Lucy Montgomery on Building What Lasts

Words by Courtney McIntosh | Photography by Bree Castel

There’s a steadiness to Lucy Montgomery, a quiet kind of focus that mirrors the interiors she creates. Her work isn’t loud or trend-driven. It’s the opposite: warm, grounded, and deliberately restrained. As the founder and creative director of her eponymous brand, Lucy has built a design studio and homewares label defined by craftsmanship, calm and longevity; qualities that reflect not only her professional eye, but also the way she approaches life as a mother of two.

“I’ve always been drawn to spaces that feel lived in and personal,” Lucy tells THE INARRA. “Good design isn’t about making something look perfect, it’s about how it makes you feel when you walk through the door.”

Lucy’s relationship with design began long before it became her career. She grew up in Newcastle, in a family that ran pubs. Her parents took on the ambitious task of converting a historic 1860s Italianate government building into a hotel which was a move that, at the time, was well ahead of its surroundings. “My mum had such a clear vision,” Lucy recalls. “She loved interiors and travelled to New York and Europe for inspiration. I remember watching her pull it all together; choosing furniture, tableware, lighting and seeing how those decisions changed the mood of a room. I didn’t realise it at the time, but I was learning about design by osmosis.”

After high school, Lucy went on to study Interior Architecture at UNSW, where she developed the technical foundation that now underpins her work. “It taught me proportion, materiality and discipline, but it also made me think about how people live within a space,” she says. “That human aspect has always been the most interesting part to me; how design shapes experience.”

That early exposure to hard work, creativity and risk-taking had a lasting influence. “My parents worked incredibly hard,” she says. “We went to boarding school in Sydney, so we only saw them on weekends. When we were together, it was really intentional. Sunday lunch was always sacred. No matter what was happening, everyone was at the table. It taught me that work and family don’t have to exist in competition. Both matter, but you need boundaries.”

Those boundaries have become central to how Lucy now runs her own business. “Before having kids, I said yes to everything,” she says, smiling. “I equated being busy with being successful. Now I’m much more selective. I still work hard, but I want to be available for the things that actually matter – the pick-ups, the dinners, the quiet time at home. Balance doesn’t just happen. You have to be intentional about it.”

No day looks the same, and Lucy admits she’s learned to get comfortable with that. “Running your own studio means you’re wearing different hats every day,” she says. “There’s client work, site visits, sourcing, product development. Having a space where I can close the door and switch into work mode has been a game changer. When I’m there, I’m all in. When I’m home, I try to be fully home. That’s taken practice, but it’s made everything work better.”

Before launching her own label, Lucy spent nearly a decade at Belle magazine, a role that would ultimately shape her understanding of curation, storytelling, and restraint. “I was exposed to so many different kinds of homes,” she says. “The ones that stayed with me weren’t necessarily the most polished or the most expensive, they were the ones that felt authentic. Homes where you could see how someone really lived. That’s still what I gravitate toward.”

One of her proudest moments from that period was her first published design project,  her parents’ downsizer apartment in Elizabeth Bay. “It was such a full-circle moment,” she says. “We mixed their antiques with more modern pieces and somehow made it work. It also gave me a space to test ideas for my first homewares prototypes, which ended up forming the basis of the brand.”

That brand, Lucy Montgomery Collection, was founded in 2019, during a chapter that Lucy describes as both chaotic and creative. “I’d just had my daughter Grace, and my sister Anna was on maternity leave with her little girl, Mia,” she says. “We’d meet for walks, talk about design, and somehow end up sketching ideas between feeds. It was very unglamorous, we were breastfeeding on the go, meeting local makers with babies in slings, but it felt exciting. It was the start of something that was ours.”

From those early days, the brand has stayed anchored to a clear philosophy: to create pieces that feel timeless, tactile, and thoughtfully made. “Everything we do is produced in collaboration with Australian artisans,” Lucy says. “There’s something really meaningful about working closely with people who care about the process as much as the outcome. I want our pieces to last, not just physically, but emotionally. I’d rather people buy one thing they truly love and keep it for decades.”

After stepping back briefly to have her second child, Lucy found herself returning to the studio with a renewed focus. “It gave me perspective,” she says. “When you take time away, you start to see your business differently. I realised there was still a gap for bespoke soft furnishings that could bring warmth and depth to a space without being over-designed. That became the start of Collection 2.0.”

Her creative process is quietly methodical. “I’m always collecting references,” she says. “Architectural forms, old fabrics, images from travel. My moodboards are a mix of classical references and everyday observations. I like ideas to sit for a while, they evolve more naturally that way.”

While her work has a distinctly refined aesthetic, Lucy’s approach to living is anything but rigid. “I love beautiful things, but they have to work for the life you’re living,” she says. “My home has changed a lot since having kids. It’s less about perfection now, more about how we actually use each space. You can have both style and practicality, it just comes down to good materials and smart layering.”

Outside of work, Lucy’s downtime is simple and grounded. “We live in North Bondi, so the beach, markets, and local cafés are a big part of our routine,” she says. “Cooking is how I reset, I’ll pour a glass of wine, put on music, and make something slow. It’s my time to think.”

She’s also learned to protect space for her relationships. “My husband’s great at booking date nights in advance,” she says. “It sounds small, but having those moments scheduled means they actually happen. The same goes for friends, those long lunches or catch-ups are what break up the rhythm of the week.”

As she looks ahead, Lucy is focused on growing her business at a steady pace, without losing the essence of why she started. “Beautiful spaces, meaningful work and family time – that’s what feels important,” she says. “I don’t need to be everywhere. I just want to keep creating things that add value and feel honest.”

For Lucy, longevity, in work, in design and in life has become the ultimate goal. “It’s easy to get caught up in momentum,” she says. “But what I’ve learned is that slower often means better. If something is made with care and intent, it holds up and that’s true for everything, not just design.”

For more of Lucy’s work, head to her website or Instagram.