Designer Hamish Guthrie on trusting your instinct when decorating at home

Your first home?
The first home I bought was a 1950s blond brick, north-facing apartment in East Melbourne. I found the top-floor apartment in original and slightly distressed condition. While the ’50s perhaps weren’t the best in terms of build quality, the generous room sizes, natural light and cross ventilation was fantastic. As a designer, my first home was a long-awaited opportunity to “make my mark” and personalise the space. However, in hindsight I wish I had left it closer to its original state.

Period home or contemporary?
As a child I lived in an Edwardian, a suburban brick veneer, a ’70s Alistair Knox bush house, a Victorian and a converted inner-city warehouse. Since leaving home, I can add a contemporary home designed by Tim Jackson, a ’40s apartment designed by Frederick Romberg, a ’50s blond brick apartment and I now live in an 1888 Victorian terrace in East Melbourne. For me, it is less about “period” or “contemporary” and more about the quality of the space and uniqueness.

Describe your home style
Loose. Neutral, so I can play around with furniture and artwork and not feel like I am locked into a style or palette, and flexible to allow me and the kids to live in the house in different ways as our needs change.

Best design tip?
Back your initial ideas and trust your instinct. Don’t overthink it. If a first idea fails to formulate, seek the advice of a professional designer.

Most memorable apartment?
The one-bedroom apartment in the Newburn Flats on Queens Road designed by Frederick Romberg in 1939. Beyond innovative in its adoption of European ideals and formed concrete, it was a great apartment to live in. While not large, it had views of the garden and park but not at the expense of the intimacy of interior. Far too often aspect and view are prioritised over the interior space and sense of privacy. This balancing act was at the forefront when we recently designed several residences with Jackson Clements Burrows in a spectacular setting at Piermont Retreat in Tasmania.

The most iconic house?
I was privileged to be invited to dinner at Robin Boyd’s Walsh Street house in South Yarra recently. A house designed by Boyd for his family, a house so completely innovative in its approach that it poses many questions with regards to the way we live today.

Your next home?
Again less about its era and style and more about the quality of space, light and considered planning.

heckerguthrie.com.