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A Hawke’s Baywoman who spent seven years as a Navy chef has made a dramatic career change — to interior design.
Katie Kettle works as a property stylist and owns Refined Spaces, which she started in August 2024.
Kettle left the Navy to settle in Hawke’s Bay and was during her recovery after a knee reconstruction in 2020 that her passion for refining and rearranging homes with her “fresh eyes” was ignited.
The self-described active relaxer said she needed something to do while stuck at home and decided to study interior décor through online learning with Southern Institute of Technology (SIT).
Katie Kettle said all homes have treasures that can be revealed with fresh eyes.
“I thought to myself how can I do interior design in Hawke’s Bay because it is such a niche market.”
Kettle worked in bathroom design for four years before going out on her own and launching Refined Spaces.
“I literally left work and started. There was never a huge savings I had been putting away for when I did start Refined — It’s been literally from the ground up.”
The mother of two children works with clients selling their homes or with people who want their spaces rearranged to tackle clutter.
“I’ve always done this work for my friends and everyone has said ‘Katie, just do it’”.
Since starting, Kettle has done 12 paid jobs, surpassing her initial goal of seven before Christmas and said the business had huge scope to grow and cater to her clients’ needs.
Kettle said it could take her and her mother, who sometimes helps out, as little as two to six hours to complete a redesign.
A before and after captures Katie Kettle's influence on a space she has worked with. Photo / Katie Kettle
Kettle said the beauty in her job, was using existing furniture, furnishings and décor to bring a room to life and reveal “hidden treasures”.
She said this differed from staging, where a room is empty and a designer will set up the space using their own furniture.
“I am a stylist, so I will come in and use what you have got, obviously there is not going to be a dramatic visual change... it’s going to 100% look better.”
She said most people had beautiful items in their homes, and she aimed to find and showcase these in a way that was not cluttered and elevated the space.
Her method is to work closely with her clients and take photos of the rooms needing a redesign, with her favourite space being a lounge and dining room area.
“There are so many things that can happen with Refined Spaces.”
Kettle said her biggest advice for people styling their home was to be weary of trends and focus on what brought joy.
“Trends come and go so my biggest advice for people is not to buy anything on trend and to buy what you like.”
Kettle said she offered a free in-home consult and from there worked with the client on which service they required.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
