I am currently working on several houses for a client in Melbourne (one in the city and two at the beach on the Peninsula) which are going to be fabulous. They are a very cool young couple who love colourful, interesting interiors and they are so trusting of me and my team so I’m excited to be working with them on their projects.
Your online shop is filled with beautiful textiles, antique finds, and other treasures – what do you look for when curating and creating products for the shop?
I am always looking for things other stores don’t have. Things I am always trying to find in stores myself for my own home. I also love to support local artists and craftspeople and we are offering more and more one-off pieces, special things that you just can’t find everywhere. I am also hoping that Spiro Store will be the go-to place in Australia for customers who just want to order a custom-made sofa or an armchair in a fabulous fabric. They may not want to do the full design with me, but they can just come in and get a piece of what we do. I hope people really embrace that.
3 favourite pieces from Tavola?
We just brought out a new collection of plates - the ‘Lido’ plates - they’re made based on a 1950s design with a really pretty scalloped edge and come in pink and yellow, the colours of my kitchen. I absolutely love them. We also do these really cute ‘Tutti Frutti’ jugs - they’re hand-painted moulded ceramic with cherries or strawberries or lemons on them. They’re super cute and look great with flowers with them, as well as to serve drinks. I also use my ‘Fragola’ mug with i handpainted strawberry design on it, daily
3 desert island ingredients?
SO tricky! I love chocolate, so I would have to take a good supply of that with me - I feel like somehow if you have chocolate you can always throw together a good pudding of some kind; pasta; and a good chunk of cheese
3 favourite haunts in Venice?
I love breakfast at Rosa Salva - they do delicious, freshly baked pastries and unbelievably good host chocolate. I love Al Covo for a special meal - the food there is exquisite and I literally have dreams about their fried zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and mint. And I love Il Bacaro del Gelato for ice cream - they do a dark chocolate ice cream topped with pistachio butter which is to die for.
Other favourite places in Italy?
I always love spending time in Rome; and in the summertime, we love going to the Amalfi coast for sunshine, swimming and lots of yummy food
What’s next for Skye McAlpine?
I’m working on another cookbook at the moment which I’m super excited about; and also working on lots of new designs for Tavola which are coming out over the coming months…