Name:Anna Spiro
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Size: 220 square meters or 2370 square feet
Years lived in: 1 year, owned
Over the past few weeks we've been getting a glimpse into some of Australia's most exciting interior designers homes. This week we take a look at Brisbane based interior designer and blogger Anna Spiro's home. Filled with art and light, Anna Spiro's home is crisp, bright, contemporary with an infusion of antique, the home bridges between the aesthetic of an American Colonial with that of Parisian apartment. Take the full tour after the jump...

AT Survey:
My style: I am a traditionalist at heart but I do like some modern pieces too so all in all I really love to mix anything and everything. I love Antique/Vintage against an all-white background with pops of colour in cushions and accessories. I love collecting things too so I love pieces out on display in bookcases and on tables. I love a look which is individual and homey, colourful and fresh, inviting and comfortable!
Inspiration:I think of our house as American Colonial meets Parisian Apartment so-to-speak! I love American colonial architecture and their use of white painted timber joinery but I also love the look of an Antique French piece of furniture in a light filled room so I suppose my inspiration came from America for the structure and Paris/France for the furniture!
Favorite Element: I find it hard to narrow it down to one favourite element as I love everything about our home!! But here are a few things I especially love - I love our large timber windows in our new room and the light they let into the house; I love our island bench in the kitchen as this is where my husband and my 6 year old and I catch up at night; I love my bathroom as this is where I get to relax in the bath tub after a long day at work; I love my artwork and my Antique pieces of furniture and my bookcase which is filled with all of my favourite books and magazines and collections of things; and I love my garden with all the green grass and the trees….I love nothing more than sitting out on the grass in our garden in one of my Adirondack chairs with my husband and our son swimming in our pool on a hot Summer Sunday afternoon….bliss!!
Biggest Challenge: Keeping within our budget!!
What Friends Say:Our friends love coming over to our house and most Sundays [if we aren’t at our house at the beach] we have friends drop in for a swim and a few glasses of wine.
Biggest Embarrassment: The bathroom we haven’t renovated yet – it’s very UGLY so I just use it as a storage room at the moment until we can renovate it.
Proudest DIY: Converting an old workbench into a bathroom vanity.
Biggest Indulgence:In the construction side it would have to be the large timber windows and doors and in the furniture side it would be my artwork and antiques.
Best advice: My mother always says you have to live in a space before you set about changing it so that’s what we did – we lived in the house for 12 months before embarking on our renovation and it was the best advice ever as we changed our minds over and over again and now I think we have made all the right decisions because we had time to mull everything over.
Dream source:Well as an Interior Decorator I am pretty lucky to able to source beautiful fabrics, wallpapers etc. but it’s funny I do love Ebay as you find some great pieces at such great prices!

Resources:
Appliances: All appliances were existing as we haven’t renovated our kitchen yet
Hardware:I chose chrome hardware which I purchased from Handle This at Albion in Brisbane and also some crystal knobs on the cabinetry which I sell at my store, Black & Spiro.
Furniture:Most of my pieces are Antique or pieces we sell at my store Black & Spiro. For Antiques I like to go to Meirelles in Melbourne or Michael Allen Antiques in Brisbane or Ebay for vintage pieces.
Accessories:All from my Store, Black & Spiro
Lighting: Vintage chandeliers from Ebay
Rugs and Carpets:Sisal carpet in the play room
Flooring:Timber floors painted white
Tiles and Stone:White Subway tiles and Hexagonal Mosaics from Architectural Ceramics in Newstead, Brisbane
Window Treatments:Shutters and curtains all sold through my store Black & Spiro
Beds:My son’s Antique bed I purchased for him when he moved from a cot into a bed from Meirelles in Melbourne
Artwork:Most of my artwork was purchased from Jan Murphy Gallery in Brisbane
Paint:Dulux Vivid White
(Thanks Anna!)




