The fashion icon, artist and queen of homewares enjoys dumplings and design mags, pre-game oysters and a yuzushu on ice.
Kelly Thompson’s weekends are filled with tasks and mini goals, and that’s how she likes it. “I get so bored watching TV or sitting around. I’m a bit crap at downtime.” It’s unsurprising, as a multidisciplinary artist and designer, ticking off projects is Kelly’s M.O. Kelly is also the founder of Makers’ Mrkt, a curated online store selling art and design objects ethically made by Aussie and Kiwi designers. It answers the question ‘how do you shop small from creatives if you don’t know where to find them?’. As is often the way in small businesses, Kelly alone plays the roles of creator, curator, creative director and photographer. She’s also a beauty and fashion influencer in her own right, inspiring her 25.5K followers with her excellent ‘fits and creating for brands like Mecca, Sunglass Hut and David Jones.
However, Kelly’s weekend to-dos aren’t about work, but Kelly’s new passion project: her home. “We purchased our first house two years ago and I’m still in a bit of a honeymoon period with it, loving landscaping, painting things and finally making ‘adult’ decisions, by which I mean, decorating.” At any given time she’s on a full-focus DIY mission, applying her design and creative skills to the house and garden – the result is the kind of home many of us fantasise about living in. It’s flush with elegant adult touches: giant artworks made by world-class artists (who just so happen to be friends), plinths topped with dreamy sculptures, a different colour theme in every room. Walking through Kelly’s house invokes a stream of “Ooh, look at that!” and “Wow, where did you get this?” She shares her slice of paradise in Melbourne’s northern suburbs with her partner Christian McCabe (co-owner of buzzy city wine bar Embla), Butter the fat cat and Billie the beagle.
In between nailing DIYs, Kelly’s about good food, good friends, good music and good drinks. Endeavouring to make life a little more colourful, à la Kelly, we spent the weekend in her home, getting to know the finer details of her social life.
Friday
- Q.What’s the plan?
“By Friday afternoon, I’m ready to chill! I like to stay in and relax, but because I’m a bit crap at downtime, I like to spend it doing things. I get bored lazing around, so even while chilling on the couch I’ll be reading a shiny stack of new interiors magazines (I used to hoard fashion glossies but now I’ve completely flipped to Architectural Digest, Vogue Living, Belle and Swill), painting my nails and watching old movies. I’m all about ‘90s action thrillers at the moment, they still hold up. Recently I’ve rewatched American Psycho, Single White Female, Taken and Basic Instinct.”
- Q.What’s on the menu?
“Dumplings! We know Victor Liong at Lee Ho Fook [in Melbourne], so have some real insider hook-ups in the dumpling department! Siu mai (pork and prawn) or har gao (prawn) are always my favourites. Speaking of dumplings, have you tried the giant dumpling in soup from Flower Drum [in Melbourne]? Now that is a perfect dumpling.”
- Q.What are you drinking?
“Christian always has a beer when he gets in and I’ll pour some yuzushu over ice with a squeeze of lime. I love yuzushu, it’s so refreshing. In summer in particular, I always get Christian to bring a bottle home from the restaurant. So if you go to Embla and there’s no yuzushu left, blame me. Otherwise I’ll pick up a bottle of the Yoshinogawa Yuzushu. When dinner arrives we’ll open a bottle of wine. I’m allergic to red wine (including orange and rosé) so it’s always white. Wittmann Riesling is really dry and light, so great with the fatty dumplings. I went through a huge riesling stage, overdid it for a bit, and have just started to appreciate it all over again. “
Saturday
- Q.What's the plan?
“Get dressed up and head out to dinner or a comedy show with friends. I like unfiltered comedy where nobody is safe. My favourites are Jimmy Carr, Chelsea Handler, Ricky Gervais and Ursula Carlson. I saw Ursula at this year’s Melbourne Comedy Festival and she’s hilarious. My favourite night out is always one that evolves somewhat unplanned as the night rolls on. I love an adventure night with a scenery change! So after the show we’ll move on to somewhere relaxed like Caretaker’s Cottage to warm up. I love it so much when you walk into a bar and they have the music just right and you get energised for what’s next.”
- Q.What's on the menu?
“I like to take my time getting ready and not be rushed because I’m a girl who loves to dress up! If there’s an opportunity to snack or enjoy a drink while I get ready, then I most definitely will… although no wine until after the eyeliner is on! Good snacks make the world a better place. A few different cheeses, lavosh, red grapes and maybe a few oysters.”
- Q.What are you drinking?
“I never like to go straight to wine, so I usually start with a Champagne, South Side or, at home, a sherry – something like Barbadillo Pastora Manzanilla En Rama. I drink it often. It’s salty and dry and a little bit oily, so it goes really well with cold, raw seafood – good with the oysters. I think it’s one of those drinks that you maybe don’t like at first, but then you warm up to it and look forward to it as a starter. It’s also an aperitivo, so good for getting the appetite going!”
Sunday
- Q.What's the plan?
“Sunday lunch is a nice time for our kind of entertaining, which is all about good food, good company, music and relaxing together. No seating arrangements, OTT styling or stressful fluffing. I’m in a real, ‘let’s invite different people’ stage. People I think are interesting or who I really like but haven’t spent heaps of time with. Or people that I’ve only ever hung out with in certain kinds of settings and want to bring over to other parts of my life.”
- Q.What's on the menu?
“I let the team down in the cooking department, but Christian is so much better and always cooks when we entertain. I always joke that in our house we have reversed the traditional gender roles – Christian is in the kitchen and I’m on the tools in the yard. Handmade napoli pasta is one of my favourites. We always buy desserts instead of making them and just heat them up in the oven – or if a guest asks what to bring, we hand dessert over to them. This just isn’t a house where anyone wants to bake, but I love a baked dessert so much, especially ones with fruit in them.”
- Q.What are you drinking?
“My options are more limited because of my red wine allergy, but also, I don’t like bitters (controversial, I know). I like a white with more body like a white Burgundy, or marsanne-roussanne blend. The Yeringberg Marsanne Rousanne is a style that goes in and out of fashion, but anyone who drinks it probably asks themselves why they don’t drink something like that more often. After lunch I’m partial to a sipping spirit like tequila on ice with lime. No salt! Often when I order a tequila on ice at a bar people are like ‘woah, hardcore’, but if you’re sipping it, it’s such a good drink! Recently I got into the Gritona Reposado Tequila – which also tastes great mixed with a Strangelove Hot Ginger Beer. I am addicted to this ginger beer, in both summer and winter – how can something be refreshing, yet warming, all at once? The warmth of the spice is great with the pie.”
- Cardamom buns and pie from Falco
- Fresh oysters
- New magazines from the newsagency near Mitch. (where I get my hair done) in Ashburton
- Fresh mushrooms from the market
- Plants (I’m a homeowner now, after all!)
