• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Interiors Addict

Heart Your Home

@interiorsaddict on Instagram   @interiorsaddict on Facebook   @interiorsaddict on Pinterest  
Subscribe
  • Job Board
  • About
  • Before & Afters
  • RENO ADDICT
  • Kitchens
  • Bathrooms
  • Kids Rooms
  • Bedrooms
  • Living Room
  • Shopping
  • Expert Tips
  • Recipes
  • Parenting
  • Travel
Interiors Addict
  • Job Board
  • About
    • Our Story

      Australia’s largest interior design, styling and renovation blog for the everyday Aussie. By former journalist and magazine editor Jen Bishop, the original interiors addict!
      READ MORE

      We’re big on Instagram!
      @interiorsaddict

      • About
      • Contact Interiors Addict
      • Work with Interiors Addict
      • Advertise / Find a job in Interiors
      • Press
      • Get Your Free Ebook

        This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
    • bookcover-jens-reno
  • By Room
    • Browse by Room

      Where you can search for all our posts about a specific room. Only interested in kitchens and bathrooms? We got you!

      • Kitchens
      • Bathrooms
      • Kids Rooms
      • Bedrooms
      • Living Room
      • Home Office
      • Dining
      • Laundry
      • Outdoor & Exteriors
      • Renting
    • bookcover-jens-reno
  • Before & Afters
    • Before & Afters

      Who doesn’t LOVE a good before & after? If you want to be inspired by the whole reno process, and not just the shiny photos at the end, this is the place for you!

      View Articles

      • Before & Afters
      • Jen’s reno
      • Real Renos
      • RENO ADDICT
    • AFTER-kitchenArt Deco: Emma Blomfield shares her own apartment before & after
    • AFTER kitchenFrom run down 1950’s home to modern Australian cottage
  • Reno Addict
    • RENO ADDICT

      Looking for reno inspo? Find it all here, from other people’s projects to the latest trends, tools and products, whether you’re DIY-ing or employing trades.

      View articles

      • Reno Products
      • The Block
      • DIY
      • Reno Trends
      • Before & Afters
      • Real Renos
    • Exterior-of-BuildingA Sydney apartment for just $260k and Cherie Barber has big plans
    • Living roomOld meets new in Melbourne interwar home renovation
  • Shopping
    • Shopping

      Want to know where to buy the latest furniture, homewares, rugs, art and more? We’re always sharing our latest finds and telling you where you can buy them.

      View Articles

      • Furniture
      • Homewares
      • Art
      • Smart Home
      • Appliances
      • Reno Products
    • Calypso2Choosing flooring: you need to understand undertones! + 25% off
    • Screen-Shot-2023-11-06-at-1.22.04-pmI may have discovered the best Australian Christmas tree decs!
  • Inspiration
    • Inspiration

      While Jen’s a legitimate interiors addict, she’s no design professional, so she calls on an army of the country’s best to share their expertise with you. Be inspired by their stories too!

      View Articles

      • Decorating 101
      • Interviews
      • Expert Tips
      • Before & Afters
      • House Tours
      • Designers
      • Styling
      • Renovating
      • Real Renos
      • Covet my coffee table
    • Humphrey's HotelAre these Sydney’s prettiest bathrooms? The people think so!
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle

      We’re mostly about the home but Jen also likes to share other things she thinks you’ll love, like food and travel.

      • Recipes
      • Travel
      • Parenting
    • HQxRiverviewFarms-KoreanStylePorkBowl-LR-6Foodie Friday: Hayden Quinn’s Korean style BBQ pork rice bowl
    • Bali-tour2The dream Bali buying trip to source homewares for your business
  • Jobs
    • Advertise on our job board
    • Job Board FAQs for advertisers

Slow interiors: why the best ones take time

By Guest Poster •

FacebookPinEmailTweet

By Megan Trousdale

You may have heard of the slow food movement, even slow towns, well I’d like to introduce the concept of slow interiors.

megan 2

I am as much a voyeur as the next person when it comes to marveling at quick turnaround interiors transformations on television and in the pages of our favourite magazines. Who doesn’t love a before and after spread? But reflecting on more than 20 years of writing house stories, it is the interiors layered over decades, not days, that have the most soul and meaning.

I remember my mother’s sage words when in my twenties I was in such a hurry to create my nest, “You want now what it’s taken Dad and me 30 years to build.” She was right. I still come across hard cover interiors books that I poured over in my twenties, complete with hand drawn pencil sketches of imagined house layouts, furniture placement and window treatments.

megan 1

When I think of my favourite houses I’ve written about they have a common thread — time. The owners have a couple of adult decades under their belts to create a home with layers of memories. This may be reflected in collections of art, furniture, photographs, even textiles, that each has a place in the story of the owner’s life.

