Chic Apartment Tour from Emma Blomfield

We stumble over Emma Blomfield’s exquisite interiors all the time and have been swooned by her work more than once, so sharing this apartment tour on our lifestyle blog is quite exciting. Her colorful style and Australian influence makes for some pretty incredible results. Design our entire lives, Emma? Please.

How would you describe your design style?

My own personal style is quite different to the styling my clients usually ask of me. I’m drawn to neutrals with lots of texture – rough textural timber tones, Belgian linens, soft velvets and other lovely textural style elements. My clients come to me for colour though, most of my portfolio consists of really bright happy spaces full of colour and pattern. I tend to be drawn to contemporary furniture pieces with classic elements rather than modern linear furniture pieces.

How did you start your career?  

I actually have a degree in Business majoring in Marketing but once I finished University (during the GFC when no one was hiring for marketing roles!) I worked in retail in visual merchandising for a while and loved it then found a job with a local interior designer who taught me so much about the decorating industry. From there I’ve worked as a Property Stylist (Home Stager) and a Homewares Buyer before starting my own business after recognising a need for affordable decorating advice and most recently launching The Decorating School, a fabulous online school for people wanting to unlock their home’s potential and learn vital decorating skills.

Have you always been interested in interior design? 

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the computer game ‘The Sims’, I didn’t care much for the part where you have to take care of the family that lives in the house, I was downloading floor plans from real estate websites and re-creating the floor plans on The Sims (what a nerd!). My e-decorating service is kind of like The Sims in real life and I only realised that a few months ago so I guess I was destined to always do something to do with virtual interior decorating!

This apartment is amazing! What was the main source of inspiration for the space?  

The apartment is in the most amazing location in Sydney by the harbour, that view!!! There wasn’t one standout piece of inspiration for that project, there were already a few existing pieces of furniture in the home so I had to work with these to bring the home to life. The existing items (like the sofa) were in neutral colours so I could splash out with the colour – hence that bold beautiful rug! What a stunner! Choosing some pieces were really difficult because I still wanted the view to be a focal point in the room too.

Where are your go to shops/designers for home decor?

West Elm, Restoration Hardware, Jonathan Adler, Anthropologie, Leif, Pottery Barn, One Kings Lane, Armadillo & Co, Bandhini, Stoned Crystals, Urban Road, Rifle Paper Co…. The list is endless!

What are your favorite home trends happening right now?

I am totally on board the marble and metallics trend train. I know it won’t last like most trends but the mix of white and grey marble tones with brass or copper just make me weak at the knees. I have a couple of marble platters and some brass vases that I use on my coffee table in a tray to create a little vignette with flowers and candles – my favourite styling combo.

If I wasn’t an interior designer I would be: an occupational therapist or florist.

Home Styling secret: Buy the largest rug you can afford for your living space. A small rug will just look like you’ve arranged your furniture around a postage stamp and funnily enough it actually makes the room look smaller. You want the feet of your furniture placed on the rug to make the room feel in proportion.

Design style crush: I love what the girls at The Style Co do, their events are extraordinary!

I can’t live without: candles. I couldn’t count how many I own and don’t ask me to name a favorite because I have too many!

Design by Emma Blomfield of The Decorating School
Photography by Lisa Zhu of And A Day