This conceptual pop-up cafe was created by Newcastle interior designer Louise Mackay.

The design, titled Ascend, took out the student category at the 34th Dulux Colour Awards.

Louise said the idea was to create a concept that helps drive the decisions she makes for interior design.

Her muse was artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who died at age 27. Basquiat was an acclaimed artist, immersed in the culture of the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the late 1970s, where rap, punk and street art fused into hip-hop music culture.

He collaborated with the likes of Andy Warhol. Private collectors of his work included David Bowie, Madonna, Debbie Harry, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jay-Z and Johnny Depp.

His paintings attracted huge prices, while also being compared to graffiti.

"A lot of his art, even though it was political, spread messages of joy about black culture," Louise said.

"Rather than protesting, he was more about celebrating black lives. He had a little logo of a crown, which he'd graffiti everywhere, that encouraged people to take on pride and ascendance."

Her concept cafe involves guests being invited to graffiti the walls of Ascend with messages of joy.

"Even pre-COVID, I wanted to spread that message of joy. It fits even better with the COVID landscape that we're in," she said.

She created the design as part of her studies at Sydney Design School, where she's been commuting for three days a week.

"Some would say that's nuts, I say dedicated," she said, with a giggle.

She will graduate in December with an Advanced Diploma of Interior Design.

She said the school "mentored and inspired me over the past 18 months".

And, touchingly, she gave an "extra special mention" to her mum Deborah Lawson, who "supports me endlessly so I can pursue my dreams".

"Mum has been a rock for me for a long time. I'm a cancer survivor," she said.

"Mum's a big part of it, I wouldn't have got through it without her - that's for sure.

"I had leukaemia when I was 18, which is I guess the driving factor behind dropping my career and starting a career as an interior designer at the age of 34."

Is there any greater example of choice overload than choosing a paint colour for the walls of your house?

You may have thought white was white and grey was grey, but when you start looking for paint you realise how wrong you've been.

Any sense of being overwhelmed by the myriad colour choices, though, is surely eased by the calming names of the paint like arctic ice, grey mist, windy beach, crystal gazing, snow cap, solitude, phantom dream, cotton sheets and cloudburst.

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