In Residence with

Emma Kalfus

Stylist, creative consultant and founder of SIDE-NOTE, Emma Kalfus on finding balance between a creative career and family life.

We caught up with Emma Kalfus at home, sun pouring through the windows. The living room is stripped back, but personal touches surface in the details. There is softness in the palette, space to breathe, and an ease that feels distinctly her own.

Kalfus is a stylist, creative consultant, and founder and editor of SIDE-NOTE Magazine. She brings the same eye to a room that she brings to a page: restrained, considered and never overworked.

Her time splits between the magazine, the brands she consults for, and styling some of Australia's most talked-about editorials, all while raising two kids a few streets from the beach in North Bondi. Motherhood and career do not compete so much as coexist, a balance that sounds simple until you try it. Kalfus is the rare creative who has found a way to protect her own growth alongside her family's.

We sat down with Emma to talk about the slow build of a creative life, and how her fashion instincts have quietly shaped the home she has made.

You've built SIDE-NOTE, a consulting practice, and a styling career, all from Sydney, all while raising two kids near the water. Looking back at where you started, what surprises you most about where you've landed?

I was brought up in Adelaide, South Australia and always loved fashion but never thought this would be my career path. My parents had very traditional jobs that they stayed in their whole lives and they struggled to understand that I could make a living from putting people in clothes, but it’s been refreshing to carve out a different path, and I’ve loved the mix of working for magazines and freelancing and then starting our own independent magazine.

"My parents struggled to understand that I could make a living from putting people in clothes, but it’s been refreshing to carve out a different path."

People often describe your work as effortless, but it's clearly considered. Where does that balance come from?

I started my career at InStyle magazine in the most junior fashion role and learnt a lot about the traditional ways of making a fashion magazine from the editor and creative director at that time. I assisted for a very long time, and the experience gave me a great understanding of what finessing needs to happen to make a really serviceable product. 

"One of the questions the creative director and fashion director used to ask when we were mapping out stories or looks for shoots was, ‘Would you wear it?’, ‘Who do you think would wear this look?’ and ‘How would you elevate it?"

I still remind myself of these to this day, and I think they helped shape my styling aesthetic. There are always opportunities to do things more conceptual that don’t necessarily need to be a look for your everyday, but for the most part, that’s the goal - to give people inspiration of how to wear things, and show them the best of what’s out there to buy!

How do you actually find time for your own thinking, reading, and mood making with two kids and this many jobs? What does that look like day to day?

It’s honestly a constant battle and often feels like the ball is dropping in one court or the other…  I definitely try and carve out time for myself and thankfully have a very flexible and hands-on partner who does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to the kids…

I’m most inspired by other cultures and different periods, so travel is key but if I can’t actually travel to new destinations, I try and find ideas through books or movies that are set in completely different places, cultures or periods than those I have experienced. I used to be a big reader but nowadays I struggle to get through more than a few pages at a time, so I’ve taken to audiobooks and I really love seeing films as much as I can… 

You've got a specific eye as a stylist, how fabric falls, how a palette pulls a room together. Does that same eye show up in how you've put your own home together?

Our house is still very much a work in progress. We added a second story and renovated the whole place and have only moved back in a few months ago.

We are very much rookies to the reno game, but I did know what type of feel I wanted for our house - I really wanted it to feel welcoming and homely with the textures and decor we chose, not overly minimal or cluttered, but with enough personal character. Hopefully I’ll continue to shape it as we go…

Your house is one of your creative spaces too, isn't it? What does it look like at its most lived in, and what does it give you that a studio never could?

Until the start of this year, I was working out of our home, and it was quite chaotic. Basically, a revolving door of samples in and out for shoots and place for fittings and style outs. Since the start of this year we moved into a Double Bay office for SIDE-NOTE and it’s been a game changer, but I’d be lying if I said things didn’t still creep in. The kids love it too and have a constant stream of accessories to dress up with.

The ocean is only a few streets away. How much does that shape your days, and does it feed into the work?

For the most part of the year, we spend every weekend and lots of afternoons after school by the beach and in the months of June/July/August I still plan my journey to work via the beach route as it definitely lifts my mood. Swimming in the ocean every day, at least in summer and autumn really releases a lot of stress and always lifts my mood.

What's a piece in your home you could never replace?

I really love our huge kitchen island, and we knew from the get-go we would always congregate around this with both family and friends. My husband is a chef, so we host friends a lot and even with just our family of four, it seems everything takes place around this. 

You're building SIDE-NOTE as you go. What do you want readers to feel when they sit down with an issue, and where do you want to take it next?

We really wanted SIDE-NOTE to be something that opened up conversations in real life and showcased emerging talent in a fresh, new way. We are always on the hunt for new talent, both in front of the lens and behind it, and also in the form of writers and talent behind the scenes. 

We have taken it relatively slow ’til this point with the print magazine, but have been growing quite quickly as a studio in the background - one that produces end-to-end campaigns, events, ongoing brand consulting, etc. for other clients. This has probably been the most surprising and exciting part, as we’ve had the opportunity to delve into other industries - tech, beauty and lots of other areas, but with a fashion spin.

Emma's Selects