Making Your Home Flow from Inside to Out: An Interview with Mia Lake.
Want to make your home flow beautifully from inside to out? Learn how with these expert outdoor design ideas and tips from interior stylist Mia Lake.
Alfresco dining. Outdoor entertaining. Open plan living. We’re all about letting our lives spill outside in Australia. But, allowing your home to seamlessly and beautifully flow from inside to out isn’t always as easy as it seems. The homes that do ‘indoor-outdoor’ well may appear effortless, but we can guarantee they were carefully planned to make the most of their transitional space.
Luckily, there's someone that can help you take your indoor and outdoor worlds and blend them into one stylish space: an interior designer.
Interior designers aren’t just engaged to make your house look pretty, although they do that too. These experts use their skills and knowledge to create spaces that are balanced, coordinated and infused with personality. They also have a wide network of industry affiliates, finding you the best pieces while saving you time and money. In other words, they do a lot of hard work to achieve an effortless look.
On that note, we’d like to introduce you to Mia Lake. Mia is an Interior Designer for Vic Lake Architects and an expert at making beautiful flowing spaces. We sat down with her to pick her brain about outdoor design ideas that look effortlessly cool and feel like an extension of your home.
Cronulla Pools: Tell me about Vic Lake Architects? What’s your role in the business?
Mia: We’re an architectural practice located in Sydney. People come to us for architecture, interior design, project management and project marketing. My role in the business is in interior design and planning. I design internal and external spaces. The Australian market demands connectivity between indoor and outdoor living so it’s important that my focus isn’t only indoors.
I’m really passionate about my work. I love working closely with my clients to understand their brief and to make sense of their own personal design style. When I have a really good relationship with my clients, I can design spaces that bring their personality to life.
Interior design by Mia Lake for these apartments in Cronulla.
Cronulla Pools often works with clients who are building a brand new house with a pool. What are some tips for choosing pool finishes that complement the rest of the house?
You can almost always see the pool from the inside of a house, making it a strong design feature for the interior and the exterior of a project. If you have a strong pool colour, you need to consider how to incorporate similar or complementary colour accents into your interior space. This will ensure flow from inside to outside
When designing swimming pools, it’s important to keep in mind that the colour of the water will be altered depending on tile selection. A pool tiled in white is one of my favourite looks. The water takes on a beautiful clear, pale blue tone - so natural and dreamy. These tones make it easy to work with your interior and exterior decor as it is simple and sophisticated.
What are you loving by the pool right now?
I have always had a deep affinity for natural materials and elements. If you are lucky enough for your home to have a water aspect, be it a pool, plunge pool or even ocean or river view, I would suggest teaming the water with natural elements - they are a match made in heaven. This could include a pool design scheme incorporating sandstone, timber or lush landscaping. You can’t go wrong with these combinations.
These days it’s all about creating an outdoor space that flows seamlessly from indoors. What’s some advice you can offer to help clients achieve this?
It’s about remaining tonally consistent. Clients can often make the mistake of thinking they have to use the same product from indoors to outdoors to achieve consistency but that’s not the case. Products that have the same tone will achieve the same thing. And sometimes it's nice to add a little texture by mixing up material selections.
To check if it’s all going to work together, get all your samples together as a sort of mood board. Place them on the table and squint with your eyes. If they work together, they should all blend as one. If one element stands out, it’s typically because it’s out of place and may chop up your space.
The other thing people need to realise with outdoor finishes is that they get wet and they change colour. Natural materials will always change colour. It’s best to do the spit test to see what it looks like when damp.
What are some swimming pool design trends you’re seeing in 2018?
Stick to pale, natural tones or light greys or silvers and avoid royal and cobalt blues.
2018 will see modern interpretations of other cultures. Think Moroccan repeating patterns and mandalas with an Australian twist. Bold patterns look inviting and give your pool area a contemporary edge in comparison to other pool designs and water features.
Plunge pools seem to be all the rage. Why do you think they’re so popular?
I love a plunge pool. For people that don’t have space, it gives them a water feature without being daggy.
Slightly Garden Obsessed project. Outdoor design by Mon Palmer.
Where does an interior designer go for inspiration? Who stands out for you right now?
Mon Palmer is definitely one landscaper I’m loving at the moment. I love all of her finishes – the layers and textures with the sandstone and concrete. The simplicity and confidence of her designs are amazing. I love the sketch ups that she’s providing on Instagram. She’s interesting to follow because you feel a part of the whole process.
Internationally I’ve always been a huge fan of Kelly Wearstler. She’s so far advanced that sometimes when I see her work I don’t know if I understand it. And then you see the trends come and you get it. She was one of the first to mix different marble textures together – and now everyone is doing it.
Where do you get your pool inspiration from?
I generally turn towards Balinese or Thai resort-style pools. They just always have it right with a relaxed holiday vibe, and it’s hard not to want to immerse yourself in their pools. The key design elements I have noticed are tonal coloured tiles with a mottled appearance. Sage greens, silvery teals, slate black or smokey blue will give your pool area a resort-style, relaxed aesthetic.