Imparting Elegance – Tania Handelsmann and Gillian Khaw of Handelsmann + Khaw

Expressive refinement permeates Tania Handelsmann and Gillian Khaw’s shared design dialogue. Together, the pair have forged Handelsmann + Khaw, a Sydney-based interior design studio that imparts stately elegance by virtue of its founders’ tempered yet whimsical approach.

Following years of friendship and “a mutual professional admiration” for one another’s creative agency, Tania and Gillian’s coalescence as Handelsmann + Khaw sees the resulting studio steeped with aligned ideology and synchronous balance. Proposing interiors that combine thoughtful luxury with spirited features, the duo’s synergy is harmoniously incarnate in their designs. Detailing the development of the partnership to its current cohesion, Gillian shares that “when we got together, our styles were quite different, but I think like a marriage, our differences are what fed the evolution of our style.”

Lusciously designed, Handelsmann + Khaw’s interiors deftly exude a hallmark warmth.

Lusciously designed, Handelsmann + Khaw’s interiors deftly exude a hallmark warmth. Layers of inviting textures and intriguing accoutrements engage the senses and are arranged to effortlessly affect spaces that feel wholly occupied by personality whilst remaining pared-back and spacious. It is in this placement of considered insertions that Tania and Gillian achieve the elevated cosiness that spans their residential and commercial portfolio. Whilst crafting composed settings, Tania and Gillian draw upon the pace and rhythm of existence to inform their design choices. “The subtlest aspect of interiors can alter and heighten our mood. It is one of the few ways we can control our environment, and I think that’s a very powerful human desire,” Gillian says. “We just want to create spaces for our clients where they feel themselves, balanced, energised and stimulated by beauty.”

Embraced within each unique Handelsmann + Khaw interior is a common thread of measured abundance that is inspired by “the honest appraisal of the space, what its strength is and where its beauty should come from.” Gillian remarks that “it’s about recognising what surgery needs to be done to the room to make the bones good. Then, we add the personality through finishes and loose items. Finally, like an outfit, we take 10 percent away to pare it back.”

Whilst crafting composed settings, Tania and Gillian draw upon the pace and rhythm of existence to inform their design choices.

For the partners, poise comes from a discerning consideration of treatments and perpetuity. “The guardrails to our design concepts are always to make sure it’s not faddish; it’s not Instagram; it’s not bling – it’s considered; it’s got its own character,” Gillian says. “In many ways it’s about what we don’t do as much as what we put into the space!”

This defining principle underscores Handelsmann + Khaw’s spatial persona, with the delivery of interiors that invite focus on fine details. Naming antiques, charming lampshades and interesting tapware as champions for projecting beauty and mood, Gillian expresses the significance of selecting sophisticated features to enhance the calibre of experience. “It’s got to be beautiful to touch, to patina and in the case of, say, an English tapware wall mixer, the mechanism just sounds and feels expensive, like the solid thud of a Mercedes door closing.”

“The guardrails to our design concepts are always to make sure it’s not faddish; it’s not Instagram; it’s not bling – it’s considered; it’s got its own character,” Gillian says. “In many ways it’s about what we don’t do as much as what we put into the space!”

Opulent coherence radiates intuitively from the pair, as Gillian explains that she is “not sure there is a process, rather, I think we both just see a space and can quantify what it needs to be brought to the level of elegance that we both want to live in.” This personalised approach has boded well for Handelsmann + Khaw, with the studio gaining an avid following of design devotees and clients as well as industry award nominations.

“Whenever we see our name nominated for an award is a defining and pinch-ourselves moment,” Gillian tells. “However, the quiet moments of satisfaction have actually been when we clock the evolution of projects we are approached to do. Clients now come to us for our aesthetic, not for someone else’s, and creating this spurs us on. Strangely, the more open the client is to our aesthetic, the more stimulating it is to be influenced by them; riffing off each other’s references is a favourite part of the process!” Reflecting on the studio’s evolution for the future, Gillian comments, “we have wanted to dip our toe into hospitality; I think it’s about waiting for the right project.” Until then, Handelsmann + Khaw continues with a firm foothold in Sydney’s interior design landscape, impressing spaces with the potent dignity that has become its coveted signature aesthetic.