ABOUT ESSENCIA INTERIORS, MELBOURNE INTERIOR DESIGNER
WE START WITH THE PERSON, then the home.
We read the person before recommending anything, then bring the discernment, sourcing and logistics that turn your instincts into a home that truly feels like yours.
MEET ANICA
7+ YEARS AS AN award-winning INTERIOR DESIGNER IN MELBOURNE.
THE INTERIOR DESIGN INSTITUTE
MILRAY PARK
QUALITY BUSINESS AWARDS
EXPERTISE THAT STARTED with one home, her own.
Anica could feel the difference between a house people passed through and one that truly carries their essence before she had the language for it. What struck her was how much of that difference came down to decisions someone had made deliberately.
She completed her interior design certificate in 2010 and what eventually moved her was her own build. She designed it room by room and thought hard about every choice, because she wanted somewhere that read as an extension of her rather than a house she happened to live in.
2 years as a designer with Milray Park taught her how to run a design for someone she had never met in a room she had never stood in, which is the foundation Essencia still works from.
Certified with The Interior Design Institut
Owner builder of her own home
Quality Business Award, Best Interior Designer, Whittlesea
SHE DOESN’T ARRIVE WITH A “signature look”
The first thing a client sees is an inspiration board built from finished spaces in the styles they named themselves. What they love and what they dislike about those images tells us more than a brief ever does.
From there, it’s a conversation. Clients get pushed gently past the obvious choice, because the pieces people end up loving are rarely the ones they would have chosen alone. Where something is undecided, Anica goes and does the research rather than defaulting to whatever is easy to source.
When a client feels stuck the answer is usually to slow down rather than push harder. Nothing is ordered until it has been tested together.
“My goal is never to create a home I like. It is to create yours.”
— Anica, Founder of Essencia Interiors
THE PARTS THAT LAST even a decade later...
CONFIDENCE IN YOUR OWN TASTE
We’ll guide you into exactly knowing what you like and why, and how that translates into your home.
A HOME THAT AGES WELL
Pieces are chosen based on your story rather than what’s trendy, so the rooms still feel right a decade later.
EVERY PIECE PURCHASED WITH INTENTION
Quality chosen deliberately costs less over time than replacing pieces that were never quite right.
WHAT YOU OWN, NOT PUT TO WASTE
Pieces that hold a special place in your life are considered before anything new is bought.
A STORY BEHIND EVERY CHOICE
Walk into a home that feels collected rather than decorated.
SPACES THAT YOU ACTUALLY *LIVE* in
Pieces are chosen based on your story rather than what’s trendy, so the rooms still feel right a decade later.
WHAT HAPPENS DURING OUR INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTATION? IT’S NOT US DECIDING WHAT YOUR HOME SHOULD LOOK LIKE, but us finding out what already feels like you.
Whether it turns into a project or not, you’ll finish the call knowing more about the house than when you started.
✓ An honest read on whether we’re the right fit
✓ A sense of what the process would look like in your home
✓ The level of support that fits, whether that’s E-Design or Full Service Interior Design
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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No. If you could look at three of our projects and name the designer, we would take that as a failure. The consistency is in how the work is done, not in how it looks.
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Please say so plainly. Dislikes tell us more than likes, and the early boards exist so you have something to react to rather than something to describe. Nothing is ordered until you are happy with it.
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Yes, and we would encourage it! A home furnished entirely from new purchases rarely feels like anyone lives there. The sentimental pieces are usually the ones that make a room work.
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Anica, throughout. The design, the sourcing and the coordination on site sit with the same person, so nothing is lost in a handover between a designer and someone managing the account.
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As much as you want. Some clients weigh in on every selection and others hand the whole thing over once the concept is agreed. What we ask is that you answer when something needs a decision, because the timeline moves at the speed of the slowest reply.
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Gently, and only where we think there is something in it for you. The pieces clients love most are often ones they would not have arrived at alone. But you’re always free to say no.
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Apartments, family homes, whole-house furnishing and single rooms that have never quite worked. Most projects begin at a change of some kind: a move, a downsize, a renovation, or a relocation from interstate or overseas.
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The first conversation usually settles it. We suit people who want to be part of the decisions and who are open to being surprised. We are a poor fit for someone who wants a look copied from a photograph.