Top 10 Australian Interior Designers You Need To Know

Greg Natale has to be one of the most famous Australian interior designers.

Multi-award winning, a regular in almost every interiors magazine and featured in the LuxDeco 100, he too is celebrated for his skilful application of colour but also of texture, pattern and his ability to combine them all to produce interiors that are sophisticated, highly curated and most of all, memorable.

Like many of his design peers, Natale has developed collections, though his are extensive, encompassing carpet, wallpaper, tiles, furniture and accessories, and has authored two books.

He is viewed as one of Australia’s most sought-after interior designers.

Listen to our podcast with Greg Natale on Apple podcasts here.

One of Sydney’s best interior designers and also featured in the LuxDeco 100, Blainey North’s namesake studio now has a further two residences (one in London and the other in New York), putting her on the world’s stage.

Recognised for her high-end clientele, Blainey North creates luxurious interiors for spaces of all sizes and shapes, be it residential apartments, five star hotels, decadent spas or sublime superyachts.

She also has her own furniture and speciality lighting range – Blainey North Collection – which she set up in 2011.

But what has put her name on the map perhaps more than any other of her prestigious projects is her studio’s work for fashion designer to the A-list, Alice Temperley, and her portfolio of stores across the world.

Expect colour and expect glamour with award-winning interior designer, Brendan Wong. Specialising predominantly in residential properties across Australia, it is his attention to functional detail as much as to aesthetic that has earned him a top spot position in enviable home design, decoration and renovation.

He has over twenty years’ experience working across the continent but also in London and Paris and has an impressive academic pedigree with a BA in Interior Design, a Masters in Interior Architecture and was awarded a Fellowship to the Design Institute of Australia in 2013.

Now to interior designers in Melbourne, starting with David Hicks. Having established his design studio in 2001, over the last decade or so he has worked hard to become one of Australia’s leaders in interior and building design within the luxury sector.

He is also featured in the LuxDeco 100 Often referred to as being a revolutionary in modern design, he favours strong, simple lines in his work (and is no stranger to high-gloss, dramatic finishes) resulting in a clean and contemporary aesthetic.

His interiors feel well-rounded and harmonious, never cold nor bare. In recent years, he also authored his first book, Intimate – A Private World of Interiors.

This Sydney-based interior design duo, ACME. ACME is a studio founded and run by architect Vince Alafaci and designer Caroline Choker who are partners in both life and business.

They refer to themselves as a multidisciplinary firm, meaning they cover both architecture and interiors, indoors and out.

Not only that, they consult on a whole host of creative projects where they can bring together individuality, an understanding of space, proportion, light and materials, a respect for the environment and a crusade for sustainability.

Their studio is one with no boundaries, in thought and in a very literal sense – there are no walls to divide their small team and no hierarchy. A collaborative, holistic approach is what sets them apart with travel being their greatest muse.

A top Australian interior designer, Jeremy Bull and his studio, Alexander & Co. are known for their interest in diverse, multifaceted projects.

He sees design briefs as a very general term that need not necessarily relate to something as large as interior design plans. Instead, he prefers to embrace both big thinking and small, specialists projects be it the creation of a light fixture, a chair or a whole home or retail space renovation.

This is why they choose to refer to themselves not purely as interior designers, but as furniture makers and space creators also.

The studio’s signature style is one that always reflects hand-made, authentic craftsmanship. Bull prides himself on representing individual artisans in all of his projects.

Another of Melbourne’s best interior designer’s, Fiona Lynch (who also has a studio in Sydney) has fast become famous for her artistic approach – her independent studio is just a few years old.

Her work is across residential, retail and hospitality, and has a strong sense of emotional connection and empathy towards light and materials, which she developed over the last 19 years of her interior design career.

She also launched her own range of designer rugs under the name, Fields, which are inspired by geometric compositions and bold colour.

This energising, dynamic powerhouse of a studio talks a lot about ‘experiences’ rather than designs. Listening and translating its clients’ visions into something physical and visible is how Flack Studio tackles each and every project that comes their way.

Founded by David Flack at the end of 2014, it took just a few months before he had several impressive briefs under his belt. A natural affinity with colour is just one of his specialities.

Every interior designer has points in common and fundamental design principles that they all share. But every interior design also has nuances and particular areas that resonate with them most.

For Hare + Klein, theirs is warmth, comfort, familiarity and personality. Founded by Meryl Hare (who happens to be a fellow at the Design Institute of Australia which alludes to her kudos), she fuses her cultural heritage with over 30 years of interior design experience.

She reads light and context when she first arrives in a space, and from there builds a scheme that’s responsive to the soul of the environment and the dweller. Like Natale, she soon will have two interiors books to her name, with her second due for release in 2020.

Cool and crisp, minimal and understated, contemporary and calm, these are all words worthy of Mim Design’s work.

Based in Melbourne, this is a practice with a love for creativity, high-end finishes and eagle-eyed attention to detail.

With more than 20 years in the game, its founder Miriam Fanning has expanded their portfolio to cover luxury hotels, multi-residential interiors, external design and furnishings.