Owning property is just the first step towards creating a home, the next and most exciting stage is creating a unique interior that reflects your personality and a sanctuary suitable for your lifestyle.

For some, creating this comes naturally, picking soft furnishings and making spaces flow, but for others who need a little extra help in that department or those who just don’t have the time to dedicate to creating their vision and bringing in to life, there’s a great local interior designer and stylist who is here to help. Meet, Michelle Canny.

Having started her career in the advertising and communications industry, it wasn’t until she was renovating her own home that a flame for interiors was ignited. Taking the plunge and moving towards her creative pursuits in 2013, Michelle signed up for a course at the International School of Colour and Design.

“I did that course via correspondence over two years. It covered everything from colour and design to surface design, colour theory, interior design, and interior decorating.”

Following a few crazy years of babies, health concerns, and just life as we all know it, Michelle officially launched her business with a website, a bunch of design-focused blogs, and a whole lot of determination back in 2016.

“In my very first year of business, I had a few friends that were building a new home. They asked me to assist them with the fit-out and to this day it’s still one of my most popular projects.

“I helped them with all sorts of decisions throughout the process. From flooring choices to tiles, light fittings, colour palettes to the furniture and décor; it was a two-year project.”

Originally from Canberra, Michelle has spent a large portion of her life living in Melbourne and overseas before officially moving to Port Stephens in 2018. Come early 2020, when the pandemic hit, Michelle, like most overworked mums, needed some time out to reassess life.

“My body had just been in fight or flight for far too long. Having not been sleeping with a new baby, the stress of everything going on, and a business, I needed downtime. Last year, was the first year that I knew I had to really focus on my health.  The other thing I felt strongly about was putting energy into my business full-time.

“I had always had a fear of what if it doesn’t work? Once I let go of that fear, things just started to expand, and it really opened all these incredible opportunities up.”

A design and décor loving specialist, Michelle is like an interior fairy godmother, creating a sense of place in your own home. From exploring what makes you, well you, Michelle will transform your space with cohesive design solutions reflecting your vision, interior style, and above all, your lifestyle.

“I focus on taking the pressure off people. Doing a renovation or new build can be very stressful.”

When it comes to design, Michelle knows all too well that there is no such thing as one style suits all. Instead, her approach focuses on understanding the essence of every one of her clients, who they are, what they love and translating this into their home.

Taking a relaxed approach to working with clients, Michelle takes the guesswork out of working with interior designers by providing clients with all the information they need upfront. 

Michelle’s most popular service packages are, the Complete Interior Decorating & Styling Package and the Mini Makeover Package, giving potential clients the opportunity to understand the full process before even contacting Michelle.

“The Mini Makeover Package is perfect for people specifically looking for someone to design and choose fittings, fixtures, layouts, and tiles for a bathroom or kitchen. As opposed to a Full Home Design package that caters to the whole home. The same goes for if you’re just looking for interior decorating. You might just need some help with colour palette choices, décor, furniture, and soft furnishings.”

With plans to launch new services and some upcoming workshops to take place later this year, alongside growing the interior team, Michelle has plenty of plans for the business.

So, whether you’re looking for a helping hand on a full-blown home design project, a mini makeover for a single room, or maybe you just love a good stalk of interiors, Michelle Canny Interiors has you sorted.