Think back to your fourteenth birthday. Can you remember what you asked for? Probably not. For photographer, stylist and interiors lover Kara Rosenlund, the answer comes easily: polished floorboards. “I’ve always been into interiors and textures and how rooms make you feel,” Kara says. Combine that with a passion for photography and the crystal ball was pretty clear on Kara’s future.
The light floors and walls, painted in Porter’s Paints Wood Wash and Popcorn, provide a warm background for Kara’s character-filled furniture in the hallway. Over the years, Kara has collected oil paintings from second-hand shops that she hangs by theme.
Starting out as a photographer, Kara Rosenlund credits a stint working in London, in an antiques store and as a prop stylist, for igniting her passion for interiors. These days Kara juggles a combination of the two – shooting for magazines and selling photographic prints as well as working on her lifestyle collection, a mix of homewares and fashion.
More of Kara’s London finds – a zinc-topped coffee table with architect’s drawers, a pair of basket pendant lights, and shutters – sourced in London but came from a grand house in Normandy – mix with leather Spanish chairs and a natural sisal rug in the living room. Double-length curtains, also bought in London, look generous and create big gathers, which fall beautifully.
Her long list of accomplishments would give anyone a case of the envies if she wasn’t the definition of delightful. Warm, with boundless energy, her drive is teamed with a well-trained eye and effortless style. She shakes off the stuffiness of antiques, mixing them with her own collections and pieces for a classic yet fresh take that’ll have you searching salvage yards faster than you can say “it’s vintage!”
A French travelling chest from the Paddington Antique Centre, custom-built bookshelves, an oversized lantern from The Society Inc. and an 18th century French armchair covered in basic calico tap into Kara’s love of forgotten trades and travel.
Kara found her 1890s workers’ cottage in 2010 while perusing Realestate.com.au from London. The three-bedroom house, situated on Brisbane’s north side, was “just rambling enough,” Kara says. “I didn’t want to have to pay a premium for someone else’s ugly kitchen and bathroom renovation. I wanted their bones and that’s all I could afford. It felt really honest, the timber floors, the high ceilings, these workers’ cottages are really transparent and quirky. It was also in a great spot, there was just something about it.”
To offset the expense of the Calacatta marble island in the kitchen, Kara chose Laminex in Snow White for the other benchtops and affordable white subway tiles for the splashback. The kitchen highlights Kara’s love of collecting vintage utensils and wooden boards bought on her travels.
It took the couple a year and a half to renovate, while living in the cottage. First the bathroom, then the kitchen, before adding a dining room, planting up the garden and filling the space with Kara’s mementoes. At the same time, Kara was starting the next phase of her career.
She had shipped back a container of antiques from London and purchased, off Gumtree, a 1959 caravan (in need of a hearty makeover) to sell them from. “It was really hard. I was doing the market, getting up at 2.30am, sleeping on a mattress. It was just a bit gross and we were about to get married as well.
Part of Kara’s ceramics collection sits on open shelving from Ikea.
Everything was happening at the same time,” she says. Enough to warrant heart palpitations. But not for Kara. “It was fun, something was always happening.” This sums Kara up, her positive nature and ability to launch herself wholeheartedly at a project. Case in point: when she had a spare 10 days, she set about sanding and whitewashing all the floors by herself.
Timothy commissioned their friend, artist Harriet Goodall, to make the woven bedroom light shade as a gift for Kara. Airo quilt cover and European pillowcases from Jardan. Lumbar and Knot cushions from Jardan.
Kara’s love of old pieces comes from memories of garage sale hopping with her dad and heavy dessert spoons and bone-handled knives at her grandmother’s house. Her top tip is to surround yourself with what brings you joy. “I want to walk into one of my rooms and feel like me,” Kara says. “I don’t want to walk in and go ‘because I have the top 10 on-trend pieces, this room must be on trend’. It has to go beyond that because it’s a reflection of you and how you live your life.”
A steal In the bathroom, the claw-foot bathtub was found in the local newspaper for $100, then re-enamelled.
KARA’S STYLE MANTRA
Antique power: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” is gospel for Kara, who sees the potential in overlooked items.
Extend yourself: Kara’s rooms push design ideas. “The moment you create a little bit of tension in your aesthetic, that’s when you create a special room, that’s what I always try to do.”
More is more: Add decorative charm by displaying items en masse. “If I like something, I collect it. It’s to do with the material and purpose.”
Mix it up: “You can rejig something and totally change the aspect,” says Kara of her constant rearranging.
Pick a side: Kara chose neutral tones to create a serene home that allows her to go big on decorating. “I go crazy with the form and volume because I have a soft colour palette.”
