Strategic thinking and using colour cleverly are part of interior designer Kate Alexander’s bag of tricks.
Designing a home is a bit like packing a suitcase, says interior designer Kate Alexander. The Devonport-based creative has seen many people approach furnishing a home a bit like they are throwing clothes into a bag before a long-haul flight. The end result, she says, is the interior design equivalent of too many fancy cocktail dresses and not enough underwear and socks.
“I approach interior design the same way I like to pack a suitcase, by gathering my thoughts and curating my ideas. When I pack in a hurry, I find I always forget something, so I prefer to start packing a week before I travel and review what I’ve packed. Often on reflection I’ll think, ‘Actually I really do need to bring a warm coat,’ or, ‘I need a top that goes with these trousers.’ All my ideas won’t fit in the suitcase, so I need to think about the practicalities. The same rule applies with interior design."
Interior designer Kate Alexander of Places & Graces.
“You also need to keep some flexibility in your plans and reserve some energy for the end of the project. Just like you also need to keep some room in your suitcase in case you find a great pair of shoes you want to buy while you’re travelling.”
Interior designer Kate Alexander is known for her clever use of colour. Although all three of the homes pictured feature blue and white colour palettes at the request of the homeowners, the wall textures, joinery and the nuances of the different paint colours create distinctive-looking spaces. Details such as surfboards, ceramic pigs and artificial bananas add quirky touches.
Kate’s pragmatic and strategic approach to design has been wowing clients of her business, Places & Graces, for the past five years. Before stepping into interior design, she worked as a creative director at a brand strategy firm and she had also been a stylist for Resene. But it was real estate property staging, a role she took on for many years, which got Kate fully immersed in interior design.
Kate used a dark blue paint colour to create a cosy study area in a lounge.
“Often when my property styling clients saw the home they were trying to sell after it had been staged, they wanted my help to unlock the potential of their new forever homes,” says Kate. A lot of interior design work in the Auckland area involves renovated heritage homes. A constant challenge on these projects is making the new parts of the home feel connected with the original construction.
One of the techniques Kate uses to create cohesion is painting ceilings in a feature colour to mask changes in ceiling height and to carry through touches of heritage details into the modern parts of the home. “Modern construction often has clean minimal lines, whereas villas or bungalows have trims that are more ornate.
Kate used her client's favourite surfboard as a feature in this Pauanui bach makeover.
To connect the two styles, try adding modern lighting into the older parts of the home. Or if the heritage rooms have a tongue-and-groove ceiling, try carrying the tongue-and-groove into the extension.” In fact, heritage details and wall texture such as tongue-and-groove, wainscoting and panelling is one of the big interior trends Kate is seeing at the moment.
“Texture is a nice trend we’re seeing right now and there’s a movement away from flat, minimal white rooms, and towards panelling and earthen plaster finishes. There’s also a shift towards bolder colours and softer edges with curved architecture and furniture.” Decision fatigue on interior details is particularly common for homeowners working with new builds, says Kate, who has rescued many who have run out of steam at the end of a project.
One way to avoid feeling overwhelmed, she says, is to select one must-have design feature and build your ideas up from there.
“Whether it’s that you’ve always wanted a concrete floor or that you’re really keen on black tapware, find that one thing that’s non-negotiable for you and work from there. And remember — there’s not room in the suitcase for everything.”
