Positive Influence

An interior stylist has transformed a formerly dull house into one that is rich with decorative detail, from eclectic artworks to vintage pieces

- NATALIE WALTON

Nicole Vatselias is not one to shy away from challenges. Instead, she embraces them and has developed a career indeed, a life- out of creating bold and beautiful statements. Certainly, it applies to her decorating style, which she executes with aplomb.

The interior stylist's way with grand gestures is writ large in the Vaucluse home she shares with her partner, dancer Shannon Hsu, and Nicole's children from her first marriage, Luella and Murphy. Their names were fused to create the title for LuMu Interiors, the shop that Nicole owns and runs in nearby Double Bay. It's a distilled version of her own home, and has become a popular fixture in the area since moving from its former Balmain site towards the end of 2015.

A year before relocating LuMu Interiors, Nicole and Shannon found their Dutch Colonial-style house, believed to have been built in the 1940s. Marketed as a 'knock-down', it had five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a double garage, as well as a host of other spaces. On a 1 000 m² block it offered scope to build a pool in among the sandstone boulders. All of this added up to a big opportunity for Nicole, who has studied and worked as an interior decorator, florist and horticulturist.