Our clients, a vibrant couple who recently purchased their first home, wanted their home to feel joyful, expressive, and deeply personal. After years of renting neutral spaces that never truly reflected them, they were eager to celebrate this milestone with interiors that embraced colour, creativity, and individuality. This is phase 1 of their total home project, and includes the entry, hallway and study.

Drawn to dopamine décor, the clients envisioned spaces that felt energising, optimistic, and layered with personality. They were unafraid of bold colour and saw both rooms as an opportunity to create memorable, impactful interiors that balanced function with self-expression.

The study was to serve as a productive yet inspiring workspace — stimulating without feeling corporate or muted. This called for a saturated, layered palette, bespoke joinery, and investment furnishings that introduced colour, texture, and visual interest while maintaining a cohesive feel.

The hallway, experienced first and last each day, was intended to make an immediate statement. Rather than functioning solely as a transitional space, it was designed to set the tone for the home with warmth, confidence, and playful energy.

Overall, the clients wanted interiors that celebrated this new chapter in their lives: spaces that felt bold, welcoming, and unmistakably theirs.

Our clients recently purchased their first home, and they were clear from the outset that they wanted the space to feel joyful, expressive, and unmistakably theirs. Having worked hard to reach this milestone, they were eager to celebrate it with a scheme that felt energising and optimistic.

The design responds directly to the clients’ desire for a home that feels joyful, expressive, and unapologetically personal. By embracing a bold, colour-driven approach throughout both spaces, the scheme celebrates their love of dopamine décor while creating spaces within their home that feel energising, optimistic, and deeply reflective of their personalities.

This was realised by enveloping almost every surface in colour. We chose Dulux paints throughout, with the doors, wardrobe and trim in calm Stillwell Bay, and walls in dusky Clifton. The built-in desk and shelving, painted in seven vibrant hues, introduce playful pops of colour. Investment pieces complete the space; a Blanchett’s sofa bed upholstered in fuchsia wool from Warwick, bespoke cushions by Schumacher and Molly Mahon, and a striking blind in Harlequin’s Klimt linen.
The hallway delivers a confident burst of personality – warm-toned Okains Bay adorns the walls, paired with punchy Separation Point on the trim and doors, while a funky pink and orange vintage rug grounds the space.

The space we started with was a blank canvas – a large empty room with little storage that felt cold and uninviting.
With our builder, we worked to add functional open shelving and a desk to one long wall to anchor the space and provide storage for our client's books and sentimental items.
Colour adds unique visual interest in both spaces – in the dipped colour of the walls in both spaces, and the contrasting hues on the doors and trim, as well as the colour choices and application for the shelving and desk area. There is a thread of colour through both spaces, which will be continued through the rest of the house in Phase Two, that helps to maintain consistency and flow through the spaces.

Rebekah Kuyper – Director, Lead Designer, Project Manager, Painter and Photographer
Fortitude Construction – Builder
Marmoset Electrical – Electrical wiring work & lighting installation

Muir-03 : Angle showing window and work area
Muir-06 : Curtain with window and wall paint detail
Muir-11 : Down the hallway
Muir-13 : The view into the Study
Muir-16 : Angled shot showing sofa and work area
Muir-21 : Half Sofa detail
Muir-26 : Storage and sofa with cushions
Muir-33 : Work area straight on
Muir-38 : Back wall wide angle
Muir-40 : Paint detail shot with walls, desk and shelves

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