What do you do for a crust? I’m a calligrapher with my own
business, Floralovely Calligraphy. We also own a plumbing business,
which Brett manages full-time.
Where do you live? In the semi-rural area of Camp Mountain,
near Brisbane. Brett grew up in Brisbane, while I grew up in rural
New South Wales, so we love this area – it suits us both. We’re
on an acre block, so there’s lots of space for the kids to ride their
bikes and run. It’s quiet and leafy, and there are horses in nearby
paddocks. We dreamed of living in this area for years and thought
we’d move out here ‘some day’, but our ‘some day’ came sooner
than we expected!
Tell us about the house itself. It has such a warm, welcoming
feeling to it, which we picked up as soon as we saw it the first time.
There are four bedrooms, three bathrooms and my home office, plus
the living, dining, laundry and kitchen areas. From what we know,
it was built in the 1920s in Newmarket, Brisbane, but was moved to
this block about 15 years ago. It’s an old Queenslander-style home
- I love that you can see the line in the timber floorboards where the
house was cut in two to transport it. We’d love to know more about
its history, but we haven’t done much research into it yet.
Could you please describe your decorating style? I love to
decorate with a mix of old and new items, and always a touch of
flora. Adding a plant or vase of flowers instantly livens up a space!
I especially love vintage finds like original paintings, old bottles,
and calligraphy paraphernalia. I realised I’ve become a collector
of Australian handmade pottery, too – brands like Kim Wallace
Ceramics, Nicole James Handmade, yeshamac, paper boat press,
Elke Lucas Ceramics and Susan Simonini. Combining pre-loved
vintage pieces with handmade items gives a space a warm, homely
feel, which is what I aim for.
How have you used colour throughout the house? I’ve never
consciously chosen a colour theme for home; I’ve just worked with
what we had already. The only wall-painting we’ve done since we
moved in is Otis and Dorothy’s room and my office, where we chose
a bright white to really open the space up. I quite like the turquoise
walls, but when we renovate I’ll probably opt for white walls again,
as it seems clean and fresh.
What’s the first thing you see when you walk in the door? The way
our home is built, we actually don’t use the front door that much.
As you walk up the back steps onto the veranda, though, there
are plenty of kids’ shoes, plants, and a beautiful old roller desk to
navigate past. Once you walk through the door, you’ll see our main
living area with a super-comfy lounge; an assortment of patterned
cushions; a large Persian rug (my favourite-ever Gumtree find!);
and walls covered with photo frames and vintage mirrors.
What goes on there, aside from sleeping? Our home is always
buzzing with activity! In the morning, it’s the organised chaos of
breakfast and getting ready for the day, with the kids and kittens
running up and down the hallway. In the quieter hours, I try to
get some calligraphy work done, but it’s back to mayhem in the
afternoon! Weekends spent at home involve board games; puzzles;
craft on the front veranda; some cooking; and plenty of playing,
bike-riding and gardening outside.Have there been any challenges or issues in setting up the place?
My biggest challenge is keeping the kids’ toys and books in some
sort of order! Honestly, most days it looks like a toy explosion has
happened before 8am. Also, keeping Dorothy and the cats out of my
pot plants is an issue!
Talk us through your family heirlooms. Are there any with a
particularly special story? We’re so lucky to have a lot of family
heirlooms in our home; I absolutely treasure them and love the
stories behind them all. There’s a trunk in our living room that
travelled from England to Australia with my great-great-grandfather,
George Kiss. It has his daughter Ethel’s name on it, because she
wanted to claim it as her own (so the story goes!). The white chest
of drawers in our bedroom belonged to my great-grandmother
Claudine, and there’s a gorgeous little French ice-cream parlour
chair that belonged to my grandmother Joan when she was a girl.around the house