I was really looking forward to meeting Gina Ciancio for the first time and getting to know the person behind the well known interior design blog, Style Curator. I stumbled across the blog a while ago when I was just about to fall asleep … I stayed up for hours looking though the post and then hassled Gina until she eventually let Victor and me into her home.
Upon arriving at Gina’s place, I accidentally stepped on some kind of baby toy. It made a squeaky noise and embarrassingly announced my arrival. Gina let me into her kitchen and from that moment, I knew I was somewhere special.
Victor’s photos will speak for themselves, but the kitchen was spacious, modern and just like something out of a winner’s room reveal on The Block. I was so taken by the space that I didn’t even introduce myself to her husband and baby – who were sitting at a stunning long, Danish-inspired table. First the squeaky toy, now this…
Hoping they didn’t pick up on my appalling manners, I quickly steered the conversation toward discovering how Gina got into styling. After all, you can study interior design, but it’s not like you can go to uni to get a degree in knack for spatial arrangement and then complete with an honours in flair.
Gina is from a marketing background; but after getting bored with the lack of creativity in marketing roles, she followed her passion. Enter Style Curator, Gina’s blog on all things interior design.
After building an audience for the blog, Gina managed to connect with people in the industry, stay on top of the trends, provide insight to thousands who needed help or inspiration to style their homes and grow her blog into commercial success — all while building her family home from scratch.
Now before our mid-life crises kick in and we all decide to give in our day jobs to become full-time bloggers, please know that it takes good connections, a savvy marketing sense and solid business plan. Clearly I haven’t worked out any of those components, so I’m still writing these pieces as a hobby and Victor is still eating baked beans for dinner.
What’s evident in her home is that it’s not only an extension of her profession but also her personal life. It’s the balance between the two that make it so great. I think I banged on about this in a previous blog, but what makes good stylists great is the ability to bring a space to life, rather than keeping it in that ‘display apartment look’.
To illustrate the point, check out the guest bathroom: beautiful tiles (courtesy of her husband’s tile shop), current matte black tap ware, quaint light fixtures and contrasting wooden finishes. But all this would not come to life was it not for the hand towel and little green plant to add a dash of colour and breathe life to the space.
Gina pointed out that good styling doesn’t necessarily mean going out and buying six matching $400 pillows. Instead, she suggests that you can buy premium pieces and mix those with standard items. The trick is balance; in Gina’s kitchen, the designer handmade Coper Id pendant lamp from Melbourne and the Kmart barstools complement each other perfectly, despite the difference in price tag. Good advice from someone that really knows what they are talking about.
On the way out, Gina explained that the house has still got a lot more work to be done. I hope she invites us back to check it out when it is complete as I’m sure it will be amazing — probably with plenty of cool hand towels and green plants.
Words: Ashley Feraude
Images: Victor Tawagi
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