Moreton Bay interior designer named as a finalist in colour awards

A passionate interior designer from Moreton Bay with dreams of creating more inclusive and welcoming spaces has been announced as a finalist in this year’s annual Dulux Colour Awards.

Now in its 36^th year, the Dulux Colour Awards is Australia and New Zealand's premier showcase of inspirational colour application in interior and exterior residential, public and commercial spaces.

Georgia Shakespeare-Finch, who studied at the Queensland University of Technology, was announced as a finalist in the Student (Years1-6) category.

Georgia impressed the judges with her submission called ‘Nineteen22’, which she says was “established because of the lack of, and need for more queer positive spaces in Brisbane”.

“The project was strongly influenced by Judy Garland, the most prominent gay icon in modern history and further inspired by Garland’s iconic role as Dorothy in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz,” Georgia said.

“The Art Deco style of the Emerald City mimicked in the resort's interior, pays homage to the heritage listed building shell, bringing it back to life.

“My submission was a project from my honour's year of interior design. The project took three months to complete from concept, research, master planning, technical drawings, and finally, renders.”

Designing a new world 

Georgia’s passion for interior design stems from wanting to create more inclusive environments for minority groups.

“My passion is interior design and designing for minority groups to positively impact the user’s lives,” she said.

“This passion developed my design philosophy which I carry through all of my work, as I strongly believe design should be used to transform our community into an accessible and inclusive one.”

This is the first time Georgia has entered the Dulux Colour Awards, and was glad she did.

“This year was my first time entering the Dulux Colour Awards and I am very happy I did,” Georgia said.

“As I am trying to pave my way in the industry, I am attempting to be more proactive and putting myself out there.

“I saw the awards being advertised and decided to submit a project which I had specified Dulux paint colours.”

Being announced as a finalist came as a big surprise for Georgia, but she is thrilled to see her work being recognised.

“I was elated and honestly shocked when I received the email that I was a finalist for the 36th Dulux Colour Awards,” she said.

“I would never have dreamed in a million years that I would be considered as a finalist amongst the abundance of incredible designers across our nation.”

Her submission will be looked over by a number of judges to determine if she is named a winner, which will be announced over the coming months.

See Georgia's submission in the gallery below: 

About the awards

The Dulux Colour Awards finalists were selected across six categories: Commercial Interior - Public and Hospitality; Commercial Interior - Workplace and Retail; Commercial and Multi-Residential Exterior; Residential Interior; Single Residential Exterior; and Student projects.

A total of 103 finalists were announced, with Dulux Colour and Communications Manager Andrea Lucena-Orr impressed with the high calibre of submissions.

“We were excited to see such an exciting and imaginative use of colour in this year’s entries,” she said.

“Architects and designers have really pushed the boundaries with colour application to create inspiring, engaging - and often surprising - interior and exterior spaces.”

This year’s esteemed judging panel includes Adriana Hanna, Director of Architecture at Kennedy Nolan; Cushla McFadden, Director at Tom Mark Henry; Olivia Macfarlane, Director at UNDERCURRENT NZ; Adam Pustola, Principal at Lyons Architecture; and David Welsh, Principal at Welsh+Major.

The winners' announcement of the Dulux Colour Awards will take place at a gala event in Melbourne and will be live streamed via the Dulux Facebook page. Details of the Gala Event will be announced in the coming months.