By Amy Campion
Most mornings you’ll find interior designer Liz Kuehne at the big timber table in her Mount Martha studio surrounded by tiles, fabric swatches and sketches of floorplans.
Not so long ago she was racing into the city for her fashion and buying career, but now, with a young daughter at home, she’s creating something closer to the life she wanted and helping other families reshape theirs along the way.
Birdrock Studio takes its name from Liz’s neighbourhood beach: part light and sky, part solid ground. Her interiors have that same feel: breezy, sunlit rooms with sheer curtains and soft movement, anchored by layouts that make sense, storage that works, and materials chosen to live with, not tiptoe around. It’s less about showpieces and more about homes that feel good on any ordinary day.
Liz is especially drawn to “difficult spaces”, the rooms people apologise for when she first walks in. The odd corners, awkward doorways, and living areas that never quite feel inviting. Before she talks about colours or tiles, she asks how the household really moves through the day. Where do you drop bags? What do you do while you’re cooking dinner? Where do you like to sit with a coffee? Those small but important details shape everything that follows.
Her coastal influence is clear, but it’s not a bare, all-white look. Birdrock interiors lean into layered textures and colours like blues and greens, soft neutrals, earthy tones, warm timber, woven rugs, and linen. The result is spaces that feel relaxed and lived-in, with enough depth and warmth to handle sandy feet, school projects spread across the table, and friends dropping by.
Function is never an afterthought. Liz’s background in buying means she’s comfortable juggling budgets, product options and lead times, and she works closely with builders and trades so decisions on paper really work on site. Clients come to Birdrock Studio for kitchen and bathroom redesigns, full-house renovations and new builds, often starting with one tricky room and returning later for the rest of the house.
What people tend to remember most, though, is how she makes the process feel. Liz is warm and relaxed, with a calm way of listening that helps clients sort out what they genuinely love from what they’ve just seen online. She’s as interested in how a hallway copes with school bags and boots as she is in the hero pendant over the island bench. That mix of empathy and detail is where her work really lives.
Photos: by Lee David Pena
For Liz, interior design isn’t about creating a set for a photo shoot. It’s about helping people feel comfortable in their homes: solving the daily irritations, softening the hard edges, and shaping spaces that are beautiful, easy to live in and very much theirs.
To see more of Liz’s projects or book a consultation, visit birdrockstudio.com or find @birdrockinteriors on Instagram.
