Renovation & Renewal

We showcased KARIN RYSGAARD's home a couple of years ago, but since she's in the interior design and home décor industry as one of the owners of Island Living, we knew she'd have made some changes! So we're back again to visit her home in Kembangan.

Are we right? Have you made lots of changes since our last chat?

I should start by saying just how grateful I am to have been able to stay in my little house on the East Coast, which I love. The rental increases have affected so many people in the past couple of years, with some having to leave as pricing became out of reach. I considered a move, too, but anything within my price range required some serious renovations, and as I had already done that here, it didn’t seem to make sense to start over.

I was very lucky: my relationship with my landlord is good so the renewal went quite smoothly. I did have to deal with a considerable rise in the rental, but as an empty nester now, and with my daughter Sophie firmly settled in Sydney, I decided to consider having a housemate. This may sound crazy to some of you, and I never thought I would be back in a house-share situation in my 50s, but it just seemed like a fun idea to try, and has worked out really well. There are so many single people here, some who are overpaying for tiny apartments where you couldn’t swing a cat. I thought, why not share what I have, have some help with the rent, and have some fun along the way!

Once this decision was made, I was ready to make some changes and threw myself into action. The first step was to remove the pool; it was great during COVID, but it just wasn’t getting used very often. So I created a decking area instead, adding an outdoor teak bar, and a range of new furniture, accessories and plants to create a fun and lush entertaining area.

The living and dining rooms have had a complete change in furniture, colour scheme and style. I’ve made these areas more minimal. The space feels much bigger, even with a dark midnight navy paint for the accent walls. These areas flow seamlessly out into the outdoor entertaining space, resulting in a much bigger open space.