I’ve known of Tim Clarke and his work for years, but it’s really through Sydney Harbour Paint Company and the opportunity to work together that I started looking more closely at what makes his interiors so distinctive.
The more I looked, the more I saw a natural connection between Tim’s California sensibility and the Australian roots of Sydney Harbour Paint Company.
Both come from places where the coast shapes the way people live. There’s an informality to California and Australian beach culture—a preference for natural materials, open spaces, sunlight, weathered surfaces, and rooms that don’t feel too precious. The colors tend to come from the landscape: sand, stone, eucalyptus, ocean, sun-bleached timber, and the softer tones that develop naturally over time.
Tim has used Sydney Harbour colors and finishes since early in his career, so the connection was already there. More recently, we partnered with him to bring new color and texture into his Santa Monica studio.
[VIDEO: Color selection in Tim Clarke’s studio]
[IMAGE: Busy at work in Tim Clarke’s studio]
What I like about Tim’s work is that it never feels overly designed. His interiors are relaxed and layered, and distinctly California without relying on obvious coastal references. The feeling comes through in the light, the materials, the texture, and the palette.
[IMAGES: Two homes designed by Tim Clarke]
That same sense of ease is something I’ve always associated with Australian interiors. There’s an appreciation for things that age well and surfaces that show some variation and character rather than looking perfectly uniform.
That’s where Sydney Harbour finishes fit especially well. Tim responds to the depth and movement in our colors and to finishes like lime wash and fresco plaster, where the wall becomes part of the material story of the room.
For the studio, the idea wasn’t to completely change the space. It was to bring another layer into it—using color and texture to create a stronger backdrop for Tim’s furniture, art, objects, and materials.
[VIDEO: Lime wash being applied in Tim Clarke’s studio]
Seeing the lime wash being brushed onto the walls probably explains the connection better than anything. The movement of the brush, the slight tonal changes, and the way the finish reacts to natural light all create something that feels relaxed rather than overly finished.
Maybe that’s the real link between Tim Clarke and Sydney Harbour: two different coasts, California and Australia, but a very similar idea of how a space should feel—natural, comfortable, textured, and connected to the landscape around it.
I think “Tim Clarke and Sydney Harbour: A Shared Coastal Language” is the strongest title so far. It has the editorial quality you were looking for, while giving the reader a reason to understand why this partnership makes sense.
