Hi — I’m Michelle. Welcome to Accidentally Designing: a no-certificates, hands-on guide to intuitive home design where I show exactly how trusting your gut turned scrappy rentals and a French renovation into warm, livable spaces. Read on for down-to-earth tips on furniture restoration, choosing colour and light, and easy styling tricks you can use on your next project.

This is not a business but a personal blog about my journey with design.
I have worked in hospitality, as nanny, in not for profit area, as a cheese affineur, in retail and am now living and hosting guests in rural France. Of course eating cheese and drinking copious amounts of wine.
I guess you could say I’ve been “accidentally designing” for years — without even realising it at first.
smashed House
Surely I can work with this one 😂

It all started with my early rental properties (and there were many), most of them just barely holding themselves together. Those spaces were like blank canvases, giving me the chance to explore who I was and what kinds of environments truly made me happy.
Over the years, my style has evolved right alongside me. I’ve been a maximalist, then swung the other way with some serious decluttering (which I deeply regret every time I spot a piece I once owned and wish I’d kept — the mid-century furniture, the Murano glass, the artwork… even a house I should never, ever have sold. The list goes on!).
Treignac Place
Our first French Renovation project in Treignac 19260
I’ve loved renovating homes in both Australia and France, each one with its own personality and its own story to tell. Every project has taught me that you need a fresh set of eyes — and a little bit of heart — to find the perfect touch that makes a space come alive.
Furniture restoration and renovation have become a kind of meditation for me. I get completely lost in the process — feeling the energy of a room or a piece, and somehow just knowing when I’ve found the right colour, the right piece, the right light.
At the core of it all, I’m about honouring the original story — respecting the era, the craftsmanship, the little quirks — and blending it effortlessly into modern living. I love when the old and the new sit side-by-side, each one celebrating the other’s uniqueness and authenticity.
I’m endlessly inspired by how others interpret design too. I encourage everyone to drop the rulebook, follow what truly makes them happy, and create spaces that feel like them. Life’s way too short to live in a home that doesn’t make your heart smile.
Along the way, I’ll be sharing links to some designers I’m obsessed with, blogs that inspire me, and artists whose work I absolutely adore. Art is deeply personal, and there’s nothing more exciting than discovering new talent and cheering them on.
So here we go — another exciting chapter begins. I can’t wait to share it with you.

Our first French renovation taught me how small choices shape a house’s personality — read the full project notes on our Treignac renovation.

Furniture restoration became my quiet form of meditation — I document step-by-step techniques in furniture restoration process.

If you want a quick framework for why 'trusting your gut' often leads to usable, comfortable spaces, these intuitive design principles explain the psychology behind good choices: intuitive design principles.

To back up the idea that a well-considered home affects wellbeing, the World Health Organization summarizes the links between housing and health: housing and health.

When you talk about honouring the original story of a house, national conservation guidance explains best-practice approaches to repair and restoration: conservation guidance.