Interior designer Nina Maya brings her unique artistic vision to Sydney’s Northbridge.
Nina Maya’s career is something of an odyssey. By the age of 21, the textiles graduate was the head of Italian fashion house Grazia Bagnaresi, facilitating a move back to Australia to establish her own range. Yet after exponential growth and six years in the fashion world, Nina realised this was no longer what she wanted to do.
Custom-designed chairs by Nina Maya Interiors, Collection Particuliere KEY bowl, Gem Branch chandelier by Giopato & Coombes and LZF Lola lamp by Ke-zu feature as part of a casual dining area. White Nuances III (2020) by Danica Firulovic is exhibited above the cabinetry, with Balloon Ceramic Bowl 05 by Louise Roe and a sculpture by Scott McNeil underneath.
The dining space features chairs and a table custom-designed by Nina Maya for the project, with the Covenant pendant in aged brass by Lost Profile.
The formal living space showcases a custom sculptural sofa and armchairs, coffee table designed in collaboration with Oliver Tanner Art & Design and rug in collaboration with Robyn Cosgrove. The Agatha 3 Tops coffee table and Jade glass stool by Draga & Aurel echo the waterfront views of Sydney’s Sugarloaf Bay. Artwork, Certain Uncertainties (2020) by Marisa Purcell.
After a year’s sabbatical back in Europe, Nina seamlessly translated her skills from fashion to interiors, a move she views as a natural progression. “Our fashion and our homes have one crucial similarity; they’re a fundamental form of expression,” she says although she admits despite the transferable skills, new to her was the art of spatial awareness and playing with light and the magical ways in which it can transform one’s experience of a space.
Her latest project, situated in Sydney’s west by the bay, sees a multi-disciplined approach create the perfect eye in the storm of modern life for its inhabitants. The three-level home speaks to an easy symmetry, with its four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and lower- level health and luxury zone.
A Rio chaise designed by Oscar Niemeyer and his daughter Anna Maria Niemeyer, Celeste Wall sconces by Australian designer Daniel Boddam, custom-designed bedhead by Nina Maya Interiors with Society Limonta bedlinen and Dot stool by Christophe Delcourt create a luxurious guest bedroom suite. Artwork by Sanne Mestrom.
Bedside tables custom designed by Nina Maya Interiors. The Ceto Double wall lights by Australian designer Ross Gardam feature on the custom wall cladding from Jade Customs.
Ambient interiors meld with sophisticated furnishings, light and dark palettes work cohesively and white-walled bedrooms soaked in daylight contrast with black frames and dark furnishings – much of which is sourced locally. “I like to ‘dress’ interiors with the same ethos that I approached my fashion career,” Nina says. “I always started with a clean and neutral base and then added interest through accessories.” She adds, that one of her favourite tools to employ in interiors is lighting. To address shortages in materials due to the ongoing pandemic, Nina looked to a selection of incredible Australian makers and producers and has started working with these local craftspeople to create all of her custom one-off pieces.
The home is an amalgamation of sophisticated design elements set against a minimalist, pared-back layout and yet its components are never at odds. Artworks act as gateways into some beyond place; a place from which Nina Maya observes our world before she steps through to conjure something of wild imagination.
This piece originally appeared in est Magazine issue #43.
“I like to ‘dress’ interiors with the same ethos that I approached my fashion career – I always started with a clean and neutral base and then added inter- est through accessories.”
– Nina Maya
