“I Took Kelly Wearstler’s Masterclass And Realized It Was Time To Follow My Dream” — This Interior Designer’s Bold Home Set The Tone For Her Creative Portfolio

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A Livingetc profile follows Ruby and Patrick Shields’ seven-year renovation of an early-1980s home in Australia’s Yarra Ranges. Ruby says taking Kelly Wearstler’s MasterClass during the Covid period helped her decide to pursue interior design, and she launched Studio Shields by the end of the renovation.

Ruby Shields says taking Kelly Wearstler’s MasterClass during the Covid period helped her decide to pursue interior design, a move that led her to launch Studio Shields while she and partner Patrick renovated their home in Australia’s Yarra Ranges. Livingetc’s profile presents the early-1980s house, which they worked on for seven years, as both their home and a showcase for Ruby’s emerging design practice.

The couple bought the property in their early twenties, when Ruby worked as an art director in advertising and Patrick was a second-year carpentry apprentice. They were drawn to the hillside home, about an hour’s drive from Melbourne, for its outlook over gum trees. Ruby said the view inspired them to name it The View.

The house needed substantial work. Its lower level was largely an exposed frame cut into the hillside, and it had no connecting staircase. The couple also changed the entry: Ruby told Livingetc they removed a wall that had blocked the view, so visitors now see treetops through the window when they enter. They tackled the renovation room by room while continuing to live there.

Ruby said the design course helped her recognize that she wanted to work in interiors full time. By the project’s end, she had started Studio Shields. She and Patrick designed and made details throughout the house, including bespoke joinery and brass handles. The profile highlights their use of reclaimed materials, a carved headboard made from reclaimed wharf timber, and a palette of browns, rust, greens and electric baby blue.

A Home Becomes a Design Portfolio

The renovation links a personal career change to a completed creative project: the house gave Ruby a place to test ideas while Patrick contributed carpentry and fabrication. For readers interested in design careers, the account shows how a residential project can serve as a practical body of work, although the profile does not establish that the house alone created a business or brought clients.

The couple’s approach also illustrates how constraints shaped the result. Ruby said they had to think carefully about making limited funds go further, and described reclaimed materials as part of their approach to bespoke construction. The reported details—custom joinery, layered surfaces and the reused timber headboard—show how that approach appeared in the home, rather than offering evidence about its cost or environmental impact.

Seven Years in the Yarra Ranges

Livingetc’s report describes the house as an early-1980s structure in the wooded Yarra Ranges, roughly an hour from Melbourne. The Shields bought it while they were young and saw the unfinished lower floor and exposed framing as an opportunity to make a home together. The source does not give the purchase date or a precise renovation timeline.

The design is presented through specific choices rather than a single style label: a green tiled wall, sculptural timber details, asymmetrical bedroom lighting and an unusually placed rug in the guest room. Ruby described collecting unusual objects and combining them into a narrative. The profile credits Martina Gemmola for photography and identifies the project with Studio Squire in its image captions, while saying Ruby’s practice is Studio Shields.

Details the Profile Does Not Give

Livingetc’s account does not specify when the couple bought the property, the exact dates of the seven-year renovation, or when Studio Shields began operating. It also does not provide the renovation budget, the business’s current client list or financial results, or independent evidence about the project’s environmental effects. The link between the MasterClass and Ruby’s career decision is her own account, not a claim that the course guarantees a similar outcome for others.

No Further Project Timeline Reported

The source presents the renovation and Ruby’s career move as completed developments, but does not announce a forthcoming milestone, new project or business expansion. The next step for readers seeking more detail would be further reporting or information from Studio Shields about its work and current plans; none is specified in the Livingetc profile.

Key Questions

What prompted Ruby Shields to pursue interior design?

Ruby told Livingetc that taking Kelly Wearstler’s MasterClass during the Covid period helped her realize she wanted to work in interior design full time.

Where is the renovated house?

The house is in Australia’s Yarra Ranges, about an hour’s drive from Melbourne, according to Livingetc.

How long did the renovation take?

The profile says Ruby and Patrick spent seven years working on the house during evenings and weekends. It does not give exact start and completion dates.

What is Studio Shields?

Studio Shields is Ruby’s interior design practice, which she launched by the end of the home renovation, according to the report. The source does not provide details about its current projects or business performance.

What design choices define the home?

The profile describes a layered palette of brown, rust and green with electric blue, along with custom joinery, tactile green tiles and reclaimed timber. Ruby said the aim was for the home to feel like its inhabitants.

Source: rss