Amanda Grace: Director

Amanda is a qualified interior designer with more than 20 years experience.
Amanda has built a formidable reputation as a design educator and has written and delivered more than 100 accredited art and design courses in Australia
Sydney Design School is the realisation of Amanda’s lifelong dream to create a school that combines the twin pillars of any successful design business: excellence in interior design and decoration, as well as strong, practical business skills to compete in a competitive market.

• BA (Hons) Design
• Graduate Diploma in Education
• Certificate IV in Training and Assessment
• Certificate IV Small Business Management

Kate Hughes

Kate is a qualified interior designer with over 20 years experience in residential interiors. Kate is known and respected for creating outstanding interiors that are both functional and stylish.
Kate currently runs her own successful design firm “Avanti Interiors” and has built her valued reputation through referrals from clients, builders and architects.

• Associate Diploma in Interior Design

Samantha Cahill

Samantha is an interior designer, specialising in residential interior design. Samantha is highly experienced and is the director of interior design firm Madison Design Group Pty Ltd
As well as running the business side of a successful design company, Samantha works as head interior designer on a vast array of residential interior design projects incorporating interior design, landscape design, furniture design and decoration.

• Advanced Diploma in Interior Design

Di Swinbourn

Di is one of Australia’s leading colour and design analysts and has consulted and lectured in this field for over a decade. She runs Colour Dot Design a successful colour consulting business.Di is a Member of Colourways Australia.

• Certificate IV in Design specialising in Interior Decoration
• Bachelor or Arts
• Diploma of Education

Samantha Morton

Samantha has been a practicing interior architect for the last 15 years.
She specialises in commercial interiors and has designed large office interiors for many financial corporations. Samantha’s company, Korsa, specialises in ‘green’ commercial and retail design.

• BSc (Arch)
• Accredited Professional GBCA

Sue Stokes

Sue is the School’s lighting educator. She is a qualified lighting designer and automation specialist and an approved C-Bus installer with experience in both the residential and commercial sectors.

• Bachelor of International Business
• Graduate Certificate Design Science (Illumination Design)

Anne Kelly

Anne is a specialist in window treatments and fabrics. With over 20 years practical experience including running her own interior decoating business in Mosman (for 17 years) and in the UK.

With a wealth of knowledge covering every aspect from quoting to delivering the finished product and running a small interior decorating business and workroom.

Marj Silva

Marj is a multi-disciplinary designer with 6 years experience in interior styling and decorating.

She has extensive knowledge in diverse softwares used in interior design including, Adobe Photoshop, AutoCad, InDesign and Google SketchUp.

• Diploma in Public Relations
• Diploma of Interior Decoration

Jan Handel

Jan teaches drawing at the School.
She is an exhibiting artist whose work involves drawing, painting, collage and mixed media. Drawing of all kinds is a cornerstone of her practice.
Jan has been a finalist in the Portia Geach Memorial Award for Portraiture, and twice in the Mosman Art Prize.

• Certificate IV in Design
• Diploma of Fine Arts
• Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training

Fiona Morrison

Fiona teaches AutoCAD. She is a qualified interior designer who has worked successfully designing and project managing commercial projects in hospitality, commercial and retail design.

• BA (Hons) Interior Design
• Cert. Creative Interiors