Let’s start with lamps. It’s as good a place as any to jump in. After 23 years of calling Australia home, I like to think of myself as a fully paid-up, card-carrying Aussie (for goodness’ sake, I say pah-sta, yo-gurt as in ‘yo-bro’ and alarm my UK friends and family by calling them ‘mate’), but I know there are some tell-tale signs that, to an Australian eye and ear, will forever scream ‘Brit!’ Like my love of tan brogues, fondness for a cardigan and for calling said cardigan a ‘cardi’. Like the way I will happily drink Nescafe (yes, the granule variety) if there is no other coffee to be had and yearn for British chocolate that – to my tastebuds - tastes like chocolate should. Believe me, there is nothing in the world quite like an English Kit Kat. And perhaps most bizarrely of all, my clipped pronunciation of ‘room’. It still comes out sounding like ‘rm’, despite my adoption elsewhere of lazier Aussie vowels. 

To Neale and his partner David, the British and Australian aesthetic merges on many levels, including comfort, quality, design integrity and longevity.

While I concede the Nescafe comment especially might say more about my age than heritage, I acknowledge that I comfortably walk a line between Australian and British. And that’s particularly apparent in the home I share with my Australian-born partner, David. He too shares Australian and British ancestry so, between the two of us, there are some interesting cultural layers. Our open-plan layout, deep tiled verandah, plantation shutters, ceiling fans and white timber floors strewn with rugs speak to an Australian country vernacular, while our love of colour and decoration, rich fabrics, art and books, candles and lamps, suggests something distinctly northern hemisphere in our shared DNA. But it works perfectly, at least for us. 

Displayed in the London Showroom, the Issho Dining Table features softly rounded edges that complement its perfectly balanced proportions.

But back to the lamps. If you’ve ever seen me judge on The Block, you’ll know one of my pet peeves is the contestants’ ongoing omission of lamps. I live in hope that one day, at least one of them will take heed. I’m aware, however, that my affection for lamps and mood lighting is seen in Australia as an anomaly, whereas in the UK it wouldn’t raise an eyebrow. If you’ve watched The Crown or Downton Abbey, or almost any period drama set in the UK, you will have seen a lot of lamps. Lamps were – as far as I’m concerned - the only saving grace in the recent movie Spencer, especially the identical ones that lined the corridors of Sandringham House, seemingly stretching into affinity. Breathtaking. 

Situated on bustling Tottenham Court Road, the London Showroom is the first KING Showroom to be brought to Europe.

In the simplest of terms, British homes are about inside, and Australian homes are about outside. Within that very generalised statement, are – of course - endless variations and exceptions, but to me it’s the fundamental difference between our two aesthetics. As Australians, we tend to seek solutions that protect and shield us from our abundant natural light, and which harness its amazing potential to create outdoor rooms. Not to mention the way we often opt for a neutral palette that celebrates the light. In the UK, decorating solutions focus on adding light and colour to counteract the many months of gloom. British summers can be glorious, but they’re often short-lived. Where those two worlds collide, however, is in a shared respect for comfort, quality, design integrity and – importantly – longevity. 

The London Showroom displays KING designs for every room in the home.