Bicker Design
It takes someone special, with a good eye for design, to transform Canning Cottage from 18th-century worker’s cottage into an award-winning contemporary studio home. It becomes an even more impressive feat when you realise the cottage’s home’s footprint is only 32sqm.
Designed by Jenna and her husband Josh, Canning Cottage won the Residential Award at the 2018 Australian Interior Design Awards.
The brains behind this stunning small space are Jenna Densten and her husband Josh. The duo founded Bicker Design – a Melbourne based interior design studio whose aesthetic embodies ‘texture, subdued colour palettes and beautifully handcrafted joinery.’
It’s this thoughtful design approach that sets Bicker Design apart; their interiors exude welcoming warmth often lacking in contemporary spaces.
Highett House, Bicker Design
Canning Cottage, Bicker Design
Highett House, Bicker Design
Design School
Although Jenna appeared on The Block AU in 2011 and again in 2013, it’s Jenna’s very own accredited interior design school that she describes as her proudest career achievement to date.
The idea came about after she saw a gap in the industry for a more hands-on practical approach to learning interior design. The result was the Design School – a renovated warehouse space in Abbotsford that gives students a space to unleash their creativity through ‘styling stations’.
The stations were designed to replicate rooms in a house, allowing budding interior designers to style shelves, experiment with colour and play around with different textures and homewares in a real-life setting – something you can’t do by reading a book or watching The Block!
The space is set up with different styling stations to represent spaces in a real-life setting.
Q&A with Jenna
We were lucky enough to grab a few minutes with Jenna and get her thoughts on interior design trends.
Hi Jenna! Can you tell us what trends you’re loving right now?
I’m loving seeing people move towards handcrafted and locally made pieces.
What trends are you glad to say good-bye to this year?
The throwaway culture of ‘cheap’ pieces that have no meaning.
What you do think will be the ‘next big thing’ in interiors this year?
I think we will continue to buy quality pieces over quantity for our homes and apply the ‘less is more’ approach. Less clutter and less items in our homes, but the pieces we do have will be special. Pieces we collect from travel, pieces that were made by a local, or vintage pieces that have a story to tell.
And lastly, have you got any advice for someone wanting to keep up with trends and not sure where to start?
Social media, fashion trends, travel are all great ways to see what’s coming through in interiors.
Love Jenna’s style? See here to get the Canning Cottage look at home.
Photography: Nikole Ramsay
