May 2024

Country Style

Escape the everyday

Country Style6 min read
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There’s always a sense of anticipation about what I’ll find in the next edition of Country Style. I’m confident that I’ll find at least one gorgeous dog, posing perfectly and making me wish I had a houseful of canine companions in all shapes and size
Country Style2 min read
Masthead
Editor KYLIE IMESON Creative director SARAH FARAGO Deputy editor HANNAH JAMES Queensland contributing editor CLAIRE MACTAGGART Art director BERNHARD SCHMITZ Stylist KATE LINCOLN Features writer REBECCA HOOTON Featureswriter RACHEL WHITE Juniorwriter
Country Style3 min read
Welcome Letter
HOW LOVELY does it sound to live on a lavender farm? The Viljoen family are lucky enough to do just that, outside Millthorpe in NSW’s Central West. Their beautiful property, Ashburton Lavender Farm, features on our cover and you can read all about th
Country Style7 min read
May
Garden designer Jo Ferguson has created a haven filled with grasses and perennials on the Mornington Peninsula, Vic. To see more, turn to page 84. The World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park hosts this three-day celebration of Indigenous culture.
Country Style3 min read
Mother Country
LAST YEAR, while I was on tour promoting my book Graft, I stayed with an old friend. She made me breakfast – fresh eggs on homemade sourdough toast. I exclaimed over the toast, and she said she would give me a mother so I could make sourdough, too. W
Country Style2 min read
Homegrown
TEN YEARS AGO, Lisa Innis found herself at a crossroad. After seven years of rolling health catastrophes, culminating in major brain surgery, she woke up in recovery and decided there was no more time to lose. “I didn’t want to get old and wonder wha
Country Style3 min read
House to Home
Turns out that heap of clothes on the wardrobe floor does not take itself to the drycleaner. (Just me?) Good news: Fisher & Paykel’s Fabric Care Cabinet, $4999, does at-home dry cleaning, deodorising, sanitising and even leather care. Goodbye, heap!
Country Style4 min read
Field Of Dreams
Phe and Ken Viljoen, owners of Ashburton Lavender Farm in the Central West region of NSW, grow rows of Lavandula x intermedia ‘Grosso’ and Lavandula x intermedia ‘Super’. SOMETIMES LIFE HANDS you a curveball. For Phe and Ken Viljoen, it was a sweet-s
Country Style3 min read
Welcome Home
Step inside an elegantly restored Launceston home that’s ideal for weekends away. PHOTOGRAPHY SUE STUBBS A SOCIAL HEART beats at Wahroonga on Bourke, a recently refreshed Federation home and holiday stay that presides over the Tasmanian town of Laun
Country Style4 min read
Let It Grow
EDEN COTTAGE’S UNDENIABLE feminine energy distracts from its industrial beginnings. Originally built in the Central Queensland mining town of Mount Morgan in the 1930s, the home was moved to the nearby port town of Gladstone in the 1950s, before beco
Country Style3 min read
From Soil To Soul
CONVERSATIONS ABOUT plants with garden designer Jo Ferguson, who is based on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, gently pivot from botanical varieties and soil maintenance into the realm of heart, body and soul. “The act of gardening grounds us in
Country Style4 min read
Homeward Bound
IF WALLS COULD talk, what stories would they tell? For Lisa Lock and her family, their rustic bungalow in the South Australian town of Kimba might have a few things to say. “This home is a bit of a landmark,” says Lisa, 42. “It was built in 1949 to h
Country Style3 min read
Thanks, Mum
MY MUM IS RESPONSIBLE for my love of plant nurseries and garden shops of all kinds because her love for them is unlimited. Years ago, when my nan’s health was failing, Mum would drive to Sydney every week, pick her mother up from the nursing home and
Country Style4 min read
Rest And Retreat
To Sit Quietly by Amanda Ogilby painting, $520, from The Toowoomba Gallery. Sea & Sky by W. Ayerst Ingram painting, POA, from Vintage Art Emporium. Antique chromolithographs by Henry Seebohm, $120, from The Powder Works. Fig Botanical art, $65, from
Country Style1 min read
Sharing The Love
This Mother’s Day, make beautiful edible gifts for your loved ones. MOTHERS ARE A special kind of magic, aren’t they? Pivotal cheerleaders, role models and the glue that keeps our families together. I think this is a realisation that really hits home
