“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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Ruby and Patrick Shields spent seven years renovating their early-1980s home in Australia’s Yarra Ranges, working around limited funds and unfinished parts of the house. Ruby says taking Kelly Wearstler’s MasterClass during the Covid period helped her decide to pursue interior design; she later launched Studio Shields, with the home reflecting her design approach.

Ruby Shields says a Kelly Wearstler MasterClass helped her decide to pursue interior design, a shift that came while she and her husband, Patrick, were renovating their home in Australia’s Yarra Ranges. A Livingetc profile describes the seven-year project as the setting for Shields’ developing design approach and the launch of Studio Shields.

The couple bought the property in their early twenties. At the time, Ruby worked as an advertising art director, while Patrick was a second-year carpentry apprentice. The early-1980s house sat among gum trees about an hour’s drive from Melbourne, but it was unfinished: its lower level had no connecting staircase and consisted largely of an exposed frame cut into the hillside.

The Shields worked on the house during evenings and weekends, living in it while renovating it one room at a time. They changed the entrance by removing a wall that had blocked the view, bringing the treetops into sight from the front of the home. They also designed and made furnishings and built-in details, including sculptural joinery and brass handles. Patrick’s carpentry shaped many of the bespoke elements.

Shields told Livingetc that the masterclass became a turning point during the Covid period. By the end of the renovation, she had started Studio Shields. The profile presents the house as a portfolio-defining project, although it does not provide business figures, a precise launch date, or independent information about the practice’s later work.

A Renovation Became a Design Portfolio

The story shows how a personal renovation can also become a professional calling card. The house gave Shields a place to test choices in color, texture, lighting and custom furniture, while Patrick’s carpentry made the ideas tangible. The project’s visibility in a design publication may help readers understand how residential work can communicate a designer’s style, but the profile does not establish that the renovation alone led to commercial success.

The renovation also foregrounds practical constraints rather than a high-budget makeover. The couple worked over years, tackled the house in stages and used reclaimed materials for bespoke pieces. That approach is relevant to homeowners and designers weighing the trade-offs between custom work, budget limits and reuse. Shields said reclaimed materials were part of their construction approach; the profile does not quantify the project’s environmental impact or cost savings.

Seven Years in the Yarra Ranges

The property appealed to the couple for its position above a canopy of gum trees, despite the incomplete lower floor and the extensive work required. Shields named it The View. One early change altered the experience of entering the house: removing a hallway wall opened the sightline to the trees beyond the windows.

The interiors draw on the surrounding landscape, according to the profile, with muddy browns, rust tones and greens set against a baby-blue ceiling. Other identifying details include glossy green wall tiles, a bedroom headboard made from reclaimed wharf timbers, and a guest-room rug that runs up the timber headboard. Shields described the design as layered and personal, rather than tied to a single formal style.

What the Profile Does Not Establish

The article does not give a specific date for the masterclass, the opening of Studio Shields, or the renovation’s completion. It also does not say whether the course alone prompted Shields’ career change or describe other influences on that decision. The profile documents the couple’s account and the home’s design, but offers no budget, detailed project timeline, or independent assessment of the practice’s commercial progress.

Studio Shields After the Home

The Livingetc profile does not announce a new project, business expansion or future milestone for Studio Shields. Its next steps are not specified in the source material. Readers seeking to follow the practice’s work would need to look for later updates from Shields or the studio; the available report focuses on the home and the personal turning point behind her career.

Key Questions

Who are Ruby and Patrick Shields?

Ruby and Patrick Shields are a couple who renovated a home in Australia’s Yarra Ranges. Ruby worked as an advertising art director before pursuing interior design, while Patrick was a carpentry apprentice when they bought the property.

What role did Kelly Wearstler’s MasterClass play?

Shields told Livingetc that taking Kelly Wearstler’s MasterClass during the Covid period helped her realize she wanted to pursue interior design. The profile does not say it was her only influence.

How long did the home renovation take?

The Livingetc report says the couple spent seven years building and renovating their home, working on it during evenings and weekends and tackling the rooms in stages.

What is Studio Shields?

Studio Shields is Ruby Shields’ design practice, which she launched by the end of the home renovation, according to the profile. It does not give a launch date or details about the studio’s current projects.

Source: rss