Why This Studio Apartment Inside Melbourne’s Beverley Hills Is The ‘Ultimate Girl Home’
Homes
Allie Daisy King stands outside her studio apartment in South Yarra’s Beverley Hills complex.
Vintage chairs from Facebook Marketplace. Table by Ikea.
Vase from op shop. Plate from Urban Outfitters. Brown tray from Hands. Ephemera from Martina’s Tiny Store. Diptique candle.
Nova Sofa Bed from Porta Sofa. Como Stripe Cushion and throw blanket from Kip&Co. Pillow from Sheet Society. Last Sip and Mouthful prints by Libby Haines.
Allie’s extensive collection of books lines the shelves.
The Collector by Mustard Made. Various mugs from Em on Holiday; NYC; Urban Outfitters; Hands; MoMA Design Store; Degoey Planet. Flower egg cups, pink polka dot pie dish, red stripe saucer, yellow bow saucer and pink dot tea set are all vintage finds. Maegen Stripe glasses from Pinkys. Yellow tableware from Vue.
The kitchen. Apron and oven mitt from Pinky’s. Pans from Our Place. Custom curtains by Suku Home.
‘My best friend Liv found this vintage pink IKEA piece on eBay for $5, and she gave it to me years later as a housewarming present. It is one of my favourite pieces in the home,’ Allie says. Hello Kitty guitar. Calendar by Alessia E Art. Vintage Miffy figurine from a store in Nakano Broadway, Tokyo.
Miffy light by Mr Maria from Facebook Marketplace. The complete Spice Village by Lenox is one of Allie’s most prized possessions! ‘They don’t ship to Australia so I had to use a third-party shipping place to get them… Don’t ask me how much it cost!’
Vase from Hands. Scrapbook journals from Martina’s Tiny Store.
TONSTAD desk from Ikea. The Storyboard from Mustard Made. DIY magnets by Allie. Magazine rack by Slimline Warehouse. Vase from Hands. Red frame from Uniting Op Shop. Calendar made by friend and artist Kayla Carr.
Bow plinth from Sacred Hearts on Chapel Street: ‘One of my best op shop finds’, Allie says. STRÅLA table lamp by Gustaf Westman x Ikea. Pippa Cotton Quilt Cover Set by Suku Home. Bringing out the cake print by Libby Haines. Jex vinyl stand by Idle Hands.
The glorious architecture by Howard R Lawson brings the allure of Hollywood’s Spanish Mission-style apartments to Melbourne.
Stepping into the South Yarra studio apartment of Allie Daisy King is like stepping onto the set of an early 2000s rom-com — and that’s just how she likes it.
‘I feel as if my home is almost a stereotype of the “media girl in the city” stereotype fed to us by media like 13 Going on 30, and Confessions of a Shopaholic,’ Allie says.
‘And it is valid! I am a young asexual woman working in media who loves pretty things, loves hosting, and loves her life.’
As the senior social and partnerships strategist at Missing Perspectives and the co-host of literary podcast Booksmart, Allie has carved out a following online for her unapologetically girly and whimsical style. But this aesthetic goes beyond the digital world. It’s authentically who she is at her core, and it’s aptly reflected in the carefully curated trinkets that occupy every corner of her home.
Having already lived in the 1930s Beverley Hills flats for eight years with her family, Allie was overjoyed when a studio apartment inside the building opened up for rent earlier this year. She immediately got to work on Canva and started visualising how she’d decorate, right down to the order of the books on the shelves!
‘I am an avid collector and lover of pretty things, from dinnerware to clothing and books. Trying to find places to store everything is an ongoing issue to this day,’ Allie says.
In addition to the many hours spent scrolling Pinterest, the space was shaped to showcase sentimental homewares from friends, or pieces found on regular op shop trips with her mother, stylist and writer Heather Nette King — who Allie credits as being one of her biggest influences.
‘Popular culture is another big reference point, and I wanted the space to feel like a rom-com. Nora Ephron, Nancy Meyers, Totally Spies, Carrie Bradshaw, Uptown Girls are just a few of my key references,’ she says.
Despite its compact size, the studio is arranged into a surprisingly functional series of little nooks, enhanced by Allie’s strategic styling.
The entryway opens to some of her most cherished objects — including a pink Hello Kitty guitar and Miffy lamp — before the kitchen reveals a custom cafe-style curtain from a favourite Melbourne brand, Suku Home.
To maximise space for hosting, a little dining nook has been created around the romantic bay window, while the gold-toned sofa also converts into a bed when guests come to stay.
It’s easy to see why friends and visitors alike have referred to the apartment as the ‘ultimate girl home’. It’s Allie’s world, and we’re just living in it!
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