An interview with Kathrine McDonald from Kathrine McDonald Interior Design, words by Casey Vassallo.

Lighthouse recently launched Locale – a boutique residential community located at 20 Mission Street, Tauranga. A picture of central sophistication, six contemporary residences have been expertly curated by local interior design firm Kathrine McDonald Design, just a short stroll from the bustling inner-city. We speak with McDonald about the inner workings of her creative mind.

Great design doesn’t just happen – there’s an art to it. Mount Maunganui-based interior designer Kathrine McDonald embodies this sentiment, and approaches design methodically when crafting beautiful homes and spaces for her Bay of Plenty clientele.

Starting with the floorplan, McDonald thinks critically about the layout of a home and how it will function day-to-day, before turning her head to materials and finishes (because the former informs the latter). “It’s based on the site, the client and how a property needs to function,” she says.

When it came to working on Lighthouse Group’s new Locale project in Tauranga’s CBD, which will be home to six exclusive boutique residences, she took a long-term perspective to the design. “The design and materials needed to have longevity – something that will look great in 10 or 15 years from now,” McDonald says, “where you can create beautiful memories with family and friends.”

Insightful Design

Then, when it comes to the aesthetic details, McDonald grounds down to ensure the material palette ties together. “I always start with the flooring and I build up,” she explains. “Everything that goes on top of that flooring, talks to that flooring.”

Following this principle, McDonald has selected a Hurford warm oak engineered timber floor for the living spaces at Locale. “I feel the timber is a really beautiful finish for everything else to go on top of,” she says. “It’s a great location and I think it deserves to have a high-quality finish, and a refined materiality and style.”

In the bedrooms, she’s opted for a soft and sand-toned Bremworth 100% wool loop pile carpet. The bathrooms will have large format matte tiles from floor to ceiling, along with mirror cabinet storage and brushed nickel tapware.

Striking Interiors

Locale’s homes are what McDonald says have the ideal foundations. “When [the owner or occupier] starts putting their sofas in and their rugs, it’s a really good base for everything they’ll put on top of it,” she says. “There’s a lot of wriggle room as to what you can put into the property.”

That is because McDonald played with neutral features throughout the project to create serene, calm and harmonious spaces. “We’ve kept the palette very quiet in that respect,” she says. “What we've tried to do though is bring in layers of texture, not with colour, but with materials.” As with the Pacific Quartz engineered stone waterfall benchtop in the kitchen, and the v-groove panelling on the walls.

“Natural light can make or break a space, so we’ve tried to create little heroes with the lighting in specific zones to add another layer,” she says of decorative wall lights that bring depth to an otherwise blank canvas. “It’s just adding those little touches that create that good mood.”

Your New Locale

Located only a five minute walk from the centre of town, Locale makes for the perfect home for empty nesters, downsizers, and young professionals alike. “It’s ideal for people that just want to make the most of everything that Tauranga has to offer and not have to get in the car to drive [somewhere],” she says. “Tauranga has parks, beaches, shopping centres, cultural attractions, and Locale can take advantage of those amenities with convenient access.”

“That’s where Lighthouse has been quite clever, too. To get something in Tauranga that’s still an upmarket property under $1 million is really rare.”

For Lighthouse, it’s all about creating homes and communities with an enticing lifestyle to match. Whether you’re having friends over for dinner or going on an impromptu date night around the corner, living in a home you love in a thriving location means you can have the best of both worlds at Locale.

Locale is now available to purchase, priced from $875,000. For further information please click on the link here or reach out to our Lighthouse team to see McDonald’s mood boards in person.