Hannah Edwards

Its eclectic, opulent and totally outrageous. It's also the way of the future for interior design in Sydney, said Vougue Living's David Clark.Lavish interiors are in the 15th floor penthouse apartment in Ivy, the latest residential block in the St Margarets development Surry Hills, released last week.

Clark and the creative team on his magazine spent the last two months sourcing furnishings and styling the property with commanding city views, creating their vision of high-rise "decadence".Full of "unexpected visual surprises", Clark said the apartment represents a bold move away from the trend of minimalism, typified by sharp angles and clear surfaces and adopted in many new apartment buildings in recent years.

The Ivy four-bedroom, two-level penthouse designed by PTW+SJB Architects is for sale for $3.9 million Spend an extra $500, 000 and you get all of the quirky furniture. Pay a bit more and you get the original works of art, including a hot pink and purple foil buddha sculpture by Lachlan Warner and a graffiti wall mural by Ebony Bizys.

In the lounge area, a wall of art (including many digital works playing on a series of mini flat-screen televisions - an increasingly collectable art medium, Clark said), faces a wall of lavish mirrors some opulently gilt-framed, others faded shabby chic. A chandelier, dripping with plum-sized purple and clear crystals, hangs from the ceiling."It's a big, open, very glamorous, slightly decadent entertainment space", Clark said.

Perhaps the most eye-catching room is the "den". Third room is packed with antiques, rough woven Moroccan rugs (on the floor and covering all of the walls) and weathered brown leather armchairs. Upstairs, each bedroom has been decorated so it has a "different character", Clark said.The master bedroom has floral carpets, sequinned cushions and crystal lamps. Another bedroom, called the Black Boudoir, has shiny black wallpaper (with matching cushions on the custom made bed), a bunch of velvet blood-red roses, black net curtains and a black carpet with shiny silver flecks ("it is like you are walking into a galaxy").

The third bedroom, titled the "Blonde Scandinavian", is a vision in white, neutral and natural tones. A newly released designer "garland" chandelier, made up of hundreds of cut-out paper and metal flowers and leaves, hung from one corner. A cobwebbed design throw has been placed on a corner of the bed and tall vases hold bunches of carefully arranged dried twigs.

Throughout the home, feature walls covered in intricately patterned wallpaper by Florence Broadhurst, Chee Soon & Fitxgerald and IIias Fotopoulous add evern more colour.Bottle green Dinosaur Designs resin vases of various shapes and sizes have been places on one window still to catch the light. Back