Curious, determined and detail-oriented, Charlene thrives on the pursuit of excellence, driving her to deliver projects to the highest standard. Charlene enjoys building relational experiences with each member of the project team, from clients to consultants, and relishes watching her projects materialise during construction. Charlene applies a broad range of skills and sensibilities to her work, acquired through her professional achievements across commercial workplace, food and beverage hospitality, retail, and boutique residential projects.

Charlene’s love of degustation, art and nature have guided her adventures both locally and abroad, and in a parallel universe may have led to careers as a food critic, astronaut or criminal psychologist.

While Sarah’s expertise lies in high-end residential, she started her career designing luxury hotels. This experience in crafting a ‘home away from home’ influences Sarah’s luxurious yet warm design sensibility. As a mother herself, Sarah gets a thrill out of designing sumptuous homes for raising modern families. Once keen to pursue fashion design, Sarah has an excellent eye for colour, composition and finishing details, driving her refined sense of scale and harmony over trends or ostentation.

Sarah is adaptable and pragmatic, with a wonderfully dry, deadpan sense of humour that keeps the team in stitches. Sarah’s positive, can-do attitude is bolstered by a morning ritual of solid tunes and caffeine, while on weekends, you’ll likely find Sarah cooking or baking up a feast for friends with a glass of red in hand.

With a passion for residential design, Madeline applies a creative mindset to explore bespoke design solutions across Decus projects. Since relocating from Dubbo, Madeline has worked in residential architecture and interior design around Sydney, developing a strong skillset in design, documentation and delivery. Madeline is inspired by natural surroundings and aspires to work on a remote artist’s residence set amongst coastal bushland.

Madeline brings positivity and charm to the team. Madeline’s joyful yet no-nonsense disposition allows her to work effectively in a team and authentically communicate with clients. With baking skills worthy of a Country Women’s Association award at an Easter Show, Madeline is Decus’ unofficial cake lady, a true badge of honour.

As the technical lynchpin of the studio, Courtney is skilled in translating design sketches into highly resolved 3D models – including Alexandra’s much-loved sculptural staircases. With over twelve years of international retail and hospitality experience, Courtney applies a rigorous approach to ensure Decus projects are documented with clarity and consideration. Courtney’s focus on the finer details of a project elevates Decus’ interiors to a sublime level.

With a strong yet calming disposition, Courtney is an intuitive leader and a wonderful mum. As an advocate for female empowerment, Courtney raises the spirits of the team and generously offers support and knowledge – including her quirky ‘life tips’ for all to enjoy. While Courtney keeps her finger on the pulse of weather apps to ensure she’s always appropriately dressed, her collection of sparkly brogues are a constant fixture and mood booster at Decus.

Jeremy’s propensity for organisation and business acumen scaffolds the management of Decus, where he finds reward in the initiation and execution of projects. With a background in marketing and events, and a career spanning luxury products, asset management, charity and local tourism, Jeremy was first introduced to the world of interiors by his wife, Founder and Managing Director of Decus, Alexandra Donohoe Church.

After being cajoled by his wife into an endless carousel of furniture showrooms and galleries during international travels to NYC, Paris and Milan, Jeremy began to engage with the excitement and value of interiors (aided by a few negroni pit stops). Now, he lends his love of an excel spreadsheet, skills in business and marketing to add great value to the company. Jeremy sees life as an adventure, balancing his work and family life with personal interests, including bush walks, coastal runs and travelling as frequently and as far off the beaten track as possible.

Lucy’s role at Decus merges her passion for creativity with her skills in organisation and strategy. Lucy facilitates daily operations, HR and administration and thoroughly enjoys the creative aspects of the business, such as directing photo shoots, developing art and culture initiatives and implementing social media strategies, while ensuring there is joy and laughter along the way.

As a child of archaeologists, Lucy spent her formative years on site at Perachora, Delphi, Mycenae, Naxos and Athens, where she adopted an early obsession for natural materials. Lucy’s love of history and materials has translated to many hours spent at auction houses and galleries – but you might also find Lucy renewing her membership to the GOOP fan club or playing striker for her local soccer team.