Taking lessons in French in the heart of Sydney

From the Spring issue of Kanebridge Quarterly. Order your copy here

When you engage a designer like Greg Natale, there’s a level of expectation that comes with that. An international sensibility is a given, as is attention to detail and a good dose of opulence. What you might not anticipate though, is flexibility or speed.

But when Natale got the call from the owners to work on their home in Oatley in Sydney’s south, the ability to make haste was an essential element.

“The owner had grand ideas and she needed someone really quickly to help her because she had started (the build),” he says.

“I had to move walls and the bricklayers (were already) there.”

Natale describes the existing Development Application for the brand new home as ‘basic’ with little of the detail he would normally require to undertake a project.

Interior designer Greg Natale focused on European influences for this home in Sydney’s south. Image: Anson Smart

The owner had her heart set on a Georgian-style two-storey home more often seen in Melbourne suburbs such as Kew or Brighton, characterised by a symmetrical facade, with a French influence, but the approved DA came up lacking. There was also little evidence of the sense of home the owners wanted to create.

“Georgian style is classic but it’s quite simple,” Natale says.

To make the necessary changes, he submitted a Section 4.55 with council which allows for modifications to the DA and created the opportunity to ‘rejig’ the floorplan at the rear and introduce some softness to the design.

“I wanted this house to feel very soft — it’s where interior design is now,” he says. “When I started opening all the spaces at the back, we introduced these really beautiful fluted portals into the big lounge and the big dining room.”

Indeed, fluting has been used extensively in the detailing of this house, linking spaces and adding a textural layer that simultaneously makes rooms feel permanent and welcoming. It’s a strategy designed to imbue warmth to the understated soft grey palette, while letting the detailing be the hero.

The kitchen palette is restrained, relying on stonework and detailing for warmth. Image: Anson Smart

This decision to stay with the single colour for most of the living spaces makes the blue dining room and adjoining study feel even more exceptional, almost extravagant.

“The rest of the house is all quite calm and the dining room is calm too — but it’s moody,” he says. “You start with the blue and we liked all those European interiors where you have all those highly lacquered bookshelves.”

A master class in pattern and colour, Manohari Delft wallpaper from UK textiles company, Designers Guild, has been applied to the dining room walls with cobalt blue lacquered bookshelves and a coffered ceiling in the same colour.

A custom made rug from Natale’s own collection for Designer Rugs injects a softer, more organic element, with the salmon pink harmonising with burgundy-coloured dining chairs and Japan black dining table.

The dining room is a masterclass in colour and pattern. Image: Anson Smart

Next door, the small study has gone even bolder with Atlantis Aube wallpaper from the Christian Lacroix range for Designers Guild.

“The study space is the owner’s,” he says. “She had this vision for this really big pattern in that study and I wanted another room to talk to that dining room.”

While the temptation in a house like this would be to fit it out with Art Deco-style pieces and antiques, furniture is unashamedly modern. Natale says it was a deliberate move to keep spaces elegant, but light.

“She didn’t want a heavy home and if we started using Art Deco-style furniture or anything traditional it would have been very heavy — and I don’t think that look is in anyway,” he says.

“The owners both liked modern and clean design but they also love this Georgian style so it was mixing both.

“That look of mixing modern, Danish and Italian (furniture is happening) in France and even in Milan, and with those beautiful old floors and the panelling, we were definitely emulating that look.”

While the US has dominated interior design trends over the past 10 to 15 years, with names like Kelly Wearstler and Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Natale says all eyes are now on Europe.

“Ten or 15 years ago, it was all about New York and LA and Palm Springs but now it’s really looking at Europe — even Americans are looking at Europe now,” he says.

“We are probably using more European furniture now and all the European brands are here so it’s a bit easier.

“Design is definitely looking at Italy, Denmark and France now.”

Natale says interior design is focused on France, Italy and Denmark now. Wallpaper from Designer’s Guild elevates the dining room. Image: Anson Smart

Although Natale went to great lengths to finesse every aspect of this house, it’s also about what you can’t see.

“The owner does a bit of (property) developing and he has an aircon business and because of that, I really pushed the detail in the aircon,” he says. “All the aircon here comes out of slots or shadowlines of the cornice.

“The days of sticking in a grill and then Photoshopping it (out of images), I’m not interested in that. I want the air conditioning to be integrated.”

To really embed the five-bedroom property, the whole site has been landscaped with soft hedging and evergreen planting that will look good all year round.

