If you’re looking for kitchen inspiration. Or art inspiration. Or fashion inspiration. Actually, if you’re looking for inspiration that spans across all forms of style, keep scrolling. Kym Rundle is the chic founder of communications agency Articulate, and she just so happens to have one of the most dreamy homes we’ve ever stepped into. She lives in a terrace house in Sydney’s Paddington with her son Hamish, 6, and husband Ben...
We first photographed Kym when her son Hamish was just a few weeks old. Looking back, she describes those early days of motherhood as a mix of “blurry preciousness, shock awe, exhaustion and love”. Yet those magical but chaotic days are behind her. Hamish started school this year, and this phase of motherhood, right now, is unquestionably her favourite. “I love the earnestness, the growing independence, the full-body hugs, the chats!” she says.
A former lawyer, Kym founded her company Articulate back in 2009 and specialises in the arts and cultural sectors (she holds post-graduate qualifications in both art history and strategic marketing and studied at The Sotheby’s Institute and Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in London). She’s also a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors; a founding Board Director of Art Month Sydney; and a founding member of the MCA Australia Young Ambassadors program. Back in 2018, Kym also founded The Golden Mean, a content agency focused on the arts.
Here, we step into her beautiful home, get dressed up in some of our favourite looks from Oroton (how many handbags is acceptable to purchase each season? Because frankly, we want them all) and fall in love with the colour sage green (note the kitchen and this heavenly Oroton suit – it’s literally a match made in heaven).
Photography: Julie Adams | Hair and makeup: Jess Diez | Go to articulatepr.com.au
All clothing and accessories by Oroton | In association with Oroton
Kym wears Oroton Belted Blazer, $599, and Oroton Belted Pant, $429
We first photographed you when Hamish was a little baby. If you could go back in time, to when you first became a mother, what advice would you give yourself?
Problems always seem better bigger than they are at the time.
What stage of motherhood has been your favourite?
I am so enamoured with watching Hamish grow into his own personality. He has a deep instinctive kindness, a mischievous sense of humour, joy for life and fierce loyalty that takes my breath away.
Artwork by Bec Smith. Kym wears Oroton Long Sleeve PJ Stripe Shirt, $279, and Oroton Belted Pant, $429
What stage of motherhood has been the most challenging?
For me, the toughest were the toddler years. I think there’s no accident children peak in cuteness at one of their most trying ages for parents! Whilst I look back at it with fondness, at the time I often felt overwhelmed and was railing on the inside against my loss of autonomy.
From top: Oroton Etta Shoulder Bag, $499, Oroton Lilia Crossbody, $279
You recently renovated your kitchen – can you tell us about it?
I wanted the kitchen to feel calming and nurturing: a true escape from the outside world and with a nod to more traditional European kitchens. The kitchen and dining areas open up to a garden courtyard and the green cabinetry plays beautifully off the surrounding plants and the warm grey veining in the marble. We chose aged brass cabinetry and tapware from English Tapware Company and I was lucky enough to get counsel on the final detailing from my clever friend Caroline Choker of ACME.
Kym wears Oroton Fluid Top, $349, and Oroton Soft Cargo Pant, $399
What room in your home is your favourite and why?
The lounge in winter. Sitting by the fireplace in the colder months with my husband and Hamish, indulging my inner introvert: reading, puzzling, toasting marshmallows, listening to music.
From top: Oroton Jerome Woven Day Bag, $699, and Oroton Klara Medium Tote, $499
Talk me through some of your favourite pieces in your home and why you love them?
Our 1950s Stilnovo lamp from Nicholas & Alistair in Melbourne was love at first sight. My oval travertine study desk from Tamsin Johnson’s store in Paddington. I love its heaviness (it took five strong men to carry it into the house) but it also has a refined femininity that makes it a pleasure to work from.
What about décor – what are your favourite stores?
Maison Balzac, Lrnce, Jardan, Mud Australia, Alex & Trahanas, Love after Love and Bess Paddington (for their Mudbird ceramics).
What about fashion?
Right now, I love anything linen and lightweight. I also green tones – I find them incredibly calming.
Kym wears Oroton Cotton-Linen Sateen Tab Detail Dress, $449
When it comes to art, where does someone who has no idea about art, begin?
There’s no right or wrong, just start exploring – online or in person at your local gallery or museum. Ask yourself why you’re drawn to individual works and be inquisitive about the artists and their practice. Dive deeper, speak to friends and gallerists about the art that speaks to you.
Who are your favourite artists and what are some of your favourite pieces in your home?
Some of my favourite artists are Josef Albers, Tomislav Nikolic, Cy Twombly, Aida Tomescu, Olafur Eliasson, Gideon Rubin and Mason Kimber. Lately, I’ve been obsessing over Don Cameron’s photographic series. Some of favourite works in our home are by Chrisitan Thompson, Huseyin Sami, Jonny Niesche, Petrina Hicks and Tonee Messiah.
For more affordable art, what’s your advice?
There are some incredible online galleries and initiatives on offer now. Seek them out in your home city or online. Visit art fairs – they are a great way to see the full range of what’s on offer and there are always affordable options. Buying smaller scale works or works on paper is also a good way to begin.
What’s your advice around mixing prints with more textural pieces of art – what’s the key to achieving balance?
The golden rule still applies: buy what you love. That said, it’s good to be conscious of the diversity of your artworks, both in terms of the medium of the work but also mixing up artists of different stages in their career, ethnicities and genders.
What weekly rituals do you have in place that keep you sane/make you happy?
Yoga… as much as I can physically fit into my schedule. I have an incredible teacher who identifies his spirit animal as being a wolf – enough said.
Kym wears Oroton Cotton-Linen Sateen Tab Detail Dress, $449
Tell me about why/when you started Articulate – what were the early days of running a new business like?
Hectic, exciting, exhausting, relentless, emotionally satisfying. A little like motherhood really.
What are your time management tips – how do you juggle work with being a mother?
Motherhood made me a morning person and that has stuck. For me, the clarity first thing in the morning, before the world and our house wakes up, has incredible power and peace in it. I’m also a believer in the 80/20 rule and learnt the hard way that learning how to say no is essential for working mothers.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Up around in the fives for a mix of work, yoga or training before getting Hamish ready and off to school. At the moment I’m working mostly from home so then it’s a day of zoom meetings and calls from our study, interspersed with visits to clients at museums, galleries and artist studios. Now the weather is warming up, the evenings might be dinner in the garden.
For women out there wanting to launch their own business, what advice would you give them?
Do it! To paraphrase Goethe, whatever you can dream, begin it; boldness has genius and power in it. Essentially you need to be ready to put in the hard yards, but it is all worth every moment.
What’s your favourite way to spend time together as a family?
It’s hard to beat a great ski holiday as a family, we are a bit addicted. I’ve definitely fallen in love with the mountains.