In her practice, interior designer Tali Roth creates spaces that tell stories. Today, she shares hers with kit. Inviting us into the Pinterest gold mine that is her Melbourne family home, we chat about her effortlessly cool design signature, bathroom art, and how hitting reset can be productive too.
Tell us a bit about you — your practice, your background, how did you get here?
My background is in psychology, and then I pivoted into the fashion industry. I loved it and was really good at the creative part, but the business side of things was just not for me.
So, then I decided to study interior design at RMIT and as soon as I graduated, my husband and I moved to New York. I freelanced for a design agency for three years, and from there, things organically snowballed and I built my practice. It’s been ten years, and I still run jobs both in the US and in Australia.
How would you describe your personal design style? What are you drawn to?
I am drawn to the old, to stories, to meaning and to individuality. It's very hard for me to work on a project where there isn't passion in the brief. I'll happily work on a small job with a small budget because the person is so excited about design, as opposed to working on a gigantic house with huge budget but they wanted it to look like a basic art showroom. I've learned over time that my expertise is in thoughtful, individualistic design, and perhaps that's not where the money is, but it’s what I'm good at.
You’ve lived and worked in New York for a long time before relocating back to Melbourne — how does the local creative scene compare? What makes here so unique?
They're really different scenes. But I think that it's only helped me establish what my particular aesthetic is, and what I bring to the table. I find Melbourne more cutting edge; design is more led by trends and fashion. The population is much smaller and we’ve got some big established designers here, so you have to be really precise and on it. In America, the population is massive, and styles vary by state — from super old architecture to New York’s heavy apartment culture, so I find you have a lot more flexibility and individuality.
Tell us about your Melbourne home.
We bought the home without seeing it when we were still living in America. And then we thought oh god, we can't afford to renovate it. So, we just did the important bits, and furnished the rest so it worked for us. I’m a huge homebody, and I love the open living, cooking and dining space. I spend a lot of the time in the kitchen with the kids — I'm a horrible cook, but you need to feed them all the time!
And what do we find in your bathroom?
The bathroom is all original from the scalloping details to the size to the epic chandelier. We didn’t want to change it, just bring it back to its glory. I needed to find a wallpaper that could match that amazing 60s energy and when I came across that Gucci wallpaper, it was truly the only thing on the market that was perfect. I wanted the vibe to be glamorous, sexy, and extra.
What’s your favourite way to reset throughout the day? Any specific elements you seek out to create a calming atmosphere?
I don't have amazing ways, I'm usually on the verge of a nervous breakdown haha! But my favourite thing to do is take my laptop and get a one-hour foot massage while I do my work. Game changer.
Does art belong in the bathroom — y/n?
Yeah, for sure. Art art (like in a frame) is hard because it gets impacted by the humidity, but art comes in many forms. So, even choosing a beautiful hand wash can make a real impact. 
