Bec Judd dishes on her decor, what her walk-in robe really looks like and her family’s unique approach to quality time. Bec lovingly renovated her beautiful home in Brighton, Melbourne, over the course of nine months. With the expert help of Biasol Interior Design and The Melbourne Builder & Co, the dream team effortlessly blended heritage details with Bec’s own modern style.
Model, television presenter and homewares designer Rebecca Judd might have risen to fame as the wife of former AFL player Chris Judd but she has a lengthy resume of her own. An Australian style icon and red carpet darling, she has made waves with her fashion sense since her days as an AFL WAG. Since then, Chris and Bec have been busy raising their four children. More recently, Bec Judd has been honing her design talents, collaborating with homewares brands and working on the interior design of her chalet apartment in Mount Buller.
Delicate fretwork on the exterior sets the grand tone, while inside high ceilings, sweeping arches and classic cornices honour the heritage of the build. Moving through the family home, Bec’s love of bold decor and moody tones is apparent, alongside luxe accents of brass and marble.
Bec Judd shares the secrets to her stylish yet functional home
To celebrate her latest design collaboration with Trit House, we spoke to Bec Judd herself for all the juicy renovation details, her relaxing family rituals, plus the decor items that all of her friends are rushing off to buy.
What is your decorating style?
Bec: “You’ll see from fashion or interior design, I’m not vanilla. I don’t want to blend in, I don’t do black and white. I always love colour, flair, being a little bit extra. There’s a lot of art in every room and I’ll pull a colour out of that and use accents of that in my styling to really pull the room together. My study has a bit of a green theme. My good room has lots of pink through that and in the artwork. I pulled that through the decorator items, the sofas, the chairs. I would say it’s modern with a traditional heart. Lots of colour but not overbearing clashing colour, sophisticated use of colour.”
What’s the best piece of furniture you’ve ever bought for your home?
“Probably our outdoor furniture. We invested in really purpose-built outdoor furniture. They were built to withstand the harsh Australian weather. They have lasted and lasted and lasted. I think they’re six years old and they still look perfect. That’s my advice if you are buying outdoor furniture. Make sure it was created and designed with the Australian sun and conditions in mind.”
What’s your favourite place to relax in your home?
“The alfresco area, overlooking the pool and backyard. There are beautiful trees, greenery and tall hedges. We’ve got these pink outdoor armchairs and it’s such a nice vista out amongst the garden. My dog loves to sleep there as well because the afternoon sun shines in and warms up the pavers. You’ll always find me outside with him.”
Where do you like to spend quality time as a family?
“There are two places in our home where we get really good quality time because we’re not on devices and we’re all engaged with each other. One is our integrated spa in our pool. We heat it up to 40 degrees in winter and we have a hot spa together as a family every single night. It’s almost how the kids bathe because it’s magnesium. So we jump in every night as a family and really enjoy that time. We’ve done it since the kids were babies. The other thing is we’ve got the infrared sauna and that’s really great as well. So we’ll pop in there, take board games in there, we’ve got Netflix and spotify in the sauna. And of course we get the benefits of infrared rays.”
What’s your top tip for entertaining friends and family?
“Just create nice spaces where people are happy, feel comfortable and mill around. The island bench in the kitchen is always a good one. I like having our big arched French doors open so it lets the light in. We’ve got lots of family, lots of small kids, so they can just come inside and outside and there’s really nice flow. From the vantage points in our house, we overlook the yard, the pool and can see what everyone’s doing. It’s a really nice connected space. Another tip is have the ice machine on, have the fridge stocked and always have beautiful cheese and crackers ready to go.”
How did you create your dreamy walk-in wardrobe?
“It’s all about a good use of space and making sure it’s functional. You see all these beautiful walk-in robes and when they’re photographed they’re super styled. In reality, wardrobes don’t look like that. People shove lots of clothes in there. We don’t have the time to colour code them, we don’t have these perfect little shelves with perfect lines of bags and shoes lined up. I’m practical. I think you can have some beautiful joinery that hides what lies within and then just have a small area for display that you know you can keep on top of whether it’s jewellery, fragrance or candles. You can put the rest of it away. Make sure you have a beautiful mirror and some lighting as well.”
How did the collaboration with Trit House come about?
“I’ve been working with Trit House for probably ten years now and I’ve used their beautiful furniture and decorator items in many of my projects in that time. My home is full of Trit pieces. They are so incredible and special and make all of the spaces really chic and elevated. For me, this Tiramisu marble collection stands out. It’s so bold, it’s unique, there’s so much variation and colour in it but in a really gorgeous, tonal way. And the sharp design edges as well with the side table and the mirror just give it an extra, elevated edge. They’re just really cool pieces.”
The collection features a console, coffee table and side table all made from Tiramisu marble. Why this type of marble?
“I am swooning over this stone so hard. It’s so dreamy. The colour is just incredible and hard to explain. There’s a warmth to it, a variation. There’s browns, golds, maroons, deep cherry reds and a dark grape. Whenever guests walk into our home and walk past the console everybody stops me and asks me about it. I’ve sold many consoles to friends just from them visiting my house. I love doing things that haven’t been done before and I hadn’t seen this stone before. To be the first one to really use it was special to me. I think it’s what makes the collection really stand out.”
You’ve got quite a modern home. How do these pieces fit into that?
“I’ve got a modern home with heritage elements. The beauty in these pieces is they really do fit a modern home or a heritage home. For example, one of my girlfriends has this beautiful apartment in Bondi, overlooking the beach. She’s got two consoles joined together. It really suits the modern beachy aesthetic. In my house, I’ve got them near arches, big tall high ceilings, chevron parquetry floor. It’s more of a heritage vibe and it works really well. Then I’ve got another girlfriend who’s got an Edwardian house and the coffee table looks incredible in her house. I’m lucky they are a design that’s really versatile and suits any architectural, interior element or style.”
How do you style your coffee table?
“I pushed the smaller one and the taller one together. My kids actually use them for crafting. We do a lot of food on our coffee table so teas, chocolate, cheese platters. If we’re not eating off it, the kids are crafting on it. I’m not the sort of person to have a styled coffee table because my kids will just swipe all of that off. So it’s not one of those coffee tables styled with books or candles. It’s just not practical in my house. Coffee tables provide a really functional use in my home that also happens to look so incredibly amazing.”
Do you have a favourite armchair?
“My ‘Ro’ chair by Fritz Hansen. It’s pink, it’s in my pink room and it’s got such a nice wavy curve to the back of it. It’s a statement, striking piece and it’s also in my favourite colour.”
Bec Judd’s expert shelf styling tips
A large artwork by Jasmine Mansbridge takes pride of place in the living room and the shelves which appear next to it have been styled to highlight the hues in the art. “On the top shelf I have two maroon coloured arches, then a pink terrazzo staircase book end,” Bec shares. The next shelf down features a vase from Trit House and a framed photograph of Bec and Chris on their wedding day. “I have a range of books in warm tones then a gorgeous Greg Natale book end,” adds Bec. A nude toned vase from Trit House features on the second last shelf while the bottom shelf is given a bright burst with orange hydrangeas. “Then I have photos with my husband and my daughter, Billie,” says Bec. Cohesive, meaningful and chic: the perfect combo!
This article originally appeared on Home Beautiful and is republished here with permission.