“The landscaping really anchors the architecture and as the plants grow it will enhance that further,” he says. “In that area, there are a lot of big houses like that and if you don’t have good landscaping the house just sits there like a UFO.”

More: gregnatale.com

Australia’s housing market has lost momentum, with Cotality’s latest Home Value Index revealing national dwelling values were flat in May as affordability constraints, higher borrowing costs and weakening buyer sentiment continue to weigh on demand.

The national result masks increasingly divergent conditions across the country.

Sydney and Melbourne led the decline, with dwelling values falling 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively over the month.

Sydney values are now 2.1 per cent below their November 2025 peak, while Melbourne values sit 3.2 per cent below their March 2022 high.

In contrast, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide continued to record growth, although even the stronger-performing markets are beginning to show signs of slowing.

Perth again led the capitals, recording monthly growth of 1.5 per cent and annual growth of 25.8 per cent. Brisbane values increased 0.9 per cent in May and are now 19.1 per cent higher than a year ago, while Adelaide recorded a 0.5 per cent monthly rise and annua growth of 12.3 per cent.

Cotality Research Director Tim Lawless said Australia’s housing market continues to operate at vastly different speeds depending on location.

“We are continuing to see multi-speed conditions across Australia’s housing sector, with Perth and Melbourne at opposite ends of the spectrum,” Lawless said.

“The past five years have seen these cities diverge sharply, with Perth values up a stunning 91.4 per cent while Melbourne home values are only 3.3 per cent higher since May 2021.”

Lawless said while the pace of value growth remains highly varied between cities, a common trend is emerging.

“While the speed of value change remains very different from city to city, the direction is becoming more consistent, with most markets losing momentum as demand-side headwinds intensify.”

The slowdown is becoming increasingly evident in transaction activity.

National home sales over the past three months were estimated to be 2.2 per cent lower than a year ago and 4.1 per cent below the five-year average.

Sydney and Melbourne recorded the sharpest declines in sales activity, down 17.0 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively compared to the same period last year.

Lawless said higher listing volumes are shifting negotiating power back towards buyers.

“These are also the cities where advertised supply has risen to above average levels, providing more choice and better leverage for buyers,” he said.

The softer conditions come despite ongoing supply constraints across much of the country. Construction costs remain elevated and feasibility challenges continue to limit new housing delivery, even as governments in NSW and Victoria continue to implement planning reforms designed to accelerate approvals and increase apartment supply.

For the new apartment sector, the data highlights an increasingly important divide between established housing markets and the off-the-plan market.

While detached housing markets in Sydney and Melbourne continue to soften, the supply of new apartments remains well below the levels required to meet population growth and federal housing targets.

This imbalance is likely to continue supporting demand for new apartment stock, particularly in major urban centres where affordability pressures are forcing more buyers towards higher-density housing options.

The latest rental figures also reinforce the underlying strength of housing demand.

National rents increased another 0.6 per cent in May, taking annual rental growth to 5.9 per cent. Vacancy rates remain at just 1.5 per cent nationally, matching the record lows experienced during the post-pandemic migration surge.

Lawless said renters are increasingly reaching affordability limits.

“With renters dedicating around a third of their pre-tax income to rental payments, it’s uncertain how much longer this upswing in rents can last,” he said.

The housing slowdown is unfolding against a backdrop of improving inflation data and growing confidence that interest rates will remain on hold when the Reserve Bank meets in June.

Australia’s monthly inflation indicator has continued to trend lower in recent months, reinforcing market expectations that the RBA is unlikely to lift the cash rate again in the near term.

Financial markets and economists have increasingly shifted their focus towards the timing of future rate cuts rather than the prospect of further tightening.

While the RBA remains cautious about services inflation and housing-related costs, recent inflation outcomes have largely eased concerns that another rate rise would be required.

That is providing some support to housing sentiment, although affordability and borrowing capacity remain significant constraints.

For now, Cotality’s data suggests the housing market is entering a more subdued phase rather than facing a sharp correction.

Affordability pressures, weaker confidence and slower sales activity are weighing on demand, while population growth, tight rental markets and constrained housing supply continue to provide a floor underneath values.

The result is a housing market that remains highly fragmented, with Sydney and Melbourne continuing to cool, while Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide remain in growth mode, albeit at a slower pace than seen over the past two years.

Taking lessons in French in the heart of Sydney

A stunning transformation by award-winning designer Greg Natale takes a basic Sydney home to a whole new level

Australia’s housing market was flat in May as falling values in Sydney and Melbourne offset continued growth in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.