Set within a mix of botanic wallpapers, stripes, and hand-painted ceilings, Plantasia by YSG emerges as a vibrant home for a family with young children.
“Our clients wanted the home to feel adorned and welcoming, so we drenched it in nature” YSG founder and interior designer Yasmine Ghoniem says. The couple’s brief of “cosying each room, while avoiding any internal wall construction” guided the design.
Working carefully within the existing framework of the house, the studio responded to the form of the 1990s mock-Colonial structure. While the rooms were already sufficiently sized, they lacked interior detailing such as fretwork, cornices and architraves. To address this, the studio added character with expanded deep-framed doors and timber-lined thresholds, swapping neutral white tones for bold floral and pastel combinations.
Balancing visual abundance with a sense of comfort and familiarity, a bright yellow door and entry vestibule leads to the open kitchen and dining area. The floor, in an hourglass motif defined by “dark-tannin” and “caramel-shaded cork that pours into the adjoining rooms” while not immediately obvious except in plan, contributes to the home’s layered quality.
The PP Møbler Circle chair by Hans J. Wegner in the dining area.
Terracotta and earthy reds are paired with mottled marble. Pictured: Kitchen island with Rosso Asiago marble benchtop from Euromarble and rangehood in Vixel glass mosaic tiles from Artedomus. Rust-coloured Moroccan Zellige tiled splashback from Di Lorenzo Tiles. Joinery handles by Thread Handle in Toniton Blue. Roman blinds in Sahco via Kvadrat Fantome 0450 by Simple Studio. Natural and dark tannin-coloured cork flooring in Suberin from The Flooring Co.
The living room with hand-painted ceiling and custom walnut joinery. Pictured: Wallpaper by House of Hackney. Song armchair in terracotta linen and burnt orange cord from Maker&Son. Blue ceramic side table by Project 213A from Studio Gardner. ‘Two Parables’, 2023 artwork by Daniel Domig from Chalk Horse Gallery. Jardan Thursday modular striped sofa. ClassiConRoattino floor lamp by Eileen Gray.
In the kitchen and dining, a mix of vintage rattan and timber chairs, custom lighting, shimmering grid-pattern tiles with inset shelving finished in glass mosaics and Zellige tiles in earthy reds add texture and contrast. Painted ceiling squares in the connecting living room are reiterated in “miniature form in gingham fabric” paired with warm sunset tones. Wallpaper “above low-set storage and shelving, plus the high datum behind nubby banquette seating,” help scale down the size of the rooms. Ghoniem explains that the blend of colour, pattern and timber achieves a cosy feel on a vast scale.
The six-bedroom home has four en-suite bathrooms, a primary bathroom and a separate laundry and powder room. Calm sage greens with a ceiling clad in a field of hollyhocks contrast with additional bedroom tones “that take on broodier film noir sentiments—merlot red, violet and absinthe green”. All hold and ensure the studio’s intent of “full immersion in nature even at bedtime”.
More than ten different flora-and-fauna wallpapers are used throughout the home. What Ghoniem describes as a Wes Anderson-inspired hit of pattern and colour. Material selections also play to this sensibility. “Flipping perception, stripes clad the ceiling while plush sky-blue carpet lands underfoot.” The rooms are inviting while achieving the desired level of functionality and whimsy. YSG’s considered furniture choices with fitted skirts and “frills adorning custom lamps and pendant lighting” fill what were once plain cavernous rooms.
The new interiors also make the most of the home’s South Coast location—just a few hours from Sydney—with views to citrus gardens and lush hinterland beyond. By bringing greenery inside and onto the walls, the design frames and softens thresholds between indoors and out, creating richly connected spaces.
Pictured: Fresco stripe wallpaper by Bethany Linz from Icon Radford. Botanic wallpaper by Architects Paper. Servomuto Bikini wall light in rust. ‘Secrets 1’, 2023 artwork by Madeleine Pfull from Chalk Horse Gallery. Chateau bedcover in dune from In the Sac. Saner table by Massproductions. ‘Knossos’ pedestal vase by Tina Psarianos from The DEA Store. Curtain and Roman blind in Linford rust washed linen by Simple Studio. Radici Abetone Club broadloom carpet in Cielo from Fyber.
Pictured: Wallpaper from Icon Radford. ‘Atoll’, 2019-21 artwork by André Piguet from Station Gallery. Chateau bedcover in sage/natural piping from In the Sac. Putrellino pouf by Dimoremilano. ClassiCon side table by Eileen Gray.
Pictured: The Water Monopoly Rockwell bath in sherbet yellow and pedestal basin in powder blue. ‘Menindee II Plein Air’, artwork by Justin Maurice Scivetti from Saint Cloche. Wallpaper by Schumacher from Orient House. Handmade Bejmat floor tiles and Zellige wall tiles from Di Lorenzo Tiles.
