HOLLY AT HOME

For a long time now we have crushed on Holly McCauley’s down to earth, effortless style. Recently she has become a young mum to her beautiful daughter Della. We decided to catch up with her at home in Bangalow, to ask her a few questions about what has brought her to where she is today.

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to live in Byron?

Raised in Sydney, I moved to Byron straight out of uni when I was offered a job at Frankie magazine, based in Burleigh Heads. I had a few girlfriends living in Byron at the time in a little fibro sharehouse on Bangalow Road and they kindly let me crash when I accepted the job. The plan was to find a place closer to work, but once I landed in Byron, I never left. 8 years later and my partner, Nich and I live in Bangalow with our daughter, Della. Those girlfriends are still my closest pals and all live nearby.

We remember the Frankie days!

When did you start your young family?

Nich and I had always talked about having a family and all the fun things we would get up to, the idea of bringing a new soul into the world to share our little life with was always on the cards.  We fell pregnant when we were living in Sydney (we had a short 12 month stint there in 2015) and moved back here, where she was born. The idea of raising our kids here was something we both wanted but never forced, everything seemed to fall into place in that respect.

It’s great to be settled in the one place and we are so blessed to live in such a wonderful area to bring up young families.

Tell us a bit about your daily routine?

Della wakes us up around 6.30 and I usually pretend to be asleep until Nich gets her out of our bed and makes her brekky. Unless Nich sneaks out for an early surf, a non-negotiable for us if a coffee together, it’s our special routine and daily splurge.  It also gets Della out of the house so she can let some of her energy out. She usually does this by climbing in and out of various chairs in whatever café we are in or by begging strangers for croissants. I work part-time so on my days off, Della and I just hang out. We’ll go for a walk on the beach if it’s sunny, run some errands (which I secretly love doing after working full time for so long and never having time to do the groceries), make lunch, and I try and squeeze some work and emails in while she naps. It’s such a luxury working less at the moment, so I’m seriously so happy just being around Della, which was the whole point.

She is such a sweetheart with a bubbly personality it’s irresistible.

What do you love most about raising your daughter in this beautiful part of the world?

I was raised in apartment buildings in Sydney, moving every year or so – right now, Della is having the total opposite upbringing to me. We love camping, going to the beach, just being on our own time – the lifestyle here allows for all of this. I feel happy for her, but I also want to show her the world and how lucky she really is to live somewhere where there is fresh air, fresh food and nature is truly on her doorstep -  I want her to see how beautiful the world is and contribute to protecting it. Also, (almost) all of our closest friends live nearby, I love that Della has all these amazing people in her life beyond her immediate family. Even just bumping into people we know every day is so special and I’m beyond grateful that she has this sense of community.

We hear that! We value this so greatly with our own families too.

Your home looks amazing, tell us a little bit about what has inspired your beautiful humble home?

We love our little place in the Byron hinterland. We bought the house literally the day we found out I was pregnant with Della and it was a worse-house-on-the-best-street kind of situation. We bought it without inspecting it, because we knew it was the only chance we’d have to get into the property market. It needed A LOT of work, and Nich has done all of it (except a few trades) with his own two hands. We’ve still got loads to do, but it’s slowly feeling less like a fibro garage and more like a home. All the things we have in our home have travelled with us throughout countless moves and all I want is to create a feeling of warmth and good vibes when people walk in. We live pretty simply and our home is a reflection of this – you won't find anything glamorous here, but we do believe in buying things once and keeping them forever. Having a house that’s only 60 meters squared means we can splurge on the good stuff because we don’t need much of it! It’s slowly getting there, we’ve been here for two years and it’s taken us this long to hang our artwork up.

What has been the best part of the journey?

Looking back at the journey and realizing you’re still on it (and will be forever!) is the best.

Absolutely! The learning curve is the best part!

What are you looking forward to working on next?

I’ve been working full time for the past decade, so to be honest, I’m looking forward to working on my life with my family. It’s my best project to date! I’m also a workaholic, so I’ve got a handful of epic freelance clients who I love working with and I’m hoping to have some more time for a few personal projects and honing in on a few new skills.  

The best things in life are the most simple and it’s important to keep that in mind. Holly suits our looks perfectly so here a few of our favourites…

Photography by Ashi Schumann.


Holly wears: