Next season, the collections will take a more formal tone. The brand’s “bread and butter”, however, is its cushions, produced in muted shades of blue, olive, terracotta and natural, along with a signature handpainted-print stripe that has also made its way on to lampshades, tablecloths, bedheads, ottomans and wallpaper. Plaster has proven a medium offering endless possibilities, with ‘wavy’ mirrors, hooks and candelabras added next. Montgomery with homewares from the LMC Petit range, including the linen bedhead, cushions, quilt, Del Rio lamp and striped wallpaper. It’s a trait she traces back to her mother, for her publican parents owned a Victorian home in Newcastle and in the ’90s converted the 1860s Italianate-style Customs House into a hotel, filling both buildings with timeless classics and thus instilling an appreciation for pieces that stand the test of time. Priced at $2000 each, they’re a substantial splurge, but Montgomery’s mindset is to think of them as a logical extension of your art or antique collection – functional pieces that elevate the everyday. Two other meringue-toned styles followed: the curvy Minerva, named after the Roman goddess of wisdom and Foglia, which means leaf in Italian and features fig-leaf detailed handles. “Our Del Rio lamp was inspired by those gorgeous spiral columns but scaling it down to size wasn’t as simple as I thought. Montgomery peers out the window, pointing out the elegant architectural details of the white stucco 1920s Spanish mission-style apartment block next door. But getting the proportions right was challenging.”Įlegant simplicity: the Foglia lamp has fig-leaf details on the handles. “To make one lamp I work with up to five craftspeople – a plasterer, painter, electrician, shade-maker and printmaker – who are all based in Sydney, so it allows for any iterations to be hands-on. Beauty lies in those little imperfections.”Įasier said than done. “They needed to be durable, of impeccable quality and age well. I’d been keeping all these vision boards that were dominated by imagery of grand dame Mediterranean hotels such as Le Sirenuse and the work of sculptors like Alberto Giacometti, so I thought I’d start with a trio of plaster styles. Apart from a few vintage options, nothing stood out. “I’d always loved the plaster lamps I’d seen on my European travels, but I was so frustrated not being able to source great pieces like these for a table-lamp shoot I had to do for work. In 2019, a maternity leave stint from her day job as the design editor at Belle allowed Montgomery the headspace to gauge what was missing from the market. Most of which will likely end up on magazine covers. The space also houses a design studio to service her portfolio of residential clients, projects which range from Clareville and Casuarina beach houses to eastern suburbs villas and star apartments. Montgomery’s Del Rio lamp pops up in another guise, with a different shade, in the sitting room. ![]() However, it has also served as a space to lay a foundation and showcase hero pieces from her burgeoning homeware brand, Lucy Montgomery Collection, the popularity of which has just prompted a move into a massive multifaceted showroom in Alexandria this month. ![]() Renovating this ‘downsizer’ for her parents, Gabrielle and Damon McCabe, was a labour of love. She’s clearly a perfectionist, darting to the kitchen to brew a pot of mint tea, tweaking lampshades and fluffing cushions en route. Ecru linen Albus Lumen blazer, white Agolde high-rise jeans, Gucci loafers, her ice-blonde blowdry falls around a line-free forehead … a vision that makes you think perhaps you should have paid more attention to brushing your hair that morning. Seating me at a French antique table paired with vintage Thonet dining chairs, her look is queen of serene. This decorative sensibility is pure Montgomery – the 36-year-old a picture of cool, calm, collected simplicity and refinement herself. A Foglia lamp stands on the table to the rear. The ottomans are covered in Belgian striped linen. On the wall is her Le Sirenuse mirror, while a Del Rio lamp takes pride of place on a plinth next to the fireplace. ![]() Lucy Montgomery inside the Elizabeth Bay apartment she renovated for her parents. ![]() Any touches of formality – like the grey marble fireplace and large-scale contemporary artworks – are mitigated by the homely soft furnishings used to style the space. Oversized archways, a crisp white palette, chequerboard cobblestone marble tiles and vines trailing the top of glass doors that open to reveal harbour vistas combine to create a glorious indoor-outdoor coastal feel. The posh enclave of Elizabeth Bay’s Billyard Avenue is home to an array of glitzy trophy residences, but tucked away in the whisper-quiet apartment belonging to interior designer Lucy Montgomery’s parents, it’s a sea of tranquillity.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |