Josh Jessup and Matt Moss’s Melbourne apartment is awash with bright pops of colour, loud art, curvy shapes and an overall more-is-more aesthetic. We know this because it’s a constant sight on their Tiktok account, where they have amassed more than 120,000 followers (plus 25,000 on Instagram).
A lot of the content is home-design tips and tours of their apartment, but they also post behind-the-scenes looks at Josh and Matt Design, their label making fun, maximalist decor and accessories for the home.
They started with colourful mobiles you can hang up using just command strips and a bespoke magnet system to add personality and flair to the often-ignored canvas overhead.
“We were decorating our apartment and then realised we hadn’t touched the ceilings,” the pair tell Broadsheet. “We started looking into hanging mobiles to buy, but it was hard to find one that worked well for us, being [renters who] couldn’t put a hook in the ceiling.”
Simple solution: they made one themselves, then started making more to sell. Now the geometric mobiles range from black-and-white swirls and doodles to celestial planets and silly snakes cascading down the ceiling.
From there they moved into modular, mix-and-match shapes to decorate downlights, hand-sculpted wall art, and a flexible octopus sculpture that can sit in vases. The acrylic pieces are made and laser cut by Domus Vim in Sydney, but the rest is all handmade by the couple in their apartment.
Next was a foray into candles, making long, curvy sticks and psychedelic handmade “oddities” you can use as candle holders, paperweights, mini vases or just decorative trinkets.
The release also included the “lava candle”, developed because Jessup and Moss “couldn’t find candles that were exciting to watch burn”. Each one looks mostly white with faint colours at the base, but once it’s been lit, bright colours spill out in a stream, forming a unique puddle that looks like an art piece in and of itself.
“We wanted them to look stunning whether you choose not to burn them, burn [them] halfway, or completely burn them,” they say. “Each candle is a completely unique, one-off experience, which we love because we love making art that really feels [like] it was meant completely for you.”
Josh and Matt Design candles start at $70 and mobiles start at $80. They are also available for custom orders.
