Aug 16, 2026 – 5.00amAlexandra Donohoe Church can pinpoint the precise moment she twigged to the emotional power of an interior. The epiphany didn’t happen in some celebrated modernist house, nor in one of the meticulously detailed residences that have made her Sydney studio, Decus, a formidable name in luxury design. It was while she was watching The Wizard of Oz as a child.“That scene where everything goes from dark and moody to technicolour had a huge impact on my tiny mind,” she says. “It hit me viscerally, this shift from one environment to another.”Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Stephen ToddDesign editorStephen Todd writes for The Australian Financial Review's weekly Life&Leisure lift out and AFR Magazine.Fetching latest articles