Designer and photographer Ingrid Weir introduces us to a captivating array of some of Australia’s most beautiful, remote places, spaces, and people, all to assist in the search of a rural nook of one’s own.
Seemingly there are so many options, so many ways to live your life. If you want to change and move, how do you know where to go? The fantasy of a pastoral idyll is one thing, finding a deep connection to a place another. It can happen in a simple way – like visiting friends. Seeing how they live, imagining yourself in their place. Or even just pulling out a map and heading out into the wild blue yonder. Experiences from when you were very young can shape your attitude towards a place – something you are trying to recreate, or even leave behind. Often this emerges as a deep intuition, a feeling propelling you towards a place, even something drawing you there. That is how it was for me.
What to look for
Architecture is key
The gold rush left architectural treasures scattered around rural Australia: towns with wide main streets, generous parks, elegant sandstone shopfronts and corner pubs with deep verandahs trimmed with iron lace. The trick is to find a town that didn’t have its heritage buildings bulldozed by an overzealous council in the 60s, flattening the soul out of the streetscape.
A good cup of coffee
Regional Australia still has the same rustic buildings and wide-open expanses, but now you can get a good cup of coffee. A small pleasure in life but symbolic of the new rural. A vibrant country café is the setting for pleasant random encounters, a place to pick up on the thread of a community in a relaxed and unforced way.
Somewhere to swim
In coastal rural areas, there are often natural rock ocean pools, washed with clean, clear sea water. Refreshing and magical. Swimming in rivers and waterholes feels softer, gentler than the ocean. But it’s beautiful all the same. Relaxing in a different way. In the strong heat of summer, it can lead to dreamy afternoon siestas.
Community
When you imagine the appeal of a cottage in the countryside, it seems to shimmer in its own little bubble. But it’s not really like that. You are part of an ecosystem. After the anonymity of the city, it can be confronting to have everyone knowing your business. But it also means you can call upon neighbours in the middle of the night if there is an emergency and rely on that generous country helping hand. There’s a stronger bond.
Starting an interior design business
Working on my house in Hill End was pivotal to establishing my own interior design business. I started a blog to document the renovation and an Instagram page with many photos of the Australian countryside. Initially I did pop-up cafés, including one at the Sydney Opera House, which were similar in spirit to creating a stage set, weaving in storytelling techniques. Interestingly, corporate clients such as Macquarie Bank liked my more rustic style. Pretty much all the clients I have worked with at the big end of town are the same – they don’t want stuffy, they like loose and fun.
Things I learnt from design in film and television
- Storytelling. Look at a prop or piece of furniture, not just in a visual sense but as what it represents in terms of the story. How does it add to the understanding of character or place? It’s not the image itself, it’s the power behind the image.
- Working on a period film, you have to be able to imagine a past world and its sensory surrounds. Take clues from history books and use them to build a room.
- How to fake it. Create a patina of age to add depth and interest. Soak cheap modern fabric in tea to soften a harsh colour, age clothes with greasy fingers followed by a dusting of talcum powder, rub ash into maps and set glasses of red wine on them to leave rings.
- How to be fast. On jobs with tight budgets, you have to work fast. Select a few key elements with a strong design presence and prioritise them. Use them to create the atmosphere and then fill in the surrounds with what is at hand.
- Other perspectives. Filmmaking is collaborative, and your work is just one piece of the puzzle.
- Throw something unexpected or humorous into a set so it isn’t too perfect. It makes it feel more like real life.
Things I learnt crossing over to the world of interiors
- Choose quality. When choosing furniture, longevity and quality are just as important as the visual aspect.
- Comfortable seating is vital. It’s what makes people linger in a room. It’s a good place to commence the design, using a great sofa, the best you can afford, as an anchor piece. I always like sitting in a chair for a while before purchasing.
- Leave ample space. Leave around 90cm (3 feet) for passageways between furniture. Bumping into things and squeezing by chairs makes the space feel cramped.
- Invest in a quality rug. It can bring the room together.
- Think as a lighting designer. Provide as many different light sources as possible. Lamps create cosiness. Chandeliers bring drama and throw beams of light around a room. Task lighting is essential. Fairy lights and candles create intimacy and magic.
How the two practices have merged
I think of interior spaces like stage sets, waiting for people to make their entrance and become part of the story. And really, spaces are all about the people who inhabit them. To quote Charles Eames: “The role of the designer is that of a very good, thoughtful host anticipating the needs of his guests”. Different rooms in a house are like different scenes in a movie; they have their own intrinsic qualities but are part of a whole and should flow together. A memorable place is usually only a few frames: a window seat looking out to the sea, a dark and exciting bar framed by massive carved wooden columns, patterned tiles and a soft-sounding fountain. The best spaces are the ones designed with a generosity of spirit. They are often interiors that combine with nature in some form and provoke a sensory experience. When interiors have been designed with love, people sense it. They slow down a bit, drink it in.
Edited extract and images from New Rural: where to find it and how to create it by Ingrid Weir.
Published by Hardie Grant Books, RRP $60.