Shaw's Original Fir...
I love this place - The pink toile wallpaper in the bathroom and the Wing Chairs at the dining table are too fabulous!
Whata a beautiful home! What steal-worthy ideas! Would love to live in a house like this.
I love everything in this house!
It's lovely, very feminine...great artwork too.
I saw plants through a window. I loved the interior but would love to have seen some beach and other outdoor pictures. I live downtown in a major city with wall-to-wall buildingw. I love it when ATers share their yards. It's such a great cheap way to dream.
ooops, typo, buildings not buildingw. Sorry.
this is my dream home next to the viceroy hotel. well done.
Hooray, a house tour from a fellow Brisbaneite! I've been wondering when one would pop up :D I am absolutely blown away by the bathroom - the brick-shaped tiles and the two different mirrors and the hexagon flooring. Lovelovelove. Will have to check out your shop some time.
This is lovely but I agree that some outside views would have been nice. I also would love to have seen some pulled-back shots in addition to the tighter ones. It's hard to get a sense of scale or how the rooms work together. Overall, though, it's a beautiful and original home.
I love the use of color in a very white space, nice pop, my one question is... why do hosts give themselves super comfortable chairs and not offer their guests the same comfort? I've never understood that dining room setup, seems to me everyone should have the same level of comfort for dining, especially if you want to have long conversations at the table.
I am in love with the Bed frame in the first pic! I take it that is an antique? Gorgeous! And I love the fabric on the ottoman also. Your home is an envy in the way that you mix old and new. I try to do that myself. I think your home has a warm personal touch to it.
Rucy, that is such an interesting question, and one I've never thought of. I don't think most people are thinking consciously about guests when they put nicer chairs at either end of the table. If the furniture is most commonly used for a couple or family with children, the only adults in the house would have the nice chairs for a typical meal.
When I have guests over, I let them sit wherever they want. If I had chairs that varied in comfort (or perceived comfort) I would of course offer those to my visitors and take the lesser seating for myself.
love the bathroom vanity... it's perfect
I love Anna's home! Anna is incredibly gifted and creative and a very genuinely kind person to boot! So fun to see the tour here on ATLA!
Gorgeous! I looked at this earlier today and it stuck with me all day. Very inspiring.
Hi Anna,
Good stuff!! Love your style... My husband is a minimalist and I'm a bit of traditionalist myself - Have been collecting a lot of little antique pcs now in north america but will be going back to Sydney soon.. Esp love a lot of furniture pieces you have.. Will look your store up next time :) May need some pointers from you if you know some other cool shops in Sydney..
I want to go to there...
i couldn't see any links for thumbnails or even returning to the original post. would be nice. thx.
Wow I just went up into my attic and pulled all my pillows down (mix and match) and put them on my couch, just based on this post!
i love posts like this one. so many of the pieces of furniture are totally not my style and yet the whole place is just amazing!
I don't normally like white walls, but this works! Really great.
I've been a big follower of her blog. So glad to see you guys do a home tour. She has such a unique, colorful, fun, eclectic style!
Absolutely beautiful! I could move right in! Love LOVE LOVE it!!
Really lovely! I am in love with the pink wicker couch and the stripey upholstered chairs.
Regarding the 'comfy' chairs at the end of the dining table, I have to say they look like they'd be really awful to eat dinner in. You'd be all sunk in with your chin on the table top. Give me the uncomfortable ones any day :-)
I don't think it gets much better than this. So much wonderfulness under one roof....it should be illegal.
About comfy chairs... while I was in Germany we had a round dining table, with four wing chairs, and it was very comfortable for eating and long talks at the table. However there we had a table that adjusted height (from coffee table to several eating heights) and when we had more guests, the wing chairs went to various rooms, out came a set of 8 armless dining chairs that stacked for storage and the table leaves were added to make a large round. Thinking of recreating the same here but I just haven't been able to find the same style table (or anyone who knows how to find the pieces to make it).
The colors in this home have really stayed with me... definitely has me rethinking the complicated paint scheme I'd planned on!
Wonderful, light-filled, bold, characterful home! I share the passion for colour accents on a white background done your way...
wow, how many copies of the domino book do you own? they're all over the place!
It looks like a pretty lady lives here. Lovely.
I was on here a few days ago, but came back for another "eye candy" visit. Ahhhh! I love your home! I really want that floral fabric from your ottoman!!!
very, very bright, calm, & just outright gorgeous. you've got brilliant style!
I didn't think I'd like this, but I was very wrong! I love the way the colours work with the white walls and the great art. Also love how the baroque furniture has been updated and juxtaposed with the ultra-modern.
Well done... pure fabulousness through and through!!!!!!
And the stripey chair is utter bliss...
I like it, the light and the space is wonderful, although a little overboard with the David Bromley ;) variety is the spice of life.