Step Inside the Design-Led Family Home of Interior Decorator Alyssa Owens

This week on our Home Life Series, we’re welcomed into the vibrant Northcote home of interior decorator Alyssa Owens—founder of Alyssa Owens Design, a studio known for its soulful, unexpected take on everyday spaces. With a toddler at her feet, a newborn on her hip, and a home layered in buttery tones, vintage treasures, and evocative art, Alyssa has created a world that’s equal parts curated and lived-in.

From teaching in the eclectic streets of New Orleans to crafting artful interiors in Melbourne and beyond, Alyssa’s design journey is steeped in character, colour, and connection. Her home is a reflection of that—refined yet relaxed, personal yet playful. 

Keep reading to discover how Alyssa’s signature style comes to life at home, and why designing with feeling always wins.

Hi Alyssa, we’re so thrilled to be welcomed into your beautiful Northcote home! It’s such a special space. Can you introduce yourself and tell us who lives here with you? 

Thank you! I'm Alyssa Owens, an interior decorator based in Naarm / Melbourne. Our terrace on Helen Street is home to my husband Alex, our energetic toddler Theo, and our newest addition who just arrived 5 weeks ago – little Jude Alexander. The four of us have created a little haven here in the city’s Inner North.

It’s been quite the journey since you first discovered the space - can you take us through the renovation process and how you transformed it into a home that truly feels like yours? 

It has been. We found the home in 2021 after a lengthy search and were instantly drawn to the beautiful northern light that streamed through the back windows. There was a quiet charm to it, and we saw the potential to make it our own through a thoughtful renovation that didn’t require a full gut. With our first baby on the way, we wanted a home that we could make our own. Something that felt warm, textured, and ready to evolve with our growing family.

We worked closely with STILO Architecture to bring that vision to life. We restored original details like the timber floors and fireplaces, while reconfiguring the kitchen and baths to better suit family life. The stone island and built-in walnut table became the heart of the home: practical, sculptural, and beautifully compact. One of our biggest goals was to connect more deeply with the garden. Adding custom steel-framed doors along the rear wall completely changed the space, drawing light and greenery into the interior.

Once the renovation wrapped, I took the lead on decorating. That’s when the space really started to feel like ours. Materiality continued to guide decisions. Travertine, timber, linen, marble, rattan, and clay adding depth and softness throughout. In the bedrooms, I brought in richer colour to shift the mood: a buttery yellow nursery and a deep green ceiling in the main bedroom.

And then, of course, the art. Most pieces in our collection are by Australian or New Zealand artists. Some are close friends, others I’ve admired for years. Together, they anchor the home emotionally and tell a story that’s uniquely ours. That layering of colour, texture, and memory is what makes the house feel lived in and loved. It was a nine-month renovation, with all the usual challenges, but the end result is something deeply personal. Helen Street feels like home.

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Your portfolio is incredible, and it’s clear you have a deep passion for interior design. Can you take us back to the beginning of your career- how did you get started in interior styling? 

My path into interiors was quite organic. I started my professional life as an English teacher in New Orleans, where I fell in love with the city’s fearless approach to design. There was this incredible mix of eras, textures, and moods that felt alive in every space. During summers away from teaching, I studied design and began working on historic properties around the city. 

There’s a natural crossover between literature and design. Both are about storytelling. When Alex and I relocated to Melbourne, it felt like the right time to lean fully into this passion that had been quietly growing for years. Alyssa Owens Design began with projects for friends and slowly grew through word of mouth and social media. What started as a creative outlet became a business grounded in the belief that a home should be deeply personal – blending eras, materials, and colour in a way that feels both refined and full of soul.

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From New Orleans to Melbourne – two cities with rich creative energy. How has your time in New Orleans shaped your design sensibilities today?

New Orleans is my favourite place on earth. It’s a city that is full of contradictions: gritty yet glamorous, historic yet ever evolving. That tension is what makes it so incredibly beautiful. I spent a decade there, and it has deeply shaped how I think about spaces.

There’s a boldness and confidence to interiors in New Orleans that I try to bring into every project. The city knows how to honour its past while staying vibrantly present, a balance I consciously aim for.

