Chantel Shafie is a jewellery designer crafting bespoke pieces in a spectrum of colours. But Chantel extends her creative vision well beyond just jewellery, using her gifted eye for design to fashion her dream home in Midlevels. “In another life I would love to have been an architect”, she laughs. “I was fulfilling a dream being able to design my home from scratch”.

When Chantel and her husband Dan first looked into renting the apartment in 2018, it was completely derelict and hadn’t been renovated since it was built in 1960. The 3000 square foot space had formerly been used as a storage facility and a personal TCM kitchen for a property tycoon. “Parts of the ceiling had fallen down, windows were missing, there was no functioning kitchen…”, and the list goes on. Chantel spent 6 months on the large-scale revamp, building up some rooms while tearing down others – she removed one wall to create a breezy open veranda, adding sandstone tiles and a glass balustrade to take full advantage of the picturesque view.

After turning the place inside out, the only distinguishable features remaining were the original iron windows that Chantel painted black and a retro turquoise bathroom suite from the ‘60s. The rest of the space was transformed into a vision of colour and texture, with Chantel incorporating prints and patterns to her heart’s content. 

Themes of nature are evident throughout, from the leafy polypropylene rug on the verandah and rattan accent pieces to her green headboard and the leaf-patterned pillows in her bedroom. There is no shortage of actual foliage either, with potted plants placed in every corner of the flat while the veranda teems with palms and bamboo trees. Amidst the green, Chantel’s leopard print obsession lurks throughout – “It’s neutral, I swear!” she jokes. A leopard print velvet upholstery lines the chairs in her bedroom and the cushions in her living room, bringing a groovy jungle feel to her room while adding a pop of fun and pattern to the sleek living space. 

In seeming contrast to the earthy greens that suffuse the flat, the bespoke cabinetry designed by Chantel and the plush couch the living area are saturated in a deep, cobalt blue, while the hallway linking the living space with the bedroom is peppered with bursts of patterned yellow. But somehow, it works. The velvety blue and geometric prints bring an Art Deco pop, and combined with the bright yellow, are the interiors equivalent of dopamine dressing. “Life is dull without colour!” Chantel exclaims. “I naturally am drawn to colour and pattern, and as I always add layers to my interiors, as time goes on they tend to become even more colourful than anticipated.”