How to Create a Modern Australian Country Home

There is something about a beautiful country home that gets me every time. Not because everything matches or because every corner has been perfectly styled, but because of the opposite. It feels collected… lived in that paints a story of not just the home, but who lives in it. There are pieces that have a history, natural materials that get better with age and a connection to the landscape beyond the walls.

For me, that is what modern Australian country style is really about.

It isn't about filling your home with stuff that say "country". Personally, I don't love a home where the styling feels too themed or where everything has clearly been bought to achieve a particular look. And it certainly doesn't mean your home needs to look like an old farmhouse. A modern Australian country interior can be light, simple and contemporary while still carrying the warmth, character and sense of history we associate with country heritage homes.

Look to the Australian landscape for colour

One of the easiest places to begin is outside.

The Australian countryside has such a beautiful, understated palette. Soft gum greens, weathered timber, dry grasses, earthy browns, stone, muted blues and greys and those warm whites that seem to change with the light throughout the day.

Bringing these colours inside creates a home that feels connected to its surroundings without necessarily feeling overtly "country".

Rather than choosing colours because they're currently popular, I would much rather look at the colours that have existed around us forever. Trends come and go, but the soft greens of gum leaves, weathered timber and earthy paddocks aren't suddenly going to feel dated in five years. There is something naturally timeless about them.

Choose natural materials

Timber, stone, linen, wool, leather and aged metals all have a place in Australian country interiors.

Timber, stone, linen, wool, leather and aged metals all have a place in Australian country interiors.

Natural materials bring warmth and texture to a room, but I think their real beauty is in the way they age. A timber table will eventually collect marks from family dinners. Linen softens. Leather changes colour. Brass develops a patina.

They aren't supposed to stay perfect... and I actually think that's the point.

I would take a beautiful old timber table with a few marks and stories in it over something I'm frightened to put a coffee cup on any day. Those little imperfections are what make a home feel comfortable to me rather than precious or staged for others.

Companies I love:

www.mettamelbourne.com - Linen Tableware (Victoria)

www.waverleymills.com - Recycled Australian Wool (Tasmania)

www.foraydesign.com.au - Rustic Antique Boards & Furniture (New South Wales)

Mix old pieces with new

A country home doesn't need to be completely filled with antiques, but a few older pieces can completely change the feeling of a room.

An old timber sideboard with a new country landscapes painting hanging above it. A vintage lamp sitting beside a new armchair. An inherited dining table surrounded by simpler modern chairs.

These pieces stop a room from feeling like everything was purchased from the same showroom at the same time.

I particularly love heirloom pieces — things that have come from parents or grandparents, or pieces we choose ourselves knowing that one day they might be passed down to our children. I think there is something really special about looking around your home and being able to tell a story about the things in it, rather than simply remembering which shop they came from.

Not everything in our homes needs to be temporary.

Sometimes buying fewer, better pieces and allowing a home to slowly evolve creates far more character than trying to finish an entire room at once.

Let your home feel lived in

Some of the most beautiful heritage homes and country interiors aren't perfect.

The timber floors might have marks. There are books stacked beside a chair. A basket is actually used to hold blankets. There might be muddy boots by the door and something drying on the kitchen bench.

There is evidence that people actually live there. I love that. I don't want to walk into a home and feel like I'm not allowed to sit down because I'll ruin the styling.

Modern Australian country style doesn't have to mean clutter, but it certainly doesn't need to feel like a showroom.

Texture can do much of the work — a woollen throw, linen curtains, an old timber table, handmade ceramics or a beautiful rug can bring warmth without filling every available surface. Even a textured canvas print or choosing a textured frame for a paper print to bring in some texture works too.  

Bring the landscape inside through art

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is one of my favourite parts. I am completely biased here, of course, but I genuinely believe artwork can change the entire feeling of a room if not the entire home... big call, I know! 

Australian landscape art feels particularly at home in country-inspired interiors not only because it creates another connection between the home and the landscape, but also creating an emotional pull in your home that speaks to you.

A landscape painting can almost become another window in a room. Somewhere for your eye to wander.

Rolling paddocks, old gates, gum trees, misty hills and quiet country roads can bring that feeling of open space into a home, even if you live nowhere near the countryside.

I 100% believe artwork should be chosen because of how it makes you feel rather than because it perfectly matches the sofa or cushions. I have never loved the idea of choosing art simply because you need something blue to go above the couch. Art should mean more than that, it needs to stir a feeling deep inside you to help you create a home that feels like you. 

Maybe an Australian landscape painting reminds you of where you grew up. Perhaps it looks like somewhere you've travelled, somewhere your grandparents lived or simply somewhere you wish you could disappear to for an afternoon.

Featured: 'Duo Beckoning & A Still Moment Print Set' 

Fine Art Canvas Print set in Floating Blackwood Frame. Size A1

Think about how your artwork is framed

The frame can have an enormous influence on how artwork sits within a room.

For Australian landscape prints and paintings, natural timber frames work beautifully alongside other materials commonly found in Australian country homes.

Timbers such as Australian Oak or Blackwood bring warmth without overpowering the artwork and can help connect it with timber furniture, flooring and other natural elements already within the room.

Rather than treating artwork as the final decoration added to a finished room, I like to think of it as one of the pieces that helps create the feeling of the room in the first place.

Borrow from English country style — but keep it Australian

I think there is a beautiful meeting point between traditional English country interiors and Australian country style.

Old books, antique furniture, layered textiles, botanical elements and pieces that have been collected over time can bring that wonderful sense of history associated with English country homes.

But paired with Australian timbers, lighter spaces, relaxed styling and Australian landscape artwork, it becomes something distinctly our own.

You don't need to choose one particular style and follow every rule that comes with it. In fact, I think the minute we become too worried about following the rules is when a home can start to lose some of its personality. Homes are far more interesting when they reflect the people who live inside them.

Featured: 'Breathing Room' 

Fine Art Paper Print, Size A3

Create a home slowly

Perhaps the biggest thing I have learnt about creating a timeless home is that it doesn't need to be finished. This is probably my favourite part of this whole style of decorating because it gives us permission not to rush it.

In fact, maybe it shouldn't be.

The homes that feel the most interesting are often the ones that have evolved over years. A painting found on a trip. Your grandmother's old chair. A beautiful timber table you saved for. A ceramic bowl made by a local artist. Books you've actually read. Photographs of people you love.

Pieces slowly find their place. And sometimes the empty spot is better left empty until the right thing comes along.

And I think that's ultimately what makes modern Australian country interiors so appealing.

They're not really about decorating a house to look "country".

They're about creating a home with warmth, history and a connection to the landscape. Choosing natural materials. Supporting craftsmanship. Keeping things that hold memories. Buying pieces that might one day become heirlooms.

And allowing your home to tell your story rather than someone else's. Because, at the end of the day, I don't think the best homes are necessarily the most perfectly styled ones. They're the ones where you walk through the door, your shoulders drop a little, and it simply feels like home.