Heather Nette King’s enthusiasm for styling and interiors is palpable and so inspiring. Brave enough to make the move out of an unfulling career in PR to try her hand as an interiors writer and stylist, it’s safe to say she’s never looked back. These days you’ll mostly see her gorgeous work in the Melbourne homes pages of Sunday Life and she recently took on her first official interior decorating job after spending years advising friends and family on what to do with their homes.
Having always dreamed of working on an interiors magazine, when Heather and her family moved to Sydney, she quit her PR job and was starting to contact the editors at her favourite titles to see if they’d take on an unpaid intern, when she got a very lucky break. “I was given a trial period producing the home pages for Sunday Life magazine. They knew I could write, so I had to source and shoot some fabulous homes so they could see if I had what it took to do the rest of it. I am forever in debt to the wonderful Aleksandra Beare (then the art director at Sunday Life, and currently acting creative director at Inside Out) who gave me this lucky break. Five years on, I am still doing these home pages. I get to visit the most incredible homes and talk interiors for hours – so I am like a pig in mud!” Her advice to aspiring stylists is to team up with an aspiring interiors photographer and “just get shooting”. Build up a portfolio then start knocking on doors.
And although she feels very fortunate, Heather’s a great believer in making a change when it’s needed. “I really don’t get it when people stay in jobs, or any kind of relationships for that matter, when they are not happy. Like everyone, I find change a bit daunting, but sometimes you just have to back yourself and jump!”
Writing about how people live in their homes gives you an amazing insight into the human condition, she says. “Honestly, during interviews, I have sobbed along with someone who was describing how their grandfather smuggled just one possession out of a war zone, and I have laughed until I cried with other people describing their renovating experiences. The common denominator is how important our little patch of space and our belongings are to us, and it’s an honour to get the chance to do justice to people’s stories.”