Kali Cavanagh, an interior designer with a knack for blending vintage charm with industrial aesthetics, has carved a niche for herself in the world of interior design. Her journey into this field is as unique as her style, deeply rooted in her upbringing and personal experiences.

"I kind of just got into it. Because of my mum, she was a single parent and a bit of a hippy. We lived in this little tiny town in the middle of nowhere," Kali reflects. "I remember growing up, she would be building mud brick houses and changing the feel of the house around." This early exposure to hands-on building and design sparked her lifelong passion for creating beautiful, functional spaces.

"It made sense to me to just start buying and doing up my own properties," she explains. Her venture into showcasing her work began with Vintage House in Daylesford, a property she felt was the perfect canvas for her ideas. "When I started getting into interior work, I wanted to have a property that showcased my work and I thought Vintage House in Daylesford would be a good one to start with."

Kali says, "I knew I wanted to create a vintage style house, hence the name.
It suited the Daylesford area, it also suited the era of the house because it was built in the 1800s.” Her vision was to preserve the traditional feel of the house while infusing it with industrial elements that fascinated her. "In Australia, like, there's always been an element of industrial in the vintage style."

Kali's international travels, particularly to America, influenced her design choices. "When I was in America, I saw that kind of work - the old school workshop furnishings. So I ended up buying a container full of stuff," she shares. Notable finds included a beautiful old blue kitchen stove and heavy industrial coffee tables and side tables from a warehouse in LA. "I could see that they could work really well if I added textures and warmth to the rest of the house. It gave the house a masculine feel so I used a lot of linen to soften the industrial ambience."

In addition to her overseas pickings, Kali sourced many pieces locally. "I bought the majority of my pieces locally from Daylesford Markets, Found, and Guy Matthews who is an industrial furniture
designer in Melbourne."

Each piece was carefully selected to contribute to the home's narrative, ensuring that every room told its own story.

"I wanted every room to have its own story. You know when you go into a house quite often, there's one amazing room and the rest of the home is okay? I wanted everything to sort of have a story. So it
sort of flowed from the light to dark."

One of Kali's standout design choices was sanding the floors to maintain a raw, natural look. "The initial floorboards were quite light in colour and over time with the sun they've become very warm. It's interesting how the house naturally changes over time."

For those looking to infuse their homes with a touch of Kali's style, she offers a practical tip: "Choose a favourite piece, it doesn't have to be the focal piece, but something that's going to be an important piece for that room. You can then arrange your colour palette around that item. For example, even though the blue oven was in our kitchen, that didn't mean that everything else was blue, I just made that the focal point of the room and then it didn't need any kind of over styling because the oven expressed its own story."

Vintage House is available for weekend getaways, and available to book for photoshoots with varying rates.
Kali also provides tailored experiences, whether it’s a massage therapist or cafe suggestions - Vintage House has all bases covered for their guests.

The Vintage House Daylesford
vintagehousedaylesford.com

Kali Cavanagh
kalicavanagh.comz