Can a home be sophisticated, art-filled and child-friendly even? Together, Sydney-based interior designers, Gillian Khaw and Tania Handelsmann of Handelsmann + Khaw, balance classical ideas with modern quirks and practical touches – kids' rooms included. Here, a look at their shared inspirations and how the interior designer dresses her own home
Photographed by HANNAH ROCHE
Editor NATASHA INCHLEY
Room With A View: main picture top, Gillian Khaw, at her home in Bellevue Hill, stands beside a photograph by Karen Rosenlund entitled After Glow. Khaw wears Bella Freud; above, Khaw in Aje, with co-founder Tania Handelsmann wearing Valentino, photographed in the living room featuring a nude by Oliver Watts, an ink drawing by Jasper Knight and a bold abstract work by Khaw herself. Needless to say the two women are in demand – and busy. Khaw is mother to Eve, aged 5, and Toby, aged 7; Handelsmann's children are Harper, aged 4, and Oscar, aged 6.
You both have such a wonderful sense of style – where did your love of good design come from? Gillian: My parents took me on a long holiday to France when I was 10, I suppose it was a formative age, aesthetically speaking. I still have the diary I kept, which detailed my ridiculous observations about how sophisticated Paris was. Tania: I studied architecture at university but it wasn’t until working at BKH [Burley Katon Halliday] in my early twenties that my obsession with interiors really flourished. The studio was a very inspirational environment – many BKH’ers from that era have gone on to be some of the most successful designers in Sydney, and it was a privilege to be mentored by the inimitable Iain Halliday. Also, every time I travel, my passion for good design is reignited – I adore discovering the best contemporary design in other cultures.
Can you describe your philosophy, how does the creative partnership work? It’s important to us that each interior is unique and responds to person and place. We develop all concept designs together and, once we settle on an overall aesthetic, we present our ideas to each other and then have a healthy debate. Once the concept design is approved, one of us will take the reins. We’ve deliberately resisted growing the studio because we want to control every design decision no matter how small, and find it difficult to trust anyone except each other. Gillian: Tania has a very cohesive, glamorous interior style which takes real rigour to execute. Tania: I admire Gillian’s encyclopaedic knowledge of historical design references and her determination to make every project more interesting than the last.
Bold And Beautiful: top, the airy sun room photographed by Michael Wickham; above, the apartment features clever touches such as a hand-stenciled pastel border on the ceiling in the sun room and paneling in the entrance foyer. Tania's daughter, Harper wears a Mabo dress and a cardigan hand-knitted by her grandmother; above right, Handelsmann wears Roland Mouret and Khaw wears Valentino. Beside them stands an African wood carving of a Senufo bird.
In your minds, which qualities make for a perfectly designed room? Gillian: Proportion, witty composition, unique details. Tania: The right balance of materials, textures and old and new. Also when each individual element contributes faithfully to the overall feel.
Art Park: above left and below, a painting by Oliver Watts provides the perfect exclamation mark in the dining room which features Thonet chairs from Dedece and a Parker table; right, a French 1940s buffet, which was a Parisian flea market find, holds treasured photos of Khaw's mother, a papier-mâché owl by Lee Power, vase from Meizai and a lamp from The Country Trader; below, Eve and Harper take tea, Eve wears a Jacadi top and Country Road overalls, Harper wears a Mabo dress.
Gillian, can you tell me about your wonderful home and what makes it so special to you? I can’t lie, my place is a random accumulation of things I have dragged from one apartment to another. Because I live in an older building, it was important to furnish it minimally and in a contemporary way. So belongings have been edited down to only things with sentimental attachment.
Enchanted Garden: above, Khaw's master bedroom features a Zuber wallpaper screen in Grisaille and a Reitveld Zig Zag chair as side table; below, Eve wears a Stella McCartney vest with Muji shorts and blouse, Harper wears Bonpoint.
Child's Play: Eve's bedroom features a commisoned illustration on the wall; below left, Khaw in her black-lacquered kitchen wearing Bella Freud; and below right, Handelsmann wears Acne Studio with Gucci.