{ Australian Country }

Holly over at decor8 has been pondering country style and how it differs across the globe - or even across countries. It got me thinking about Australian country style and what it is, what it means to me and how it has evolved. What makes it different to English country style? American country style? French country style?

 

To me, Australian country style conjures images of wide wrap-around verandahs, corrugated iron, aga stoves, wattle in vegemite jars, Margaret Fulton cook books, drizabones, RM Williams boots at the door.
{A lot of Australians would find this so clichéd – but at our house this is very much a reality.}

As such a young nation us Aussies have been moulded by so many influences. It pains me that for so long being an Australian was classed as a second class citizen {remember the newsreaders voices of the 1960's sounding so very British? Heaven forbid you had an Australian twang!} It was frowned upon to embrace, or even try to forge, our own identity. I think artists such as Ken Done and even as far back as Tom Roberts and Fredrick McCubbins did a lot to create a sense of what being Australian actually meant and formed a sense of ownership towards our culture.
{If anyone has ever visited the National Gallery of Victoria and admired 'Shearing the Rams' or the enormity of 'The Pioneer' I'm sure you will agree, I am always quite moved by them.}

It's also fair to say that Australian country style varies so widely in different parts of our wide brown land. Growing up in the lush Gippsland hills I didn't have much of an affiliation with the dusty homesteads of outback Queensland. I did however ride horses, play hide and seek in our old shearing shed, run around in spud paddocks and splash in dams - an Australian childhood I think has very much influenced my design aesthetic. I love vintage Australiana: Rosella soup cans, Cuddlepie and Snugglepot illustrations, Audrey the skipping girl on Victoria Street in Richmond. I am especially drawn to Australian farming imagery - old wool bale stencils are a favourite {after all we did ride the sheeps back to modern Australia}. We proudly have on display in our lounge room a photo of my grandfather with his two clydesdale's plowing a potato paddock in the 1940's as well as the 5 foot stick Mr M's grandfather used every day to get his cows into the dairy. They were the first things we grabbed on Black Saturday in February when we had to leave.
Australian style it seems is very much about where we have come from and where we are going.

Anna Spiro of Absolutely Beautiful Things displays great examples of Australian style in both her Brisbane and Stradbroke Island homes. Her Stradbroke house is full of red, white and blue, very nautical and to me I would say very Cape Cod/American country style. But to her it is Australian country style, which is what makes this country style debate {discussion rather} such an interesting one. Queenslanders definately have a different country style to us more European influenced southerners - all very much to do with the climate too I'm sure. The number one must-have for an Australian country styled home would have to be outdoor living areas. In our great climate outdoor eating, barbeques and the beach is such a big part of our lives. Coastal fibro shacks on the mid-New South Wales coast, tropical escapes in Cairns, crumbling cottages in Victoria's north east or rambling homesteads on the Oodnadaata Track are all Australian country style I'm sure.

 

Our weatherboard cottage in Murrindindi is about an hour from Mansfield, where the Australian classic The Man from Snowy River was filmed. Mr M has spent a lot of time in the high country {we go to Dargo camping every Easter, driving along the Upper High Plains Road you can almost hear the Man from Snowy River theme song playing} so we tend to adorn our home with images like Craig's Hut - above our mantlepiece - and Wallace's hut - above our bed.

And the difference between Australian country style and the rest of the world? Australian country style has to be a bit dirty, a bit rough and essentially very casual, and definately include the outdoors. English country style I think is too formal for us, French country style too polished, Scandinavian too stark - but I think what makes our country style the best {of course we win!} is that it is a blended marriage of all the influences that have come to our shores with our convict history and immigration throughout the 20th century.

No matter what your interpretation is of Australian country style, I think it's important that it is just that - your interpretation. Don't let rules get in the way, as our national anthem reminds us:

'we are young and free'.

Images 1. Helen Chierego 2. Rummage 3. James Tse via desiretoinspire 4. Laura Taylor 5. Tom Roberts 'Shearing the Rams' NGV 6. Shearing shed out of Canberra via Rummage 7. Rummage 8. Marina Oliphant 9. Rummage 10. Atelie Gaaya 11. Mark Burnstyn 12. Craigs Hut in Victorian Alpine National Park