Sue Van Turnhout
When Sue Van Turnhout was visiting St Peters in Italy the tour guide pointed to a large and beautiful tapestry and named its weaver as having the surname Van Turnhout from Belgium.
As it turns out, Sue’s earliest records on the family tree have their links to Belgium.
“It must be in my DNA,” she says. ‘‘I like everything about fabric and woven textiles and creating a beautiful aesthetic using them.’’
Having just started as a consultant at Active Design Interiors in Mornington, Sue is looking forward to working in Dunedin, having returned to the city that she grew up in.
Originally from Waverley, over the last four decades she has been living in Christchurch and Auckland. Having owned a flooring business in Christchurch with her ex-husband, Sue extended her design knowledge and established her own firm, Redx Design.
“I had that for seven years in Christchurch, and then in Auckland where I’ve lived for the past 10 years,” she says. ‘‘In both cities I worked for private home owners and alongside architects on new builds, renovations and commercial projects such as hotels, motels and cafes. I am as comfortable working off the plans as I am on working with existing property. However, I particularly enjoy refurbishment of historic homes where I can use my knowledge to make textile choices and paint schemes which bring the home back to its former glory.
‘‘In addition, over the years I have completed a number of full design schemes for show homes of building firms from which the builders marketed their product.
‘‘In Auckland I added to the list with larger country homes a lodge and architecturally designed properties on the north shore and in the Eastern suburb of Whitford.’’
Sue’s advice for those contemplating an interiors project is to seek professional advice at an early stage. Having a conversation with a consultant from Active Interiors can help clarify the problem and may reveal a never thought of solution.
Since the pandemic and subsequent financial difficulties, Sue has noticed that the concept of an “open plan living space’ has had to be modified to create more versatile areas within the home.
“These days you will find a broader age group co-habiting within the home space, each with different needs,’’ she says. ‘‘For example – children needing study spaces, grandparents needing a place to retreat to and office spaces for those working from home have become a priority. So we are making our homes more fluid and more versatile to enable these different functions.’’
Ultimately it is creating a finished product that brings the whole space together that Sue loves the most about interior design.
‘‘My intention is to create an aesthetically pleasing environment that fits the function perfectly,’’ she says. ‘‘Nothing exists in a vacuum. It all has to be cohesive.’’
