Recent Project: Light & Airy Federation Home

By sabine, a specialist in residential interior design and decoration catering to Sydney’s Lower North Shore, recently completed a dreamy renovation of a Federation home in Mosman. Project designer Sabine Mcdonald shares her vision for the project below.

Sabine, what inspired the interior design scheme?

The design concept was inspired by our client’s years spent in London, i.e. London's grand and elegant black and white terraced town houses, but also her own personal style. Plus, it had to be sympathetic to the house's Federation features. We wanted all the period features be brought to life.

I would describe the interior design scheme of the house as timeless, sophisticated, classic & crisp with an understated elegance. To achieve this, we stuck to a calm colour palette of warm neutrals, such as whites & greys, contrasted by black and green accents.

The beautiful ceilings and period features were accompanied by stunning flooring options, high end joinery, marble and high end & classic in style architectural hardware, bathroom and kitchenware. 

tessellated tiles hallway long shot

Why did you decide to put tessellated tiles on the front verandah and hallway? 

The neutral colour palette very much called for the entrance flooring to be of high visual impact and to set the tone of what to expect upon entering the home. It gave the home real character and was vital to the design. We really wanted to keep the feel of the Federation era but update the colour palette to something that would feel modern and more in line with the client's taste.

tessellated hallway area
tessellated verandah

How did you arrive at the Leeds pattern in the chosen colourway?

We visited your wonderful showroom a few times to make sure we had chosen the right tessellated pattern and colourway. Sam, your retail manager was super helpful and completely customised the Paddington pattern with colours that compliment the original stained glass around the front entrance. The design was perfect and my client is over the moon with it.

tessellated tiles hallway inside photo

Are there any other shapes, colours or patterns from Olde English Tiles that you’d like to use in future projects? 


Yes, of course! There are quite a few that stand out to me,  but it really depends on the space it’s going in and what’s there already.  For example, we used one your simple black and white Olde English 150 pattern in the newly fitted lift, adjacent to the verandah.