Sixteen years ago, Julia Green was selling pharmaceuticals. Legal ones, she'd want me to clarify. Then a photographer she happened to cross paths with told her she should be styling, not selling drugs. She jumped on that train and never really got off.
That's Julia. She's the founder and creative director of Greenhouse Interiors, the colour soaked styling business, online store and Geelong concept space she's built since 2008. She represents dozens of artists and brands, styles for the biggest interiors magazines here and overseas, runs design tours through Morocco, and is mum to two boys. She's widely known as Australia's queen of colour. She's also a dear friend, so fair warning, this one goes off the rails a few times in the best way.
People call Julia lucky, and she pushes back hard. Yes there were sliding doors moments, but underneath the apparent chaos was a lot of strategy. Her real point is that passion isn't something you wait to discover. It was always in her, and it would've come out whatever she did. Her advice for anyone standing at the edge of their own leap is simple. "Don't wait. If you want something badly enough, you'll get it. I'm the just do it girl." She's done with regret too. You made the best call you could at every juncture, and none of it is worth carrying.
For someone who moves at a million miles an hour, the part that surprised me most was Julia talking about slowing down. It took her until nearly fifty five. Energy is finite, so she's ruthless about where hers goes. If a relationship isn't a two way street, she lets it go, with love. She's learned to stop swimming against the tide and trust the train she's on. And she protects her mornings fiercely, Pilates six days a week, non negotiable, because an hour with her phone out of reach is the most blissful part of her day.
We couldn't let the queen of colour go without talking colour, and her take is more interesting than you'd think. Her own home is earthy and refined, all tones pulled from nature. Colour, to her, is about emotion, not volume. And you can't look at it in isolation, it only works layered with texture and real thought about how much you use and where. She reminded me of the cherry red tile I once talked her into for the Greenhouse space, the one she swore she'd never use and now sees on every second Instagram carousel. Sometimes you just have to be talked into the middle of it.
There's so much more in the full episode, the artists she's championed for a decade, the honesty about working with a partner, and a beautiful thread about her mum that ties the whole thing together.
Listen to the full episode
Listen now on Spotify and YouTube, or search Conversations Under Construction wherever you get your podcasts.
If Julia got you thinking about doing your next project properly from the start, our free 7-Step Renovation Roadmap is the place to begin. It is the simplest way to spend wisely upfront and save yourself the heartache later. Get it here
Show notes and links
Conversations Under Construction is the podcast from By R.A., where we talk to the designers, makers and renovators shaping how we live. Subscribe and follow along.
No Comments Yet
Let us know what you think