ABOUT US | Caffeine and Style

HELLO!

WE ARE CAFFEINE AND STYLE.

A female led, family run business. A small team of absolute fireballs ready to help you.

Whatever you need, we are here. Be it selling your home and increasing value, styling your dream home, advice or photoshoots, we can help!

MEET THE TEAM BELOW

SHAKIRA SADLER

OWNER/DIRECTOR + HEAD STYLIST

I’m a property + interior stylist/designer, based on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula. I grew up here, I love it here and these days I get to spend my time making houses look bloody good for a living — so really, things could be worse.

But I didn’t exactly take the straight road into interiors. I’ve always been creative. As a kid I was constantly drawing, designing, rearranging things and generally making things that didn’t need changing look like they needed changing.

Fast forward a few years to me, freshly graduated from high school at 18, heading off to university on a scholarship to study retail management. I spent my days doing work that wasn’t exactly creatively fulfilling, dreaming about all the amazing places I could travel to if I actually had the time and money to do it. So I quit. Just like that. I took a massive leap and went back to university to study a Diploma of Visual Merchandising + Styling, followed by a Diploma of Interior Design + Decoration — and WIN WIN! I bloody loved it.

After various experience in visual merchandising, product photography, styling I then started working in property styling, which was when all the pieces really started to fall into place. I loved the creativity, but I also loved the strategy behind it. Because property styling isn’t just about making a house pretty. You’re styling for someone who doesn’t live there yet. You’re thinking about the buyer, the way they will move through the home, what will make them stop scrolling, what will photograph well and ultimately what will help sell the property.

I decided to give my life the ol’ “stuff it” approach, quit my job and see if I could make a go of this whole self-employment thing. And that’s where Caffeine & Style Interiors came from. I’ve been here since day one — because, well, it’s my business. Hahaha.

I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to the details and I’m definitely not very good at stopping until the job is done. My strengths are probably hard work, problem solving and attention to detail. And I style a mean living room.

My personality… well. Sassy. Fun. Possibly slightly unhinged. Loyal to a fault and always the person who will put everyone else first. I also seem to have accidentally surrounded myself with people who are exactly the same, which is probably why the Caffeine & Style team works so bloody well. None of us are particularly good at saying, “That’s good enough.” We’ll keep going until it’s right. And then we’ll probably have an espresso martini.

Speaking of which, I LOVE to have fun outside of work too. Give me good food, cocktails, a night out and good people and I’m happy. I’m also completely dog obsessed. I have two border collies, Arlo and Skye, who I’m fairly certain I love more than most humans. I’m only 5ft tall, which makes the amount of furniture I somehow manage to move around slightly ridiculous.

Sometimes you just have to take the leap, back yourself and see where it takes you. For me, it took me here. And I bloody love it.

JARRYD SADLER

LOGISTICS MANAGER + SHAKIRAS HUSBAND

Jarryd never actually chose a career in property styling. He married me. And apparently that was enough to get him a job.

When he’s not working full-time as a paramedic with Ambulance Victoria, Jarryd moonlights at Caffeine & Style on his days off. He works a very convenient four days on, four days off roster, which means I’ve basically decided that his days off are now partially his days on with us.

His official domain is the warehouse — and honestly, nobody was more qualified for the job. Jarryd is ridiculously organised. Borderline obsessive, actually. He keeps the warehouse clean, tidy and running like a well-oiled machine, knows where everything is and somehow manages to make packing a truck look like a strategic operation. He provides the vibes.

While he may not have studied styling or design, he has become pretty bloody good at it by osmosis. We’ve renovated our own home together, and he has a particularly good eye for floor plans, layouts and figuring out how a space should actually work.

He’s also the voice of reason amongst us — which is probably needed when you put me, Bella and our shared determination to “just get it done” in the same room. Like me and Bella, Jarryd doesn’t really know how to leave a job half finished. We’ll keep going until it’s done, and then probably spend another ten minutes making sure it’s perfect.

Outside of Caffeine & Style, Jarryd is all about sport. He plays golf, has played cricket and footy, and will happily watch pretty much anything involving a ball, a club, a car or a leaderboard. AFL, golf, basketball, F1… you name it, he’s watching it. Or hanging out with our two Border Collies Arlo and Skye.

