INTERIOR designer and self-confessed eBay queen Erin Cain’s gorgeous home, with accents of glamorous gold and bright pops of lemon and turquoise, “feels like me”, she says – although achieving this has been a process of trial and error.

“It took me years to establish what my taste was,” she says. “Even while I was studying I had no idea what I wanted.

“Like lots of people, I threw money at higgeldy-piggeldy pieces but gradually I’ve been selling things on eBay and buying items more in line with what I love.”

And Erin loves vintage style, antiques, Hollywood glamour and a touch of seventies, she says.

“There are good aspects of the seventies – it doesn’t have to be about orange and brown lino!” she says.

“I discovered international interiors magazines and ‘Belle’ – not that I can always afford the things in ‘Belle’, but I certainly take inspiration from there.
I love it when some items are stunning and glamorous and other things recede.

“And when I look at each item individually, I just love each one.”

With a seriously sexy Milo Baughman table from Nicholas & Alistair in Melbourne and beautiful Chippendale chairs taking centre stage in the family room, the mum of three boys says she’s not worried about the kids trashing her treasures.

“If anything gets damaged, that’s life – it can always get repaired,” she says. “I’m not precious about protecting the furniture. It’s there to be used and enjoyed.

“The bronze base of the table is stunning, and at night it glows – it’s just divine. There would be no point in covering it up.”

Erin says the house is a work in progress. “We’ve been gradually making changes over the years as purse strings allow,” she says. “We’ve fitted molding to add character and taken down some walls, but it’s by no means finished.”

Inspired by the happy, bold style of Jonathan Adler, Orson & Blake’s luxurious look and a big fan of antique shops around Canberra and beyond, Erin says her husband Jeff likes where she’s going with the house.

“He can see the continuity in what I’m trying to do,” she says.

“He really only has an opinion about the funding!”

Contact Erin at Duck Egg Designs on 0417 740919