01/10/2026
The first interior concepts we received for Melbourne Flower Merchant were beautiful.
And we rejected them.
They looked exactly like what people expected a flower shop to look like. That was precisely what we didn’t want.
We had around 166 square metres to work with and a significant events business that also needed to operate from the same space. So rather than starting with how the store should look, we started with how it needed to work.
What needed to be permanent? What needed to move? Where would the flowers go? How would the florists work? And what would the customer see?
Almost everything inside MFM is movable.
The counter was designed more like a hotel reception — somewhere that says welcome.
The tall shelving and ladder gave us somewhere to display the vessels we work with while keeping precious floor space free.
The sink was deliberately left visible because we wanted customers to see us hydrate and care for their flowers before they leave.
At the end of each day, the curtains come down across the working arches. The next morning, we raise them and start again.
And then there’s the gold door.
Behind it is the original vault of the building. We kept that one space private — a quiet room for thinking and developing ideas, surrounded by Fornasetti clouds.
Warm timber sits against concrete. The original columns were left exposed. Reo steel was the chosen material for plant stands because element that reinforces concrete.
St James gave us a little New York. For the built elements, I looked towards Milan. And somehow, together, it felt completely Melbourne.
There are very few things inside MFM that are there without a reason. We created a space that makes the flowers and the craft of flowers the hero.