He also loves a good time and makes a very good espresso martini — which may explain the increasingly suspicious Friday afternoon espresso martini tradition involving me and Bella.

He’s funny, positive, the life of the party, gets along with pretty much everyone and is generally very well loved wherever he goes. Although, if you ask me, he spends far too much time watching YouTube golf and scrolling TikTok. But someone has to keep the warehouse organised while I’m busy making everything pretty. That’s Jarryd.

BELLA PALAMARA

SENIOR PROPERTY STYLIST

Bella is one of those people who seems to have packed about five careers into the last few years just by being amazing.

She’s dabbled in property styling, helped run a homewares and décor store including buying, visual merchandising and social media, and is currently studying Interior Design while renovating her own home with her partner, TJ.

So basically… she likes to keep busy.

Bella joined Caffeine & Style about six months ago and has absolutely flown. She’s levelled up ridiculously quickly and has become a seriously important part of our little team. She has a brilliant eye for what’s current, keeps up with all the latest trends (and, of course, knows exactly what’s happening on Instagram), and has a particular knack for bedrooms and bathrooms. She’s also the person you want beside you when there’s a million things to do and not enough time — she’ll just power through and get it done.

And then there’s the caffeine situation. Bella is a barista on the side, so naturally she fits in very well around here. She makes a bloody good coffee, which may or may not have been part of the hiring criteria.

She’s sassy, cheeky, kind, fun and an absolute pocket rocket — which probably explains why people on site have asked us more than once if we’re sisters. (Maybe the brown hair and green eyes also). We’re not. But we’ll take it.

Bella has also recently taken over our social media, bringing her eye for trends and experience into the online side of the business too.

Outside of styling, Bella is a bit of a cracker. She loves a cocktail (especially an espresso martini… this may or may not be a Friday afternoon tradition at Caffeine and Style, woops). She also afternoon nap and spending time with her dog, Oatie. And TJ her partner. She’s Italian and makes some seriously good food — so yes, we’re keeping her.

Fun fact: Bella studied beauty at school, which honestly makes complete sense when you see how effortlessly she pulls everything together. She’s hard-working, creative, ridiculously energetic and somehow always up for a laugh.

Basically, she’s very much one of us.

GEMMA BYRNE

ASSISTANT PROPERTY STYLIST

Gemma has known me since we were 12 years old, so technically she’s been putting up with me for a lot longer than she’s been putting up with Caffeine & Style.

She came into the world of interiors through me, but the creative streak was always there. At school she studied Visual Communications, she’s always had a great eye for design and she’s renovated her own home — so when the opportunity came up to join me in property styling, it really wasn’t a huge leap.

She’s been part of the Caffeine & Style team for around three years now, and she’s become our resident calm amongst the chaos. And believe me, there is sometimes a LOT of chaos. Gemma is incredibly detail-oriented. She makes a bloody crisp bed, notices the little things that the rest of us might miss. But probably one of her best qualities on site is that she just keeps her cool. While the rest of us might be running around trying to solve five problems at once, Gemma is quietly getting on with it, keeping everything under control and somehow making the whole situation feel a little less chaotic.

She’s kind, positive, calm and secretly quite sassy — although she’ll probably blame that last one on me.

Outside of styling, Gemma is an early childhood educator and absolutely loves working with little ones before they head off to school. So basically, she spends her days either styling houses or keeping small humans under control.

She originally came from England and moved to Australia when she was around 10, bringing a little touch of British class to our team — along with the best cup of tea in the world. And she may have a slight IKEA addiction. A trip to IKEA with Gemma is never just a quick trip. She loves a wander, always somehow convinces me to come along and, naturally, the IKEA meatballs are non-negotiable.

Outside of work, she loves the beach, going for walks, taking her dog Summer out and spending time with her husband Reece — who also happens to run RB Electrical, our absolute go-to sparky recommendation around the Peninsula. And if you’re wondering where to find Gemma on a Friday night, there’s a very good chance she’s eating dumplings. She is obsessed, and Lunar Dumplings in Mornington is basically a pilgrimage.

Calm, kind, creative and quietly hilarious, Gemma is the person you want beside you when everything gets a little hectic. She’ll probably have already fixed it before you’ve finished panicking.