How-to find time for connection with a busy lifestyle. SDM Interiors Founder and Creative Director Samantha Del Monte boasts 14 years of experience within the real estate and design industry. Her extensive portfolio across renovation, interior design and styling has equipped her with a diverse skill set. She has also gained invaluable insights into the varied needs of homeowners across the globe.
Our team at Verve Portraits sat down with Samantha herself, to open up on the matters of business and family. She shares with us the journey of being a career woman, mother and business owner all in one! If you are a working parent, home owner, business person or have aspirations to be, this interview is one to simply devour!
A busy lifestyle.
Sam you are a creative director with over 14 years of experience in the real estate industry. You are also a renowned interior designer. For our readers, can you tell us a few fun facts people may not know about yourself and your business SDM interiors?
My business formed quite organically, however I have lived and breathed real estate and renovations since I was a baby. My mother owned 3 real estate offices where I grew up. As a family we built and renovated 10 houses by the time I left home. I have since renovated 6 of my own properties with my husband, and have lived in 28 different homes! At 34 (my age now), that’s 1.2 homes per year on average. Lucky I adapt to change well!
Making a house a home.
In your expert opinion Sam, what are the design elements/key factors that help to make a house feel more like a home?
Speaking of home, tell us a little bit about your family, and what being a mother really means to you.
To me, being a mother means getting to see all the possibilities of the world through your children’s eyes. As well as wanting to be the kindest and most generous version of yourself, so that your children can look up to you. On a day to day level, being a mother means being tired, sometimes grumpy and never left alone. Making time for them and making them a priority, despite life pulling you in all directions. Then, in one funny, loving or meaningful moment with your kids, realising that it’s all completely worth it.
“On a day to day level, being a mother means being tired, sometimes grumpy and never left alone. Making time for them and making them a priority, despite life pulling you in all directions.”
The most surprising part of Motherhood.
Let’s chat about the most surprising part of the motherhood journey, in your personal experience?
My husband and I decided mid-2018 to try for a baby. We really had no idea what was in store for us and so everything since Lucia has been born has been a bit of a surprise really! Everyday has a new learning and something so special that comes with it. That in itself is the journey of motherhood for me.
When it comes to opening up, what do you wish mothers talked about more? (The vulnerable sides of parenthood)
Exactly that – Vulnerability! That it’s okay to feel that you are struggling someday’s but that we are not alone and that we all feel that way sometimes. It’s definitely the hardest but also most rewarding role in your lifetime.
Advice to a younger self.
Before becoming a parent, what advice would you give to your young self? How-to find time for connection with a busy lifestyle?
Live a full and selfish life before having children. Which is what I did. I wouldn’t change a thing! I felt like I had a great life in my 20’s, living overseas and travelling the world, creating lifelong friends. Meeting my husband and getting married, we then started to create a solid foundation for our future children. When we fell pregnant, we felt the time was right. So ultimately, do it at your own pace, don’t feel that you have to do it by a certain time etc.
Our first photo together as a family of three.
What’s your earliest memory of being in a photograph with your child? What do you think it means to a child, to have photographs with their parents included?
The moment she was born, we had one of the nurses take photos with our phone which captures her coming into the world so perfectly – so raw, emotional and overwhelming love!
Parents are everything and more to children, so having memories made for them with their parent/s in the photo would make them feel that little bit more connected to them.
Importance of family photos.
Do you feel comfortable being in photos, alongside your child? Why/why not?
I feel extremely comfortable, in fact I wish I had more photos of us together! Those points of connection during a busy life are so important. Not a day goes by that I don’t look at photos of us as a family. Warms my heart and soul and makes me feel so grateful to be her mum!
Do you think you have ever held back from being part of a photo? Why/why not?
Yes, just because of how I may have looked or felt at the time.
Making important memories with family.
When it comes to making and creating family memories, do you think photographs and images of memories are important?
Definitely! The power of a photograph is that it connects us back to the past, to people and experiences. It speaks to our emotions and allows us to tell a story or a timeline of our lives filled with faces and places that we hold dear.
During your own family portrait session, how did your family react to being able to have those kinds of moments with each other? Were you surprised at their response to the experience?
They all had a wonderful time, I wasn’t too surprised that they would love it, it was a very natural experience for us and Luca made sure we felt super comfortable and Lucia had snacks at all times! 🙂
Find out more.
If you’d like to find out more about Samantha or her business Samantha Del Monte interiors, head to sdminteriors.com.au, or you can also find her on social media @sdm_interiors.
We would also like to kindly thank Sam again for her time, when more women open up about the vulnerability of parenthood and how-to find time for connection with a busy lifestyle, there is such power in those words. Thank you so much Sam.
Team Verve x
