wild thing

Stylist Kit Alida Bettison knows colour – and she’s not afraid to use it

With its bold mix of colour, this home is a maximalist’s dream.

It’s psychedelic ’70s meets Scandi industrial,” explains interior and fashion stylist Kit Alida Bettison of her flamboyant home in the hills surrounding Byron Bay, which she shares with her husband Odie and sons Artie Cosmo, three, and August Mars, one. The family moved into the eclectic “big tin shed” in northern NSW in 2013, having built on the acreage that surrounds Bettison’s mother’s home. Mum and daughter have an interior design business, Alida And Miller, so are often hopping between their neighbouring spaces.

Bettison, who also runs her own vintage fashion store Alida Buffalo, says her surrounds, like trends, can change with the seasons. “The home is constantly evolving and growing with our family,” she says. “It also helps that my husband is a carpenter, so if I get a crazy idea in the middle of the night, he can bring it to life,” she laughs. The latest of those midnight brainwaves is the sweet timber breakfast nook that sits opposite the colourful kitchen. “We built the nook using only $300 worth of plywood. The rest

SERVING SUGGESTION Bettison names the newly built breakfast nook as her favourite corner of the home

LIGHT SHOW “I love the light in the living room,” Bettison says of the large pendant from the ’50s (above). “I love the sheer scale – it reminds me of a retro UFO”