Interior design
Diana Luxton Messara: public interior designer
The Diana Luxton Messara archive, generously donated by the designer herself, contains drawings, plans, textile designs, photographs, correspondence, publications, sample boards and personal papers spanning more than five decades.
![J. Ratner & Co. Pty Ltd., furniture manufacturers, Newtown (NSW): Furniture design drawings, photographs, order book, Ratner family architectural plans [archive]](https://api.mhnsw.au/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.mhnsw.au%2Ffotoweb%2Fembed%2F2026%2F05%2F450ea4cd8c904a15928a5a867f4ce893.jpg&w=1920&h=400&fit=inside&format=webp)
Original designs for furnishings
Furniture, furnishing textiles, wallpaper, leadlight windows, stained glass and painted decoration designs
On a tour with palms: a botanical foray into the Caroline Simpson Library
A search for palms in the museum collections took this researcher on a journey back to a time when these plants were considered an essential addition to the tasteful home
![Walford, 7 Knox Street, Double Bay, December 1967 [photographer unknown]](https://api.mhnsw.au/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.mhnsw.au%2Ffotoweb%2Fembed%2F2026%2F05%2Fb973a68e392143138186b649ed3cb6b5.jpg&w=1920&h=400&fit=inside&format=webp)
Leslie Walford Archive
For nearly 50 years Leslie Walford AM (1927–2012) was one of Sydney’s most successful interior designers, the decorator of choice for the city’s social elite and a leading figure in the Society of Interior Designers of Australia (SIDA).
The interior design profession in Sydney
The professional practice of interior design took shape over the 20th century. It became formalised through professional associations and the expectation that decorators be trained in design principles
The mysterious O.S.B.
One item in the Caroline Simpson Library Collection has been capturing our attention recently: a beautifully illustrated catalogue of electric light fittings, identified only by a mysterious insignia on the cover – the initials ‘O.S.B.’
Ornament source books
Bringing together examples of surface and decorative ornament from a range of periods and cultures, ornament source books provided inspiration for designers, artists, sculptors and architects
Creating Imagined Interiors
Join industry experts at the Caroline Simpson Library as they discuss different approaches to creating interiors for house museums and film and television productions
![Vivienne Chaffer : Colour [interior design student workbook]](https://api.mhnsw.au/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.mhnsw.au%2Ffotoweb%2Fembed%2F2024%2F03%2Fb09f1f0c5831414a9ae3b0baf97b548d.jpg&w=1920&h=400&fit=inside&format=webp)
Phyllis Shillito and her colour curriculum 1945–1979
This event focused on the colour curriculum of pioneering Sydney-based colour designer and educator Phyllis Shillito (1895–1980) of the 1940s to the 1970s