What I loved most was how beautiful New Orleans homes feel collected rather than decorated. They are layered with pieces that tell stories, creating a sense of depth that can’t be achieved overnight. I brought that ethos to Helen Street through the mix of contemporary and vintage finds like the Michael Hirst safari chairs, burl bedside tables, and the vintage Anna Ehrner floor lamp.

That influence shows up in my love of rich layers, my instinct to mix eras and textures, and my belief that the best spaces feel like they’ve grown over time. Australian design has its own beautiful restraint, which I’ve come to embrace, but the New Orleans spirit is always present in my work: soulful, playful, a little rebellious.

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How do you approach styling a home so it feels lived-in and full of heart, while still maintaining a strong visual identity, and where do you find the inspiration for your spaces? 

Inspiration can come from anywhere. For Helen Street, it came from all around us. The garden, the light, the nearby Merri Creek. All of this fed into a palette of earthy tones and natural textures. Art plays a big part too. It creates that emotional pull in a room, and I often build from the pieces clients already own and love. Other times, it’s something as simple as a single fabric or colour that a client adores that sets everything in motion.

It always starts with the people. I want to understand how they live, what makes them feel at ease, what they reach for every day, and what objects and artworks hold meaning. A home should feel like a true reflection of its inhabitants, not a Pinterest board or someone else’s idea of what’s “right.”

What’s one room in your home that truly reflects who you are and why? 

Our master bedroom is probably the room that best captures who I am as a designer. It's where I pushed boundaries. A deep green ceiling paired with saturated beige walls, all inspired by Kirsty Budge's surrealist piece "Ruffling Feathers" that hangs above our bed. 

This room represents everything I want to express through design: the courage to paint a ceiling in such a rich, enveloping colour, the confidence to let a dramatic artwork dictate an entire room's palette and vibe, and the belief that intimate spaces deserve as much consideration as public ones. It's sophisticated but also comforting, dramatic without being overwhelming. 

When I design for clients, I'm always trying to give them permission to be a little braver with their choices.  This bedroom is me practicing what I preach.

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Family life and design often need to work hand-in-hand. How have you designed your home to be both beautiful and functional for daily family living? 

With two little ones, I’ve leaned into a design approach that’s relaxed but intentional. I chose materials that could hold up to real life. Rattan and handwoven baskets add texture while being nearly indestructible. The living room features beautiful clay sculptures that won’t shatter when knocked over, which happens more than I’d like to admit. Dark rugs disguise spills. Performance fabrics keep things comfortable without being too precious. Our sofa gets steam cleaned every few months, and that’s just part of how we live. 

What’s made the biggest difference, though, is mindset. I don’t stress about perfect corners or keeping everything pristine. Design should support daily life, not make it more stressful. I want our kids to feel like this is their home too, not a showroom they have to tiptoe around.

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What do you love most about helping clients tell their own stories through interiors? 

So much. The collaborative nature of the process is particularly rewarding. I see my role not as imposing a specific aesthetic, but as being a translator of sorts. I help clients express something they may have felt but couldn't quite visualise. Sometimes it's about giving them permission to embrace elements they're drawn to but might have hesitated to incorporate without guidance.

I also love the intimacy of the process. To design someone's home well, you need to understand how they live, what brings them joy, even how they start and end their days. That level of trust creates a special kind of connection that makes this work meaningful. 

It's a very cool thing to create spaces that will contain people's lives, where they'll celebrate milestones, navigate challenges, raise families, etc. Knowing that the environments I help create will be the backdrop for these experiences is what makes this work so deeply fulfilling.

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What design elements do you believe every home should have to feel complete? 

There’s no universal checklist, but there are a few things I find myself returning to time and again.

First, art. It brings soul to a space. Whether it’s a bold contemporary piece (my favourite) or landscape, it should reflect and excite the people who live there. Nothing anchors a room or adds depth quite like art that matters.

Great lighting is another non-negotiable. Overhead lights serve a purpose, but it’s lamps, sconces, and candles that create mood. I always look to layer lighting at different heights so that a home feels warm and atmospheric. It’s one of the simplest ways to shift how a space feels.

And finally, something vintage. It doesn’t have to be a showstopper, but bringing in a piece with history gives a space depth of character. It’s that contrast between old and new, polished and worn that makes a home feel real.