Melbourne Homes!

A collection of 200 shell necklaces line the walls of Victoria's gorgeous apartment in Elwood.

The lounge area - featuring mainly retro furniture finds, including that stunning bamboo coffee table which came from the set of Australian TV series MDA.

Soooo I decided that The Design Files could do with a 'Melbourne Homes' section. I would love your feedback on this dear readers! What do you think? You see, photographing people's houses takes quite a lot of organising and time etc, so you have to convince me that you would love to see more Melbourne homes, so that I muster up enough time and energy to keep it up!

Anyway, without further ado, read on for a peek into The Design Files' inaugural 'Melbourne home' - the gorgeous apartment of my friend and fellow props buyer Victoria McKenzie!

A 1950's apartment with art deco detailing, Victoria's place truly sets the standard for rental decorating! Set in a beautiful leafy st in Melbourne's bayside suburb of Elwood, this large 2-bedroom apartment has great bones - high ceilings, timber floors, huge windows, and a fantastic layout in which both the loungeroom and the master bedroom both open out onto the garden. Lovely!

Vic's unique sense of style and meticulous attention to detail shines through in every aspect of her beautiful home - from the incredible collection of shell necklaces hanging side-by-side along the dining room walls, to the colour co-ordinated kitchen implements(!), and of course that beautiful lush garden which Vic looks after so well!

Originally from New Zealand, Victoria describes her style as 'Pacificana' - that is, influenced by the aesthetic of the Pacific Islands surrounding NZ (such as Samoa and Rarotonga). This is where the shell necklaces, handwoven basket collection and hula girls come in! She also loves her collection of vintage / retro furniture - many pieces were snaffled from TV productions and films she's worked on. (I've got to get better at that!)

Oh and she loves orange. Can you tell?

Loungeroom and balcony. Victoria's cute collection of hear-shaped pebbles!

View out to the garden

Dining area - framed by that incredible collection of shell necklaces

V for Victoria!

Isn't the kitchen beautiful!? Love the mix of new and vintage kitchen cabinets and furniture. Also love Victoria's policy when it comes to kitchen implements - only orange will do!

Washing up would be so much more fun if everyone had a beautiful big window like this above their sink! Also love those little glass jars... Industria, I think?

Victoria's little tiki man on the wall protects the kitchen.... love the turquoise blue front door and vintage map in the hallway (just visible).

More of the lovely sink area. Vic's tropical plants outside the window make such a difference!

A little Australiana just to balance things out!

Victoria's bedroom, adjoining the balcony and garden - love the deep red walls and soft green bedlinen... what a great combo!

The Pacificana room - aka second bedroom! The handwoven basket collection is so beautifully displayed.... and how about those hula girls...? Cute!

The bathroom - beautiful mint green / black deco tiling... more shell/seed-pod necklaces, and more tropical plants outside the window for that real 'island living' feel! Also love Victoria's collection of green glass containers on the window ledge. Perfect.

Victoria's balcony looks into the shared garden. Look at that lovely colourful vintage bench!

A HUGE thanks to Vic for sharing her home with us! - and for feeding me fresh Lemon Verbena tea and Tim Tams during the photoshoot ;)

ps) Victoria has just started her own photo blog (with a friend) entitled Light and Victory - still early days, but I'm sure she would love you to visit!