How to Master the Timeworn Look

By Lexi Green
August 23, 2011

Interior stylist Sibella Court's signature look is best described as cabinet-of-curiosities-meets-old-timey-apothecary-meets-antiques-shop. Via her three design books —Etcetera, The Stylist’s Guide to NYC, and Nomad: Bringing your Travels Home (due out this October)—her 110-color paint range for Australian paint company Murobond (with shades recalling old-fashioned gardens and ancient dyeing techniques) and her many other design projects around the world (not to mention her own retail shop), Court lends a charmingly timeworn look to anything she touches.

Court spent nearly fifteen years in New York serving as a stylist for fashionable brands like Bergdorf Goodman, Jo Malone, Pottery Barn and others. In 2008 she flew back to her native Australia to set up her own design headquarters. Called The Society, it's a spot that also serves as a highly curated hardware shop and traditional haberdashery (a seller of sewing materials like buttons and zippers), offering everything from housewares to local art, textiles sourced from around the world, fragrance and what she describes as "oddities" (feather balls, felted pebbles, glitter-covered anchors, a mirror in the shape of a shield, brass pulleys...).

The Society

The Grand Hotel in Sydney

Figuring this collector of curiosities must turn to eBay for the occasional spree, we tracked her down.

The Inside Source: You do so much that it is hard to keep up! What's your latest project?

Sibella Court: I’ve got two nail polish colors with Bloom and a hardware range with Anthropologie coming out in September. I am also constantly designing interiors for private clients. Primarily I work for the Merivale group, who owns some of the hottest bars, restaurants, clubs, and hotels in Sydney. Most recently my team and I finished El Loco, a crazy Mexican pop-up bar that might become permanent in Sydney.

Court's latest design projects include two nail polish colors developed with Bloom and a hardware range for Anthropologie, coming out in September.

"Most recently, my team and I finished El Loco, a crazy Mexican pop-up bar that might become permanent in Sydney," says Court.

The Inside Source: You lived in New York for nearly fifteen years. What made you decide to move back home to Australia?

Sibella Court: Nearing the end of my time in NYC I was brimming with cool ideas and projects that I just didn’t have the time to pursue. I knew that I would never slow down in New York and that I’d be backed up with the styling jobs that kept me busy from 6 a.m. to midnight everyday. (Maybe the last few hours would be a compulsory party or event, but you always need a release!). I had the concept of opening an interactive, installation-based shop in New York. But, I came back to Sydney just to make sure opening a store in New York was what I wanted to do for the next ten years. On that trip, I fell in love with the Sydney all over again. I quickly made a decision to move back and pursue the concept here.

The Inside Source: What has been a recent favorite project?

Sibella Court: I just finished 30 Knots, the first floor bar at The Grand Hotel in Sydney. This modern-day industrial sailor's haunt was inspired by the history of sea travel. To me, it is the cozy, rough bar in the unfamiliar port where sailors would speak of superstitious matters and drink as much whiskey and rum as they could before returning to their wooden worlds. I love it!! There’s a naughty peep-hole somewhere in the bar for those who desire a cheeky surprise.

"I just finished 30 Knots, the first floor bar at The Grand Hotel in Sydney. This modern-day industrial sailor's haunt was inspired by the history of sea travel," says Court.

The Inside Source: What is your favorite part of your job?

Sibella Court: My absolute favorite thing about my job is that I write my own job description. I am constantly treading new ground and exploring new places. I love to learn the ins and outs of what I’m doing. This year, while designing my hardware range for Anthropologie, I accompanied their inspiration team to India to get hands-on experience at some of their factories. It’s great to know the origins of what you’re working on and the techniques used to create it.

The Inside Source: How would you describe your personal aesthetic?

Sibella Court: Lo-fi! The word originates in the sound and music industry. However, in my world, it means low expense, with the ease and casual abandon to achieve a relaxed, livable space that reflects your personality and lifestyle. As a collector, it’s about organized chaos and creative storage solutions. My collections are a constant inspiration for all of my projects. For example, I have open floor-to-ceiling shelves on most of my walls so everything is accessible and close at hand.

The Inside Source: Where do you find your main source of inspiration?

Sibella Court: I’m a huge reader. My floor-to-ceiling shelves house my library. I’m also constantly globetrotting to new countries. I love Darwin, John Mawe, and seafaring stories of exploration and the time when questions of science were changing and challenging the way people thought.

Instead of creating inspiration boards, Court makes "inspiration boxes," like this one for her Murobond paint palettes. "Because I’m from a styling background, still-life inspires me to no-end," she says. "For me, creating my own still-life demonstrates how a color palette works together in the best way. I collect absolutely anything that feels right and gather it all together in a box."

The Inside Source: You’ve been known to create boxes filled with inspiration instead of creating mood boards for your Murobond paint palettes. Could you tell us a bit about that?

Sibella Court: Because I’m from a styling background, still-life inspires me to no-end. For me, creating my own still-life demonstrates how a color palette works together in the best way. I collect absolutely anything that feels right and gather it all together in a box. It could be a piece of fabric, a plastic fan, and a picture that I collect for the color, the material, feel, or even the smell. I am influenced by all my senses when I am creating something. This is the way I designed my nail polishes as well.

The Inside Source: Your third book, Nomad, is about to come out. What will this book be about and how it will differ from your first two?

Sibella Court: Nomad is all about how you bring your travels home in the most unexpected of ways. When people travel, they are being constantly inspired by the different colors, smells, and textures. But, once they return home, they struggle to incorporate these new design ideas into their home. In Nomad, I show simple, practical, and surprising ways to be reminded of your adventures. My belief is that your interior design should reflect your personality, experiences, and lifestyle.

"Nomad is all about how you bring your travels home in the most unexpected of ways," says Court of her new book, coming out in October. "I show simple, practical, and surprising ways to be reminded of your adventures. My belief is that your interiors should reflect your personality, experiences, and lifestyle."

The Inside Source: Are you a collector? If so, what kinds of things do you collect?

Sibella Court: What a question! I collect bones, shells, glass-headed pins, quills, pictures of men with moustaches, paper (yes, all paper), braided things, scissors, books, typography, and things made of bamboo.

The Inside Source: How do you use eBay?

Sibella Court: eBay is a great reference, not just for finding those random things that will satisfy my latest must-have, but also for providing other options that I hadn’t already thought of. It is perfect for old furniture and unusual things (such as my super-long luggage rack) or things that you might not find in stores anymore (like mother of pearl vintage buttons & old milliners' drawers).

We asked Court to tell us how to shop eBay to capture her aesthetic. She suggests searching for old denim, antique linen, and objects such as seahorses, leather medicine balls, old ropes, pulleys and blocks, wire baskets, trestle tables, old painter’s ladders, trophies, African appliqué flags and things you’re not sure even exist.