awards judge!) acted on a combination of pragmatism and right-place-at-the-right-time opportunity to set up a second office in dreamy Daylesford – finding the perfect site to transform with her signature flair.
‘I’ve designed all our offices to feel like a representation of our work – less office, more residence – so the feel and spirit of what we do shines through.’ – Chelsea Hing. Photo – Rhiannon Taylor.
Artwork (on wall) by Sean Meilak. The walls are finished with a lime wash to complete the textured sisal floors! Photo – Rhiannon Taylor.
The Daylesford offices will act as the studio’s regional base, with the main headquarters remaining in South Melbourne. Photo – Rhiannon Taylor.
‘I’ve designed all our offices to feel like a representation of our work – less office, more residence – so the feel and spirit of what we do shines through.’ – Chelsea Hing
While the rest of us sat around in 2020 thinking about forbidden coastal holidays or packing up our lives and moving to Brisbane, Chelsea Hing was making it happen. Well, not the Brisbane part, but definitely the moving!
‘What started out as a pandemic-induced daydream quickly materialised into a real business opportunity,’ Chelsea explains of her interior design studio’s second office site in Daylesford. Upon finding the perfect location for her new outpost, in the historic Old Vic building right in the centre of town, Chelsea wasted no time in making the space her own. She used her fearless eye for colour to rapidly turn a ‘stock-standard, charcoal-carpeted, white-walled commercial space into a warm, inviting work and meeting space’.
‘I’ve designed all our offices to feel like a representation of our work – less office, more residence – so the feel and spirit of what we do shines through,’ Chelsea says. ‘For this space, we wanted it to feel relevant to the type of lifestyle properties in the area, with strong art and softer contemporary pieces that fit well in the country context.’ Lime-washed walls give the space depth and character, while sisal brings texture to the floors, and a vibrant collection of contemporary art lines the walls.
Having both metro and regional bases gives Chelsea’s clients the best of both worlds, and the same is true for the interior designer herself. ‘We’ll always be a small studio with a big aesthetic,’ she says.
Chelsea’s Daylesford offices will be the studio’s regional base, and are located at 1-2/57 Vincent Street, Daylesford. The studio’s main headquarters remain in South Melbourne.
Loving Chelsea’s style? See more of her projects here.
