imagine that there was a beautiful shop that was more like a gallery, and every three months would take on an entirely new theme, no detail would be left untouched, a 10-color color palette would be chosen, and everything inside would be curated to match. even the color of the front door would change. well, it’s not a dream, and it does exist – in australia. the society inc., a shop run by sibella court in paddington (a suburb of sydney), is a true vision, and today we are pleased to not only have a look into her shop (second part of post), but also her home, where she lives above the shop. it is truly a labor of love, and a style that is beautiful, elegant and all her own. sibella also currently has a new book called, etcetera etc, available exclusively through anthropologie stores (currently US only, with a march 18th release date for the UK). mark your calendars now to catch sibella on the july 21st episode of keith johnson’s man shops globe. click here for more gorgeous images of sibella’s home – all which were shot by chris court, sibella’s brother, who photographed most of her book! {thanks so much, sibella!} -anne
[above: Again part of my large main room. A lover of all things "cabinet curiosity' a wall of framed specimens inspired by Darwin's collections are hung haphazardly from my picture rails (one of the best inventions for those who like to forever change there wall art!). A pirate flag for all occasions bought at John Derian, NYC rests on a burlap covered chaise (bit scratchy but looks great).]
My large bedroom cum lounge cum library. This looks busy. It is not as hectic as this when in the room. I’m a lover of textiles; this Japanese pilgrims jacket of Rami is one of my favourites. I go through colour phases & have a love of red,white (my next theme is of this palette: inspired by sailors,exploration, sea shanties & wooden worlds). This fab flag Vivienne Westwood cushion was kindly given to me by The rug co .
This is my very pokey kitchen but I love all the piled chopping boards & hanging utensils. Its small but very well equipped.
My boyfriend & I recently were potographed for a fashion campaign. We decided to be photographed in bed & to re-enact the famous picture of John & Yoko.
CLICK HERE for 19 more images of sibella’s gorgeous home and shop after the jump!
This is the view from my bed: a giant antler found at Chelsea fleamarkets, NYC, Wild bird seed bag found at Sandwich , IL markets, a school chair & a fan for a hot Sydney Summer. I like to play with scale & shape- it makes a fun corner.
This is a section of my walk-in wardrobe. After moving from a 2000 sq ft loft in NYC to a small 2 room house in Sydney, I worked out I didn’t need a huge living space but I did need a walk-in wardrobe room. I converted (with the help of my setbuilder) the second small bedroom into a wardrobe made just for me!. These are some of my things.
My mother was a textile collector. She instilled the same passion in me. The beautifully handmade ‘Nuits’ cushion is by textiler extradonaire, Tara Badcock. Based in Tasmania she mixes embroidery, old & new fabrics with perfection. An vintage japanese indigo futon cushion sits on floral print quilt by Utility Canvas , New Paltz NYC. Nothing like a random hook to hang a lamp that looks like a felted fez!
My little nephews & nieces are constanly fascinated & in wonder that I have stones in my bathtub. I have a huge collection of hand selected tossed stones found all over the world. I love the feel & sound of them and never tire of combing on an unexplored beach.
This is a little annex off my bathroom. I tire of paint myths so to illustrate that dark rooms don’t make a room look smaller I painted it black in its entirety. I love things 3D & hanging from the ceiling: here I have 2 of my many favourite art/crafts people. The black sculptured cardbaord mirror is by Noelle , who is French & draws inspiration from a love of Louis XIV furniture. She lives in Sydney. The raven that appears to be studying an ant very carefully was sewn by the talented Laurie , who once had a beautiful shop on 10th St in the East Village. My 3D chinoserie lady (can’t quite determine her origins) I found in the back streets of Istanbul that made me think of Paris in the 1800s.
The other end of my mantle with random pieces. My favourite quote from Jeanette Wilnterson’s Lighthouse Keeping: My Mother called me silver. Part precious metal, part pirate chalked on to an old slateboard. I like to be surrounded by words.
I have a (or many) fascinations with honest materials & hardware. Here I have a selection of barbed wire samples that I found in Des Moines that I have just leaned on the mantel. They sit with a hand blown glass & wire vase bought at INterius, NYC, a cool folding mini lamp found at a fleamarket in LA , a paper slinky & old school slate board.
Green stool.
These are my stairs that I laboured over/hand sanded & extracted 100’s of nails by hand when I bought my corner building. I have painted them a couple of times. This is my latest colour called ‘Cherry Nose’. These stairs lead from the shop downstairs to my little house above. I painted the stairs in ‘Porcelain’ first then did one coat of “cherry Nose’. I am a bit slapdash in my paint application but it always has a lovely textile-y textural movement.
Situated in my walk-in wardrobe. A bookcase serves as hat display. I wear a lot of hats.
Cabinet of curiosities. As you can see I have a serious beach combing habit.
This is the Society inc. Situated on the corner in Sydney suburb, Paddington in a 1860’s terrace house. I design a 10 colour palette every 3 months. The shop gets changed/painted/restocked to reflect these colours and their story [paints are all Murobond]. This colour, ‘Cicada’ is in my latest paint palette’ called Tender is the Night. I change the door every 3 months to tie in with my theme. Tender is the Night is based on the book of the same name. The flowers that would have been found in the Divers rocky garden in the South of France: nasturtiums, geraniums etc & the vivid colours of cicadas. In Australia when I was growing up every summer we would be on the hunt for cicadas that had great names like Yellow Monday, Greengrocer, Cherry Nose, Black Prince etc.
A love of typography & old signs. I found the old diner board in a flea market in California & the ‘Closed’ card is an old flashcard I found in a fleamarket n Illonois. The ‘&Friendly Service’ is a sticker a friend thought I might like from a recycling shop. The top paper sign I made over the Christmas break so everyone could get excited about the next theme
This is part shop part office. I had my set builder make floor to ceiling shelves upstairs & downstairs. The shelves are based on the shelves from a Glass library existing in a Venetian mosaic school. Nothing is level or too precise (although we did measure my magazines ). Just how i like it. This rolling ladder is from the amazing Putnam ladders that up until recently was on Howard St, NYC. I had shipped it back without knowing where it would g, but it looks like it was suppose to live here.
A love of old trades is shown through my rather large collection of old paintbrushes.
I have these hanging in a door way near my paint samples.
This colour is called ‘Geranium’. My assistant & I paint the floor differently with each theme. Just like getting a new rug. This one is giant abstract nasturtiums. The birch chair is made by a guy in Melbourne, Greg Hatton.
I saw these old French labeled boxes in a pic of a friends shop in Melbourne.
I quickly called my very good friend who has an amazing furniture shop in Melbourne called Guy Matthews Industrial on Gertrude St, Fitzroy. He had found them at a late hour in Paris after too many drinks when builders were tearing apart an old shoe makers’ shop. He managed to sober himself up & organize a van to take them away!!! I bought 50 to house my extensive ribbon collection & other bits n’ bobs.
This is my main shop display cabinet. I found it at auction the week before I moved into The Society inc. It was a real find that fits perfectly at 12ft high x 10 foot wide. Its originally from a pencil factory in Alexandria, Egypt.
I originally did this for messengers & package delivery for when we are out. However, I do stencil a lot -my stairs, walls, boxes amongst other things.
Each of my past colour ‘themes’ are housed on my custom build (by my set builder) shelves. These beautiful rich warm colours are from my theme ‘Atelier’. This theme was inspired by the story of Julien Tanguy and his shop in Paris in the 1880’s. He supplied the local artists of the Montmartre with their pigments & essential art supplies. Van Gogh painted him in 1887.
