There’s a fair chance you’ve had a glass of wine in one of Belinda Cendron’s beautifully styled spaces. From The Winery’s Champagne Room and my all-time favourite bar Shady Pines Saloon, both in Sydney’s Surry Hills, to the Manta Ray fitout on gorgeous Hamilton Island, Belinda has a reputation for creating spaces that are eclectic, textured and chock-full of one-of-a-kind pieces.
Running her business Sourceress, which is both a styling, sourcing and consulting firm and an online shop, Belinda’s point of difference is her ability to find just about anything from anywhere. “I have spent a lot of time on the road — exploring greater Sydney and beyond — meeting makers and collectors just like myself. Years of such exploration has generated a neat black book of names that I can call on for my strangest and most urgent requests!”
[contextly_sidebar id=”hEKIKJNBEw6y3xPAig2c9EIF8F3FZqVM”]Believing it is these special items – from a taxidermy scorpion to a 15th century Flemish tapestry – that ultimately make a space stand out from the rest, Belinda is always on the lookout for the weird and the wonderful. “I’ve been collecting for years and have a great breadth of local suppliers that I work with. I scour markets and have my eye on auctions all over the world on a weekly basis. I also travel regularly. Argentina is an incredible source for antiques, Vietnam for all kinds of things and Paris of course for brocante. Also last year’s sourcing trip to South Africa was most inspiring.”
Using her finds in her styling projects or selling them on her online shop (and admittedly keeping some for herself!), Belinda started the Sourceress store as an excuse to keep collecting! “It’s given me an outlet to continue to buy with the ever-legitimate internal dialogue that: ‘I need it for the business.’ It also means I have a steady archive of goods at the ready for last-minute styling needs.”
With her styling needs diverse and varied, Belinda particularly loves her hospitality design jobs, for the fact she gets to “play” and be creative. “In bar and restaurant fit outs the designs and materials are exaggerated, the layers are deep and the work gets to be enjoyed by many over and over again. That’s why I love it.”
One of her most recent projects, the new Champagne Room at The Winery, also stands out as her favourite for that very reason. “The brief was to create a champagne experience with the luxury and history of the Perrier-Jouët brand, whilst also adding the layers of character and flair for which The Winery is so well-known for. I designed the interior layout with the round booths, sourced the fabrics and chandeliers, custom-made the neon sign and personally hand-made the antique crystal adornments on the deer heads from old chandelier parts I had collected from my days as an apprentice to an 88-year-old, single-toothed, Italian airline engineer turned chandelier maker!”
Renowned for her eclectic interiors, Belinda has now turned her hand to retail and residential work. “Right now I’m working on two retail styling projects, a new retail fit out and a couple of residential projects. I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to choose between equally amazing marble slabs and have about 12 shades of charcoal grey paint samples scattered across my desk; amongst tiles, timber and stone samples. But, I’m happy here!”
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