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Ruby and Patrick Shields spent seven years renovating an early-1980s home in Australia’s Yarra Ranges, working on it during evenings and weekends. Ruby says taking Kelly Wearstler’s MasterClass during the Covid period helped her decide to pursue interior design and launch Studio Shields.
Ruby and Patrick Shields spent seven years renovating their home in Australia’s Yarra Ranges, a project that Ruby says helped set the direction for her interior design career. In a Livingetc profile, Ruby said taking Kelly Wearstler’s MasterClass during the Covid period prompted her to pursue design professionally; by the end of the renovation, she had launched Studio Shields.
The couple bought the early-1980s property while in their early twenties. Ruby was then working as an art director in advertising, while Patrick was a second-year carpentry apprentice. They were looking for a home and a place to experiment, and the house in the hills near Melbourne offered both. Ruby described its outlook over the gum trees as the reason they named it “The View.”
The house needed substantial work. Its lower level had no connecting staircase and was largely an exposed frame cut into the hillside. The couple renovated it while living there, taking on one room at a time and completing much of the work during evenings and weekends. They designed and made features ranging from brass handles to bespoke joinery, with Patrick’s carpentry skills central to the project.
Ruby said the design process was shaped by the need to make a limited budget go further. She described using reclaimed materials for bespoke pieces as a sustainability choice. The finished home combines layered textures and an expressive palette inspired by the surrounding landscape, including greens, browns, rust tones and a bright blue ceiling. The Livingetc article credits the home’s photography to Martina Gemmola and identifies the interior design as Studio Squire.
A Renovation Becomes a Design Practice
The profile matters as a documented account of how a personal renovation became part of a professional portfolio. Ruby presents the house not just as a finished home but as a hands-on design project: a place where she could develop ideas about color, material, lighting and custom details alongside Patrick’s craft. She said launching Studio Shields followed the renovation.
For readers interested in design careers, the account offers a specific example of a professional shift connected to practical experience rather than a formal announcement about a new business. The home also illustrates how budget limits and reclaimed materials informed the couple’s choices. The article does not provide project costs, business figures or independent assessments of the home’s environmental impact, so those broader outcomes cannot be measured from the report.
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From Advertising to Interior Design
Before the renovation, Ruby worked in advertising as an art director, and Patrick was training in carpentry. Their purchase brought those different skills together: Ruby could explore her interest in interiors, while Patrick could gain practical experience on a major home project. The house’s unfinished lower level made it a demanding undertaking, but the couple saw potential in its position above the gum-tree canopy.
Ruby said a turning point came during Covid, when she took Kelly Wearstler’s MasterClass. “I loved interior design and wanted to do it all the time,” she told Livingetc. The source links that realization to her decision to follow design as a career, but does not specify the class date, the precise timing of the business launch or whether the course alone led to that decision.
The project’s visual approach is personal and layered. Ruby described herself as a “bowerbird” when collecting unusual objects, and said a home should feel like its inhabitants. Among the reported details are green wall tiles, a sculptural timber vanity and a reclaimed-wharf-timber headboard carved by Patrick. These examples show how the couple’s own home became a portfolio of custom design choices, rather than a standardized renovation.
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Career and Project Details Not Reported
The Livingetc profile does not state when Studio Shields officially launched, what work the practice has completed beyond the couple’s home, or how the business has developed since its opening. It also gives no renovation budget, itemized timeline or assessment of the property’s value before and after the work.
Ruby’s account connects the MasterClass with her decision to follow a design career, but the report does not establish that the course was the sole cause of her career change. The article does not include comments from the course provider, clients of Studio Shields or independent experts. Its descriptions of sustainability and the home’s design are attributed to Ruby or presented as the publication’s account, rather than supported by separate measurements.
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Studio Shields’ Work Beyond Home
The source does not announce a new project, event or business milestone, and it gives no timetable for further developments. The next useful updates would be information from Studio Shields about its subsequent commissions and current work, along with more detail on when the practice began. For now, the reported milestone is the completion of the home and Ruby’s account of how the renovation helped lead her into interior design.
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Key Questions
Who are Ruby and Patrick Shields?
Ruby and Patrick Shields are a couple who spent seven years renovating a home in Australia’s Yarra Ranges. At the time they bought it, Ruby worked as an art director and Patrick was a carpentry apprentice.
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 follow her interest in interior design as a career. The article does not say the course was the only factor.
What is Studio Shields?
Studio Shields is the design practice Ruby said she launched by the end of the home renovation. The profile does not give its launch date or describe its work beyond the couple’s home.
What was unusual about the Shields’ house?
The early-1980s house had an unfinished lower level without a connecting staircase. The couple also made extensive custom details and used a bold palette, including green, brown, rust and a bright blue ceiling.
How long did the renovation take?
Ruby and Patrick Shields spent seven years renovating the house, working on it during evenings and weekends and addressing the home one room at a time.
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