I’m often drawn to pieces that have been handed down from grandparents and have a family connection with generations past. Richard and Georgie Oates’ new build in northern inland NSW comes to mind. They built a contemporary house, but have softened the clean lines with furniture full of sentimental value; a rustic timber bench off Richard’s parents’ property at Orange, a Georgian chest of drawers that was a wedding gift from Georgie’s parents, a dining table made by Richard and local craftsman Christopher Cummins, recycling the Oates’ shearing shed floor timber.

It’s not just the antique or homemade that bring layers of character into a home. I’d been a fan of Suzie Hunt’s pop-up antiques market stalls for years. When I visited Suzie’s house for a story I was blown away by her ability to combine old and new. A David Bromley fiberglass lamp sits comfortably against walls painted in bold black and white stripes and next to a lived-in leather armchair. Suzie’s bookshelves stored her quirky collections from dolls heads and a toy truck to framed family snapshots.

megan 3

Creating layers takes a curious and decisive nature. Chain stores are fantastic for sourcing affordable, on trend furniture, but the distinctive, individual pieces are often harder to find, sourced over years at clearing sales, boutique stores, Etsy and eBay.

I am making curtains using embroidered fabric bought nearly 15 years ago at a decorator’s closing down sale. We’ve carried it around on 2 rolls to several houses. Inspired by a magazine feature on curtains, I finally had windows that needed curtains and the confidence to cut the fabric and begin sewing. The work in progress is so pleasing and the fabric has a story. Now that’s the spirit of slow interiors.

Megan Trousdale is a freelance journalist published in Country Style, House and Garden, Gardening Australia, Organic Gardener and The Sydney Morning Herald. She is shop girl at Odgers and McClelland Exchange Stores, that she owns with husband Duncan at Nundle in northern inland NSW.

Jen is currently on honeymoon in Tokyo, Venice and the UK, and has opened up the blog to a series of fabulous guest posters to share their interiors-related expertise in her absence. She hopes you’ll enjoy them and look out for the odd honeymoon post from overseas! The new Mrs Francis (who will still be known as Bishop for work purposes) will be back at her desk on 11 November.

FacebookPinEmailTweet

October 31, 2013

Primary Sidebar

Popular This Week

  • Humphrey's Hotel Are these Sydney’s prettiest bathrooms? The people think so!
  • Be inspired by Australia’s best home swimming pools of 2023
  • Australian kitchen dimensions: standard sizes for every last detail
  • The best places to buy Australian bed linen online
  • Brabantia small bin Australian bathroom trends: A pink bath, fluted tiles and more

Follow us on Instagram

Love this one 😍 The brief was simple – to de Love this one 😍

The brief was simple – to deliver a functional, light filled, beautiful and contemporary family home that honoured the history of the old interwar home, whilst being financially efficient,” says @splinter_society_architecture’s Asha Nicholas.

On the homepage now via link in bio.

#interwararchitecture #heritagearchitecture #heritageaddition #heritagefacade #heritagerenovation #heritagefeatures #splintersocietyarchitecture #doubleheightspace #moodywalls #moodyinteriors #paintedbrick #originalfireplace #heritagefire 

Photos: @sharyncairns
💦 Summer's here and if you don't already have a 💦 Summer's here and if you don't already have a pool, you might be wishing you did, or planning one for next year!

Funnily enough, I've never wanted a pool but that may be because I grew up in England!🤣

The votes are in for Australia's best pools and we have them all on the blog today. Via link in bio.

From tiny backyard plunge pools to big family pools with slides, acreage pools, Hamptons pools, shipping container pools, pools with views, spas and glass windows, pools on sloping blocks and everything you could think of in between!

Do you have a pool? Do you use it a lot? Do you wish you had one?

#poolgoals #backyardpools #plungepool #plungepools #pooldesign #poollandscape #poollandscaping #infinitypool
#shippingcontainerpool #hamptonspool
At the weekend, Seb asked if he could put a box of At the weekend, Seb asked if he could put a box of drawings out the front of the house to sell and raise money for the homeless at Christmas.

Of course I planned to sneak my own coins into the box when he wasn't looking, but then a lovely passer by left this note and $5 in an envelope "To the artist" and made his day 🥰

I want my kids to be kind and empathetic above all else ❤️ You bet I'm proud of him for coming up with this idea himself.

And as grownups, let's be the people who leave a note and encourage this sort of thing 🙏🏻
A or (swipe) B? This divine coloured concrete Jun A or (swipe) B?

This divine coloured concrete Juno bath from @nood_co (available in 21 colours) or this fluted number (available in 1500 or 1700mm length) from @highgrovebathrooms?

