Labour of love
Over two decades, interior designer Marylou Sobel’s Sydney home has morphed from a red-brick cottage into something much grander.
Flicking through back issues of magazines and revisiting the rise and fall of decorating styles and other lifestyle fads is always a fascinating exercise – and one the H&G team has been indulging in of late, as the magazine’s 70th anniversary approaches. Interior designer Marylou Sobel has a wonderful personal tale of passing decorating fancies. She and her husband Robin, a jeweller, immigrated to Sydney from South Africa in 1985 and, after living in a series of rental properties and a first-home purchase, bought a small red-brick cottage in the city’s east in 1991. They duly renovated the cottage, adding an extension and a first floor to create more space for their three now-adult daughters, Cassie, Stephanie and Samantha. Inside, the decor featured terracotta floors and ochre walls in a French finish – a real sign of the decorating times in the early 1990s. “There was also a lot of rust in the scheme,” says Marylou.
Then, in 2005, came a second renovation in collaboration with Bruce Stafford Architects, along with a significant style update. The main impetus was the creation of a magnificent patio. Those ochre walls were re-rendered and treated to a soothing grey finish. (“It’s more calm, and allows the beautiful furniture and objects to come through,” says Marylou). >
The terracotta tiles made way for honed travertine tiles throughout the house and on the patio. “I like continuity,” she explains.
The upstairs bedrooms were fitted with ensuites and a portion of deck was sacrificed to create space for a first-floor laundry. (Marylou is a firm believer that the laundry should be located close to where the household’s clothing and bedlinens are stored.) She also favours natural materials, especially sisal, and has included it wherever soft flooring is required.
There is plenty of storage in the home and, while Marylou keeps collections of favourite items in cupboards and drawers, she likes to have less on display as time goes by. “I do collect, but I don’t hoard,” she says.
Marylou’s signature style is layered, textured and colourful – indeed, she picked up gongs for Best Use of Colour and Best Use of Soft Furnishings in H&G’s 2015 Top 50 Rooms Awards. “I want my interiors to evoke an emotional response that will last and last, and be comfortable, luxurious and inviting,” she says, which is exactly what she’s achieved in her own home. # Marylou Sobel Interior Design, Bellevue Hill, NSW; (02) 9130 5899 or marylousobel.com.au.