A DEEP LOVE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SHED
Banged up, rusty, crooked, isolated, patched and mended, layers and years of corrugated steel overlapping one another. These are some of my favourite things; put all of these things together in a paddock and you are describing my kind of paradise. The great Australian Shed.
I love everything about the sheds that populate our beautiful countryside. A combination of functionality, industry, and ingenuity. But my deep undying love, is the Shearing Shed. The wooden slatted floors, the smell of lanolin, the sheep-runs up and through the shed, the simple practicality of the space.
So, when a client asked us to reinvent his Shearing Shed for a work function, I couldn’t say yes quickly enough.
And this shed had the very best of it all, and to our delight, was nearly untouched and completely original.
Our plan of attack; to leave all of the beautiful and original function in place.
We wrapped and knotted jute lighting cable around the exposed wooden roof trusses, finishing each end with a naked globe. Reinvented the sheep dipping station into a bar, using overturned packing crates for bar stools. Repurposed existing furniture with layers of sheepskins and created features of old rusty finds. We tangled party lights in found machinery cables and old rusted buckets. Collected bracken and populated glass bottles with our organic finds. Created a feature of the stunning rusty chiminea, and added a friend in the form of a Baby Stacker. And finally, dressed the table with layers of linen and welcomed guests to lunch.
The end result; I’m not sure I’ve had a better couple of working days.
With many thanks to Cam and Jules for being wonderful clients and giving us the reins to create such a wonderful event. (And, for ‘ticking’, turning a Shearing Shed into an event space, off my bucket list!!)
The ‘Callemondah’ Shearing Shed.
Main Ridge, on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia.
Styling: Unearthed Garden.
The bundles of old rope found scattered throughout the shed became the inspiration for our lighting plan. Loads of jute rope lighting, hung from the beams, finished with aged brass fittings and naked globes.
Tangles of machinery cables and old rusty shed finds were highlighted with strings of party lights.
Glass vases, bottles and rusty finds were filled with shed-side foliage.
