By then, the 32-year-old had racked up 17 years in hair dressing.

"I had lost the passion and I think I bought the salon more for the love of renovating and styling than doing hair," she laughs.

As fate would have it, her sister Robyn McAlpine, owner of Darby Street skin salon Skintifix, had heard that the homewares store Willows Home Traders was on the market.

Within 48 hours, Ms McLellan had sold her salon and bought Willows with her partner.

Another 24 hours and she was in store and trading.

"It all fell into place, it was meant to be," says the Gloucester-raised businesswoman.

Ms McLellan says her love of styling and interior design was nurtured early by her artist mother.

"Our house never stayed the same for longer than a month, we rearranged furniture and all that stuff, and it stuck with m," she says.

"Mum used to drag us to the tip shop and paint and upcycle things, because we never had money."

A long-time fan of the store she now owns, Ms McLellan is building a new stockist list and is making tweaks each week.

She is championing local artists, for example bringing back in store Annie Everingham and local kid's lable Nacido.

She has also given a space in the store to Plant Life Newcastle, teaming up with its owner Elizabeth Saunders-Walker to offer plant and property styling to private customers.

"Liz is an ex hair-dresser, we bounce well off each other," she says.

Ms McLellan recently held a re-launch of the store in a bid to get to know her customers better, given the first two months of trading have been a blur of putting her stamp on the business.

She aims to have something for everyone in her range, with prices starting from $20 and going up to $1000 for items ranging from luxury bed linen to wicker and ratan furniture and ceramics.

"It's eclectic and a one-stop shop for all things interiors and lifestyle," she says, adding with a laugh: "I like everything, that is the hard part, I want a bit of everything in store."

Having worked in hairdressing for so long has, she says, prepared her for the retail world, despite a few learning curves on the business side of things.

Though Darby Street has had a spate of closures amid a tough retail climate, Ms McLellan says trade is "slow but constant".

"I feel like the light rail has brought people back to the streets," she says.