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Interior designer Ruby Shields’ Yarra Valley home
We all have our own unique fingerprints. So why do so many of us live in homes that could belong to anyone? For interior designer Ruby Shields, an interior is a story written by the people who live in it.
Ruby is the founder and creative director of Studio Shields, a Melbourne design practice known for richly layered spaces shaped by warm color, craft and individuality.
“I love stories. I’ve always been a very deep storyteller. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been making imaginary worlds. As I've grown into this interior role, my style is definitely led by narrative.”
Her work begins with people, not trends. That philosophy is everywhere at The View, the Yarra Valley home she shares with her husband Pat, their dog Freddie and cats Frankie and Muse. As part of our series Creative Spaces, we step inside to see how she designs her home, one story at a time.
Following her dream
The View isn't just where Ruby lives, it's proof of a bigger leap she took. Before interiors, she spent years as an art director in advertising. She enjoyed the job and developed her eye for design, but never fell in love with the work. Around the time she and Pat married in 2021, everything shifted.
"I had this pivotal moment. I was either going to continue doing that or I could follow my dream. And nothing was going to stop me as soon as I decided to do this."
She'd known what she wanted since she was fifteen, when she first set her heart on being an interior designer.
"When you've got the bug of loving interiors, that's hard to shake. It just perpetually kept on growing. I cut my really long blonde hair, dyed it, and I became Ruby Shields the interior designer."
But it didn't come without doubt. Like anyone building something of their own, she's learned to work alongside the fear that she isn't good enough.
"Being completely, truthfully honest, it's imposter syndrome. I really hope I learn to live with it, because I don’t know if it ever goes away."
Her fear sits at odds with how quickly her work was celebrated. In her first years as a solo studio, she was named a finalist for ‘Emerging Designer of the Year’ in the Australian Design Review’s 30UNDER30. In 2026, The View won the ‘Best Color’ award presented by Dulux, in Australian House & Garden's Top 50 Rooms.
Still, the recognition hasn't changed what drives her. Every home she shapes, her own or a client's, is a chance to build something meaningful.
"I get to create a whole different beautiful environment for a family to grow, or a couple to house their own memories. God, I'm just the luckiest chick in the world."
A home built by hand
When Ruby and Pat first bought their house, the bones were there but the structure was unfinished. The lower floor was just a timber frame, and the floorboards hadn’t been laid. But they fell for the view. The outlook was a large gum tree and a wash of green over the Australian bush. They felt like they were living in the treetops.
“Both being kids from the country, it resonated so deeply. Everything else just fell away. The view captured our hearts.” Ruby says.
Pat is a carpenter, so they finished the build themselves. Two tonnes of floorboard arrived, and Pat used the same timber for the kitchen joinery, drawer fronts and shelves.
"Everything in this home has been made in the garage downstairs or in the house itself. Nothing was ever made off-site. Even the brass handles were handcrafted, inspired by the way the sun hits the gum tree and the leaves dance across all the walls.”
To this day, most Saturday mornings are spent with a coffee, sketching out what they want to build next.
“There is such a beauty when you do it yourself and you get to see what your imagination can create. When it’s not bought off a shelf, there is a memory attached to it.”
Palettes built to balance
Walk into The View and color greets you first. Ruby creates her palette around how each tone makes her feel. Warm ochres sit against navy, and the green of the valley beyond.
“I choose colors that make me happy. But if you have everything oversaturated and warm, it can become too overpowering. So you need some coolness to balance out the heat. That’s what makes a really successful interior.”
In her living room, that balance comes from a deep blue velvet, the 1977 Sofa in Fortitude Navy fabric. It contrasts with Pat’s stained ply joinery and the chartreuse threaded through the room. Styled with scatter cushions in earthy Scottsdale Copperwood, the navy is warmed and the space feels dynamic and layered.
“That navy blue goes so well with chartreuse. They’re made in heaven together.”
But just as everyone has colors they gravitate towards, there are also ones they find harder to work with.
"Blue was a fear factor for me. I didn't want to work with it. But I like to push myself to do what I wouldn't naturally do."
And that instinct proved right.
"You've got all this wraparound of greens and reds, and then the blue is the perfect reprieve of that."
