High-End Interior Design for Surry Hills Terraces & Conversions
Few suburbs in Sydney carry the creative weight of Surry Hills. Once the engine room of the city's rag trade and light industry, its Victorian terraces, converted warehouses and cobblestone laneways have been reimagined over decades into one of Australia's most design-conscious postcodes. At Wilbur Jones, we are drawn to exactly this kind of layered, architecturally complex environment, places where history and contemporary ambition sit side by side on the same street.
For homeowners in Surry Hills seeking a high-end interior designer who understands what makes this suburb singular, we deliver bespoke interiors that honour the area's industrial grain and heritage character while elevating everyday living to an extraordinary standard. Our philosophy is that great design should feel inevitable, as though it could only ever belong to this home, on this street, in this suburb.
Our Surry Hills Expertise
Surry Hills presents a design challenge that few Sydney suburbs can match. Terrace houses here often sit on narrow footprints with party walls on both sides, deep plans starved of natural light, and original detailing, pressed metal ceilings, tessellated tiling, and ornate cornices that demand to be celebrated rather than concealed. Equally, the suburb's converted warehouses offer soaring ceiling heights, arched industrial windows and open volumes that call for a completely different design sensibility.
Our team is experienced in navigating both typologies with equal confidence. We specialise in spatial reconfiguration that brings light into previously dark terrace interiors, in bespoke joinery that maximises every centimetre of a compact footprint, and in material palettes that speak to the suburb's creative, confident spirit. Whether the home is a Federation terrace on Foveaux Street or a warehouse conversion on Bourke Street, we approach each project as a bespoke study in how architecture and interior design can elevate the way you live.
Corner House, Redfern
Though located just one suburb south, our Corner House project in Redfern is the closest expression of our capabilities for homes of this typology, an inner-city terrace renovation for a young family that demanded both bold design thinking and intelligent spatial planning within a compact urban footprint.
The kitchen was transformed with a striking Calcutta stone island, benches, splashback and range hood, creating a statement centrepiece that anchors the entire ground floor. Despite the constrained living area, custom joinery was designed to deliver ample storage through hidden units, integrated appliances and open shelving, proving that compact does not mean compromised.
A custom walk-in wardrobe with warm timber, glass cabinetry and a skylit vanity nook brought a sense of personal luxury to the private spaces, while bathrooms were finished in rich marble vanities, brass fittings and herringbone stone flooring for a result that is timeless in character and entirely suited to the pace of inner-city family life.
We had the pleasure of Emma doing our interior designing for our home. Throughout the process Emma left no stone unturned, she was detailed, skilled, an incredible eye for design and cohesion. When we first got in touch with Emma we gave her our Pinterest board which had a bunch of random ideas, she was able to figure out our style and designed all aspects of our home to perfection. We had very little critiques or changes to the first designs as she really listened to what we wanted as her clients and designed a beautiful home for us. Emma has exceptional communication skills from being available to answer any questions we had over the phone or in person. She is easy to get along with making the big process of designing your home one that feels enjoyable and fun! Overall Emma is professional, an expert in her field and helped make our house a home. We will definitely be using Emma’s expertise for future properties if we need to design again. Thank you Emma!
Project enquiries
FAQs
Yes, we offer end-to-end design and project management services for all our Surry Hills clients. From the initial spatial analysis and concept development through to documentation, builder coordination and final styling, we manage the complete journey on your behalf. Our clients tell us that having a single, expert point of contact throughout the process makes an enormous difference, particularly for projects in the inner city, where trades and logistics require careful coordination.
Surry Hills properties, particularly period terraces and warehouse conversions, are architecturally complex and require a level of design thinking that goes well beyond a standard renovation. Decisions regarding heritage detailing, structural interventions, bespoke joinery, and material selection all have long-term consequences for both liveability and property value. Engaging a high-end interior designer ensures every decision is made with creative intention and technical rigour, delivering a home that stands apart in one of Sydney's most design-literate markets.
Narrow terrace floor plans are something we genuinely relish. The key is spatial intelligence, understanding which walls can move, where light can be introduced through skylights or rear extensions, and how bespoke joinery can be designed to serve multiple functions without cluttering the space. We approach every Surry Hills terrace with a forensic attention to the existing conditions before developing a design that transforms its limitations into its most compelling qualities.
We work across the full range of Surry Hills property types, from narrow Victorian and Federation terraces on the suburb's iconic laneways, to former warehouse conversions with their distinctive industrial volumes and arched windows. Each typology brings its own design opportunities and constraints, and our team is equally experienced across all of them. We also work with the growing number of contemporary apartments and boutique new-build residences that have emerged in the suburb in recent years.