Queen of style on how to create a healthy home

Published May 3, 2025, 9:00 PM

Renowned Australian Style authority, Melissa Penfold joins TMS to talk about her new book.

Well, we all love having a little sticky beak at other people's homes to check out their personal style. And while nowadays we can do this via social media, there's still something special about seeing these images on the pages of a beautiful.

Book, which is what our next Gurst has done, widely regarded as one of the queens of style in the country, and Melissa Penfield has collated not just visually some stunning designs, but also ideas that can give us a physical and emotional boost. It's really important, Melissa Lovely, to see you, Welcome to the show, to see you. Congrats on the book. Oh thank you Now. The last book was all about the basics of interior design. This one is about boosting our physical and emotional well being. Talk us through the concept.

Power our homes wield and they shape everything, our behavior, our lives, our happiness, our confidence. And there's one thing I want from this book, and that's to change your life. It's you know, if you're sitting in your home and just not being if you know, our homes can keep us from being our best if we don't know how to design them properly. And this book is about small steps that all add up you've.

Broken Daddia into a few different aspects ease, flow, light, nature, timelessness, and awe, what made you want to put it together this way?

They're the six very straightforward. They're the six strategies that can boost our health, our productivity, lower our stress levels. And you know, you let light in, you immediately up your productivity with morning light. So you know you may not be able to increase the light, but there are things you can do to avoid, you know, will to enhance the light that you do have. Avoid dark colors, dark paintings, big furniture in front of you know, windows, but so that the light there's bring in, improve your airflow, which is so easy to do, shade your window, insulate, and.

Just like thinking about it, really like just sort of being open to being aware that all those things matter.

Exactly exactly a lot of homes in the book, of course looks so luxurious, right, what about styling on a budget? How do we get that magic without breaking the bang?

I've always I've been no one forgetting the luxury look for less. So paint light, paint, used light colors to you know, increase that feeling of space and that impression state base and flow light is such an easy way of you know, table lamps for instance, They're so cheap at all the chains and you can instantly update rooms with beautiful lamps.

Even thrift shops have great lamps.

With your work Across newspapers and books and magazines, you've been dubbed this Australia's Queen of style. How hard is it to keep up with current trends?

I think trelessness timelessness. So I think trends are becoming less relevant and timelessness is what great design is all about. If you stay true to your own style, you'll always have a successful interior. So find what works for you, personalize your home and you'll have something that really does work. So I'd ignore trends to a large extent. Like fashion, just work with what you know works for you.

It works for you, Mirror yourself, what does your house look like on the.

Cover of House and Garden this month you can have a look. Okay, thank you, But it's very easy. I decorated around collections. I would never get a piece of fabric and do a scheme. I just buy things that I like and it all comes together. And anyone can do that if they just follow their own eye. And just if you buy two good pieces a year, at the end of ten years, you'll have twenty great pieces. We can tell our children that, you know, just collect beautiful things. It's sustainable. Buy things that last, you know, So do it once and do it right. So even if you live in a tiny little place, get a great, big, fabulous guilt mirror, play with scale, make it fun. We want moments of awe and wonder in our house, you know, playful moments. Especially with the world, you know, all this uncertainty. It's a great anecdote to the world outside because you want a home that is a refuge that you come in and you just go.

Oh yeah. Most of the book is absolutely beautiful. It's called Natural Living by Design. Find Melissa Penfall and it is available to purchase in store and online now.

It is beautiful. Thank thank you, guys.

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