How do you make a house into a home? What is that indescribable feeling you get from a beautifully, purposefully styled space and how can you create it in your projects? How many questions can I throw at you before you get sick of this teaser? The answers to these questions and more in this week’s episode of Building with BuildHer featuring Tara Wokulski - an accomplished interior stylist and founder of Melbourne-based interior styling studio, Coco Camellia.

Tara began life as a nurse and turned her fierce work ethic and healing powers towards interior design to cure the disease of hypo-stylism (translation: lack of style). The catalyst for this change of scenery was the unfortunate rocky start to life for Tara’s first born which made it too hard for her to return to her nursing work. Her father-in-law offered her a granny-flat style space on their property to free up her money for their little one’s hospital bills. During some downtime, Tara felt it important to make this space their own; to make it their home. This meant styling, and it was this experience that sparked a joy of interior design and birthed her ever-evolving social media gallery of her life’s work to date.

Her social media presence rapidly grew soon becoming an educational resource for others striving to turn the place they live in into their home. Given the financially tumultuous phase of her life that her love of styling grew out of, her early work was centred around value for money, an element she has carried with her throughout her career to date: styling on a budget.

Appropriately, we met Tara on Instagram, perusing her amazing work, and a personal and professional relationship blossomed quickly after that. Tara talks about styling on a budget, being aware of trends but not defining your style with them, keeping timelessness in mind, and hiring the right stylist for your job. And remember, rugs under couches, not in front of them!

TOPICS WE COVER AND WHEN TO FIND THEM:

* [2:38] - Tara’s origin story

* [5:45] - Styling on a budget

* [7:00] - Selecting timeless pieces instead of following trends

* [8:20] - Investing time to ensure longevity in your design

* [10:04] - Working within your own budget no matter if it’s small, medium or high

* [10:34] - Understanding what your key pieces are and how they can be applied to your budget to incorporate the higher-end timeless pieces with the lower budget pieces

* [10:54] - Where to start when wanting to upgrade the style in your home

* [11:30] - Using sheer curtains to vary the mood and light in a room

* [13:10] - How updating the wall colour with a fresh paint job immediately changes the feel of a room/house

* [14:20] - The use of rugs to unite zones within a space

* [15:30] - Knowing how to place furniture to make a room feel bigger

* [17:34] - What to make sure you have organised before hiring a stylist or designer

* [18:30] - Picking a stylist that suits your personality. Do your research to find the right fit

* [20:20] - Where possible, using furniture you already have to restyle your house

* [21:05] - Recommendations for purchasing some soft furnishings

* [22:10] - What kind of sofa should a pet owner use in their home

LINKS WE MENTIONED:

* Coco Camellia on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/coco.camellia_/): @coco.camellia_

* Coco Camellia website (https://www.cococamellia.com.au/): cococamellia.com.au

* Check out the BuildHer freebies page (https://buildhercollective.com.au/freebies/) and book your free 20min consult (https://go.oncehub.com/BuildHer)

* BuildHer Collective