Baths are no longer the basic that you choose all your statement tiles and tapware around. Now the tub can BE the statement!

Just two of the new products featured in this week's bathroom roundup, on the blog now via link in bio.

#statementbath #featurebath #bathlover #bathtubgoals #bathtubdesign #bathtubs #freestandingbath #bathroomniche #bathroomtrends2023 #concretebathroom #concretebath #concretebathtub #colouredconcrete #concretebasin #bathgoals #bathtubsofinstagram #noodco #interiorsaddict #theinteriorsaddict #jenbishop #highgrovebathrooms
Summer 🌞💦🌸 #hydrangeas #hydrangea #aussi Summer 🌞💦🌸

#hydrangeas #hydrangea #aussiekids #aussiesummer #aussiebackyard #trampolines #hydrangealove #hydrangeaflower #hydrangeaseason #sprinklerfun
Victorians, are you still allowed to have gas in y Victorians, are you still allowed to have gas in your home? We share the ins and outs on what you need to know about the new rule in Victoria when it comes to your energy.

The good news is, for most people nothing will change, however if you are planning a new build/renovation that requires a planning permit – you will need to speak to your builder to get your permit lodged before 1 January 2024!

 We’re here to answer all your questions with the help of @australiangasnetworks! Read more via link in bio now.

 #cookingongas #gaspower #gasconnection #australiangasnetworks #australiangas #australiangasnetworks #gasappliances #gascooker #gasfireplace #gasbarbecue #gasfire #gasstove #gashotwater #interiorsaddict #theinteriorsaddict #jenbishop #heartyourhome #realrenos
Our ever popular top places to buy Australian bed Our ever popular top places to buy Australian bed linen online post has been updated for 2023! Head to the blog now via link in bio to get some bedroom inspiration!

Whether you liked classic stripes, fun florals, moody linen or cotton covers, we have something for you!

#bedroomstyle #bedlinens #bedroomrefresh #bedlinen #bedroomgoals😍 #bedroomstyling #bedsheet #bedsheetonline #bedsheetlovers #duvetcover #doona #freshsheets #freshsheet #newbedroom #bedroomstyle #interiorsblog #interiorsaddict #theinteriorsaddict #jenbishop #heartyourhome
The owner of Noosa homewares and furniture mecca @ The owner of Noosa homewares and furniture mecca @coastalvintage, Sally Oulton travels the globe looking for amazing interior finds. And now you can join her on one of her bespoke interior sourcing tours to Bali where you’ll be taken far from the crowds to discover the best homewares and furniture that the Indonesian paradise has to offer. Read all about it via link in bio.

#baliindonesia #balishopping #balishop #balisourcing #balihomewares #balihomedecor #balitrip #balistyle #baliinteriors #baliinterior #baliinteriordesign
Just capturing Mr 5 here before he stops going to Just capturing Mr 5 here before he stops going to daycare and preschool next month and becomes a school boy. All the feels 😭❤️🙏🏻
Follow on Instagram
Visit Jen's profile on Pinterest.

Get Your Free Ebook

Ebook cover

Never miss the latest renovating and interiors products, news and inspo again! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll send you the best bits from the blog, direct to your inbox. Plus you'll get our latest eBook: Just One Thing To Elevate Your Interior, featuring Australia's top design talent.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Avatar

About Guest Poster

If you have high quality, original, relevant content to share, we might be interested in publishing your guest post on Interiors Addict. Please email [email protected] with your submissions.

More Recent Posts

New outdoor furniture range from Castlery ideal for entertaining

A Sydney apartment for just $260k and Cherie Barber has big plans

Oliver Thom

Luxury bathroom accessories store Oliver Thom celebrates 5 years

Be inspired by Australia’s best home swimming pools of 2023

Living room

Old meets new in Melbourne interwar home renovation

Brabantia small bin

Australian bathroom trends: A pink bath, fluted tiles and more

Officeworks desk chair

Officeworks has upped its game on the home office front

Humphrey's Hotel

Are these Sydney’s prettiest bathrooms? The people think so!

The best Christmas finds at Kmart: Our top 10

Footer

Interiors Addict

Interiors Addict

  • About
  • Contact
  • Work with Jen
  • Press
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure Policy

Browse

  • RENO ADDICT
  • Jen’s Reno
  • House Tours
  • Real Renos
  • Interviews
  • Styling
  • Designers
  • Bedrooms
  • Covet My Coffee Table
  • Expert Tips
  • The Block
  • Art
  • Furniture
  • Recipes

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RENO ADDICT

Copyright © 2011–2023 Addicted Media Pty Ltd
Website care by ClickWP · Log in

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!