INTO the wild

Three words inspired the rework of this Kangaroo Valley, NSW, home among the gum trees: embracing, vibrant and Animalia.

- Hanna Marton

The treasured children’s picture book Animalia by famed Australian author Graeme Base, illustrates all manner of unruly wildlife doing fantastical things. A kookaburra and kangaroo pose as mobsters kidnapping a koala, lazy lions wreak havoc in a library, and hairy hogs ride horses like medieval soldiers. In this homestead on 80 hectares in NSW’s ethereal Kangaroo Valley, it’s as though the pages of the picture book have come alive.

Whimsical flora and fauna-inspired fabrics, furniture and bold colours have all been deftly curated by Anna-Carin McNamara of design studio Anna.Carin, to reflect the rolling acres of wilderness outside.

“The clients are big lovers of animals,” she says. “We wanted animals everywhere, in the patterns, the colours and the art. They also love strong colours.”

When Anna and Rickard, a couple originally from Sweden with three grown children, purchased the property as a weekender in winter 2022, it was structurally sound and came fully furnished. Having known fellow Swede Anna-Carin personally and professionally for decades — she worked on their Sydney home about 20 years ago — they initially engaged her, this time, to simply select new bedlinen for the house’s five bedrooms.