For Luke Sales, co-founder of Romance Was Born, creativity doesn’t stop at the wardrobe. His Sydney home is a world of collected trinkets, vintage treasures, curious objects and unexpected details, where every corner holds a little personality and a story of its own.

This week on our Home Life Series, we’re heading to Sydney to meet Luke and step inside his wonderfully eclectic home. From cabinets filled with glassware and curiosities to treasured vintage finds, it’s a space that celebrates the beauty of collecting, the joy of colour and the magic of surrounding yourself with things you love.

Come inside as Luke talks collecting, creative expression and the connection between fashion and interiors, sharing a peek into the colourful, imaginative world behind Romance Was Born.

Hi Luke, thank you so much for welcoming us into your home all the way in Sydney!  What was it about this place that made you think, yep, this is the one? How did you discover it?

I love the high ceilings and i love the view of the city at night. It feels quite cinematic, I first saw it at night and the city lights were the first thing I noticed. It's very much a work in progress as i think all spaces should be.

Your home is filled with collected trinkets, vintage treasures and wonderfully curious finds. What draws you to these pieces, and what makes something worthy of coming home with you?

There is no particular thing that makes we want to take it home, other than if it stirs some kind of a feeling in me, I love everything. All decades eras and that is a in a small space, so I guess for me it's about how to make everything work together 

And what you see is only the tip of the iceberg. I love to change things around and keep evolving a space - I have works of art I move around, things in storage and things at the office. I find if I move one thing it causes a chain reaction and I suddenly have to move more.

We have to talk about the cabinet of trinkets. Tell us about this little treasure trove of glassware and collected curiosities. Are there any pieces in there with a particularly good story?

A lot of these pieces I brought in pairs or overseas, I know its cliche but I love when something has a story or holds a memory. Some of them are gifts so that makes them special, some are really expensive some not so much. But for me it's really important that everything is used, I'm not too precious when it comes to that stuff. 

There’s so much personality tucked into every corner of your home. Is there a room or corner that you’re particularly fond of?

This might sound weird but I love my laundry, I love doing laundry, and I love keeping on top of all that. I find it relaxing and I enjoy hearing the washing machine or the dryer going in the apartment as I fall asleep at night.

Romance Was Born has been creating fashion fantasy since you and Anna Plunkett founded the label in 2005. Tell us a little about your world at RWB and how you first found your way into fashion and this wonderfully wild creative universe.

We just started doing it as a a fun hobby, and slowly over time it turned into a serious business. We just did what excited us, and I guess it resonated with people, I think there is a lot of our personality in what we do and how we do it. We have always been like and I hope it shows. 

Collaboration is such a big part of the Romance Was Born story. What sparked the idea for the RWB x Kip&Co collaboration, and what did you love about bringing our two colourful worlds together?

I've always loved kip and co linen and its so great to mix with other pieces I have collected, like vintage Italian bed spreads or vintage wool blankets, kantha India quilts (all washed a million times of course lol). My Rainbow Brite sheets always get a lot of attention, and I thought it would make sense for our customer to be able to live the Romance Was Born fantasy 24 /7.

So much of Romance Was Born is about storytelling through colour, texture, embellishment and unexpected combinations. Do you think your approach to dressing and your approach to decorating come from the same place?

Yes personally I don't have a style, well I don't think. Day to day I wear tee shirts and shorts and sneakers, our work its pretty labour intensive so I wear work clothes, it can be messy and I don't see anyone so I don't care really how I look. But when I think about what I'm going to wear I like to wear something vintage and something nice, that's I guess what I'd say my style is if anything.