ABOUT

MELANIE STRATHDEE

I was that child with short scruffy hair and grass-stained knees, perched by the creek’s edge catching eels to keep as pets or building huts from platted flax. Huts with displays of the wax moulds I’d made of my hands. These hands held tiny dinner sets for the fairies I imagined would dine when I was home in bed. Creating from the wilderness in my head was, and still is, my enchantment.
 
The tiny North Island town I grew up in brimmed with nature, energy and incredible light. That secret little area of New Zealand is also home to several international legends of the silver screen.
 
I studied Interior Design at The Regent Academy of Fine Arts in London 25 years ago and have lived in Japan, England, Germany, Spain and now Australia. Living in countries with diverse architecture and design has certainly shaped my learning and imagination. In my 20-plus years of creating interiors, nothing has ever been the same or similar, it’s just not in my DNA.
 
Leo & Lotus doesn’t have a stamp or a style, we create spaces purely as a response to the energy of our clients.