Description
I remember saying to then-owner, Jacky Taranto, “I’ll call by and if the job isn’t too big, I’ll happily give you some tips to do it yourself.” Well, stripping and re-French polishing the entire interior of this beautiful home was my first big job. It gave me a lot of pleasure and getting to know Jacky, a very special man, was a bonus. During this job, I also met one of my best friends, Daniel Dadian, a wonderful interior painter and a man who became the greatest friend one could wish for. Daniel is the godfather of our youngest son, Luke. In those early years in business, I restored many interiors and several staircases. One was exceptional, belonging to Greg and Katie, in Gipps Street, east Melbourne. I organised for a few friends to strip the paint from two floors of cedar. This was done after hours so the daytime tradesmen wouldn’t get in the way. This was around the time my daughter Alexandra, now 21, was born. These experiences continued over the years, but retail and dressing interiors with customers or assisting interior designers was what I was increasingly drawn to. In 2010, I re-dressed The Johnston Collection in east Melbourne, one of the highlights of my career and an absolute pleasure. Looking into the history of William Robert Johnston, and hearing of his buying and selling techniques, I felt quite a connection with him in many ways. I dressed his beautiful home with his beautiful belongings and travelled to The Stables at Government House, selecting what was to remain and what was to come into my display. Bridget Evans, one of my long-term associates in my showrooms, assisted me and gave me many ideas for my display. One was painting out all of the dark green sconces in the kitchen and only using the Staffordshire animals..