From Behind the Camera to Styling the Shot: Meet Romina Sgro

A Love of Homes, Long Before Interiors Became the Job 

Romina’s fascination with beautiful homes started long before Studio Romina existed.

As a teenager, she loved going to open-for-inspections and flicking through magazines to discover beautiful spaces. At the time, she assumed that a love of homes meant choosing between real estate and architecture.

The technical side of architecture didn't appeal to her, and after giving real estate a go, she quickly realised that wasn't quite right either.

Photography, however, was.

Romina went on to work full-time as a real estate photographer, before the arrival of her son Beau gave her the opportunity to rethink what she wanted her career to look like.

She resigned from her full-time role and finally did something she had been considering for some time: started her own business.

Studio Romina was born.

“It was something I had planned to do for some time but struggled to take that leap and leave my comfortable job.”

Becoming a mum helped make the path clearer and gave Romina the courage to take that first step.

When Clients Started Asking for More

It wasn’t long before Romina noticed a recurring request from her photography clients.

Could she style the space too?

Or did she know someone who could style specifically for a photoshoot?

Romina began researching and realised there weren’t many creatives offering both styling and photography.

It made sense commercially, but more importantly, it sounded like something she would genuinely love doing.

She was already capturing beautiful spaces. Now she wanted to help create the compositions she was photographing, too.

That led her to Design School.

“Not only did I think this was a great way to grow and expand my business, but I was also very excited about the prospect of styling these beautiful spaces I was capturing.”

Design School stood out for its course structure and content, but also for something that would become particularly important to Romina: the community.

There was just one small problem.

After already completing a Master’s degree, she had promised herself she would never study again.

Now she was signing herself up for homework with a young family, a mortgage and a brand-new business to nurture.

Thankfully, she says, one thing surprised her almost immediately.

“How fun it was!!!”

Learning to See a Space Differently

Studying interiors gave Romina a new appreciation for just how considered a finished space really is.

The exact shade of paint. The texture of a cushion. The relationship between objects. The balance of a composition.

All the little details she had spent years capturing through her camera suddenly had another layer of meaning.

One of the earliest surprises came in the very first module, while learning about design periods.

Romina found herself unexpectedly drawn to the mid-century homes of the 1960s and '70s.

It prompted her to look back at the homes she had always loved and realise that many of them were, in fact, mid-century.

But perhaps the most useful crossover between her studies and photography was her understanding of design elements, principles and composition.

Those are skills she now uses constantly.

“I am always looking at compositions when capturing a space, addressing the many design elements and principles learnt during Design School.”

And when she's on the other side of the process, styling rather than photographing, sourcing objects and homewares for a particular space has become one of her favourite parts of the job.

The First Project That Put It All Together

The real test came almost immediately after graduation.

In the same month Romina finished Design School, she took on her first project where she would style the space, procure the furniture and photograph the finished result.

It was exactly the kind of combined service she had imagined when she first decided to study.

And naturally, imposter syndrome arrived right alongside it.

Romina remembers questioning whether she was ready.

She did it anyway.

“I was suffering from a serious case of imposter syndrome at the time. I was really happy with the final result and that I ultimately gave it a go.”

That project remains one of the pieces of work she is most proud of.

Not simply because of the finished result, but because it represented something bigger: the moment her photography experience and new styling skills came together.

One Business, Plenty of Creative Variety

Today, Studio Romina looks quite different from the photography business Romina first launched.

She continues to photograph interiors and architecture, but now also works as an editorial stylist, styling both her own shoots and projects captured by other photographers.

She occasionally works in property styling too.

And that variety suits her perfectly.

“I love that I have a skill set that allows me to undertake a range of creative practices.”

No two days necessarily look the same.

One day she might be sourcing homewares for a styling project. The next, photographing an incredible home. And inevitably, some days are spent firmly behind the computer editing.

There is, however, one constant.

Her days start and finish with cuddles from Beau.

Romina is open about the fact that building a growing creative business alongside motherhood can be challenging. Studio Romina matters enormously to her, but so does having time with her son, particularly before he begins school.

Finding the balance between the two remains one of her biggest challenges.

The Part You Don’t Always See

Beautiful homes, photoshoots, sourcing days and creative projects can make working in the interiors industry look pretty dreamy.

And Romina agrees - it is fun.

But that doesn't mean it's easy.

“While it is fun, it is not easy and like any career, you need to put in the hard work to get the rewards.”

Romina has also experienced the confidence wobbles familiar to so many creatives.

Imposter syndrome doesn't show up as often as it once did, but she admits it still has a habit of appearing at exactly the wrong moment.

Her experience has taught her that confidence doesn't necessarily have to come before you do something.

Sometimes you do it first.

And the confidence catches up.

Community Makes a Difference

When Romina thinks back to Design School, one of the things she values most isn't a particular assignment or technical skill.

It's the people she studied alongside.

Her study buddies became her biggest cheerleaders, something she now highlights when encouraging others who might be nervous about returning to study.

“No one knows what you are going through better than your fellow students.”

Her advice to someone sitting on the fence is simple:

Take the leap and do it.

There will be work involved. There will probably be moments where you question yourself.

But you won't be doing it alone.

What’s Next for Studio Romina?

Studio Romina has experienced significant growth, particularly over the past year, and Romina is now considering outsourcing some of the day-to-day side of running the business so she can spend more time doing what she loves most: the creative work.

And there may be another interesting layer to come.

Before photography and interiors, Romina completed a Master in Art Curatorship and her love of art has never disappeared.

She can see a future where Studio Romina expands into art curation and sourcing original artwork for homes, bringing yet another part of her creative background into the business.

Photography. Styling. Interiors. Art.

It feels less like a collection of different careers and more like pieces of the same creative puzzle finally coming together.

Although, according to Romina, there's one thing that needs to happen first:

A long holiday.

We think she's earned it.

Studio Romina
Interior + Architectural Photography | Editorial Styling
Inner Melbourne
Website: studioromina.com.au
Instagram: @studio.romina__

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