Country Style3 min read
A Toast To Mum
MUMM IS a renowned Champagne; its Germanic name pronounced quite differently from our derivative for mother. A decade ago, Chester Osborn launched a d’Arenberg sparkling he named DADD, in honour of his dad, grandad and great-grandad. The wine was goo
Country Style2 min read
At First Bite
WHILE WORKING at a cafe in Hobart in what was probably the smallest kitchen I’ve ever been squeezed into, I was fortunate to work alongside a fantastic chef called Anish. He was one of the hundreds of Nepalese people working in hospitality in Hobart
Country Style2 min read
Steps Through Time
IN THE HISTORIC timber-mill town of Nannup in Western Australia, an old worker’s cottage has been converted into a restful haven, with much of its decor inspired by its humble history. “There was originally a shop attached to the house called J Picke
Country Style1 min read
Carry On
Four country powerhouses have joined forces to offer small-group tours. Food writer Sophie Hansen will lead gourmet trips in Italy; interior designer Addy Nuthall will showcase the shopping secrets of Mexico; while Felicity Armstrong from Channel Nin
Country Style4 min read
Get Crafty
It’s easy to make linen pillowcases. For a standard pillow (48cm x 75cm), you’ll need 50cm x 160cm of fabric. Hem both short ends, then fold the fabric with right sides together so that one hemmed edge is 15cm from the other. Pin along the side edges
Country Style4 min read
The Style Diary
MOST PEOPLE HAVE JUST one aim for their maternity leave: to keep themselves and their baby alive. Lauren Roe, however, isn’t quite like most people. “Looking back, it was absolutely a bit insane to launch a website just a few weeks after coming home
Country Style1 min read
Weddings
Polly and Jack celebrated their big day in the Upper Hunter region of NSW. PHOTOGRAPHY ABBIE MELLE ■
Country Style1 min read
Rosy Outlook
FROM LEFT Rare Rose Serum, $80, from Jurlique, hydrates skin with a blend of natural plant extracts and oils, including dwarf lilyturf root extract, rose, lavender and calendula. Conjure the heavenly scent of fresh roses with La Rose Large Scented Ca
Country Style2 min read
Lucy & Jack Stroke Of Luck
PHOTOGRAPHY Rachael Tagg VIDEOGRAPHY James Rose BRIDE’S DRESS Alena Leena via Love Marie Bridal Boutique BRIDE’S SHOES Sam Edelman via Anthropologie JEWELLERY Amélie George MAKE-UP Monique Kazokas (bride) and Jorja Williams (bridesmaids) HAIR Monique
Country Style2 min read
Polly & Jack Language Of Love
MARRIED AT THEIR HOME just outside Scone in New South Wales’ Upper Hunter, Polly and Jack Archibald let three carefully chosen words guide the planning and execution of their entire wedding – but they’re not the words you might be thinking of. “One o
Country Style3 min read
Guest Star
DRESSING FOR A WEDDING has always walked a tricky line. Whatever you choose must suit a formal daytime ceremony as well as a joyful party that might stretch long into the night. Does such a unicorn outfit exist? It absolutely does – read on to find y
Country Style5 min readIntelligence (AI) & Semantics
Book Club
The way we eat today is not remotely similar to what was on the table 20 years ago. This being the case, a swathe of old favourites now seem like ‘discoveries’. Hansen’s theme is sharing. A potluck, picnic or street party opens a door to creativity.
Country Style1 min read
Field Guide
Create a room for relaxation. Unfurl in the sumptuous Plaza Sofa, featuring a chaise for added comfort. Maintain a sleek and tidy space with the Herringbone Buffet, and complete the look with the matching Herringbone Coffee Table. harveynorman.com.au
Country Style3 min read
Sorry, I’m Busy
NOW HERE’S A fine thing. After years of galvanising audiences with tales of life in remote Australia, I meet a bloke who tells me I’m full of waste matter. “You don’t know what remote is,” he said. “We’re remote.” “I’d say we’re pretty remote,” I sai
Country Style2 min read
Collectables
AFTER THE END OF World War II, the Australian textile industry enjoyed a revival. In 1939, Mollie Grove and Catherine Hardess, both designers and weavers who had recently returned to Australia after studying in Europe, established a weaving workshop

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