By Victoria Pearson Interiors 28.01.2026

All Inspiring Australian Homes Have This One Thing in Common

And no, it’s not a bouclé sofa.

Walk through the front door of enough beautiful Australian homes and you’ll start noticing a pattern – the floor plans may change, the aesthetics may vary, the people who inhabit them may come from all walks of life, but they tend to let nature lead.

Across the country, from the hinterland to the coast, some of the most inspiring homes on our radars are embracing a new (but also very old) design truth: when you blur the boundaries between indoors and out everything feels more… intuitive.

Open plans that breathe, natural materials that warm under the hand, organic shapes, borrowed landscapes, sunlight as a design tool – this is biophilic living. Popularised by the late professor of social ecology, author, and lifelong champion of the natural world, Stephen Kellert, biophilic design is the practice of connecting the built world with its natural surroundings.

Hallmarks of biophilic design include a direct interaction with the natural world (think natural light, air, plants, and water), the incorporation of patterns found in nature (such as materials that patina to express the passing of time), and binding the design to a sense of place and culture by embedding local ecology. More a philosophy than a trend or aesthetic, these elements – together or singularly – are shaping some of the most thoughtful homes in Australia. And below, four families show us what this looks like in practice.

Olive Cooke’s home is a textural ode to the outdoors

Swimwear designer Olive Cooke has lived in the Northern Rivers for over a decade, and her connection to the landscape is woven into every inch of the family home she recently designed with her builder husband, Henry Tervenski. Set on an acre between “the sea and the mountains,” the house sits in the sweet spot where hinterland meets coastline – a geography Olive describes as “very much like home.”

It’s no surprise, then, that the couple’s most personal project yet mirrors its setting. The home gently follows the principles of biophilic design: warm timber, sisal carpet, subtle panelling, textured finishes, and curved, organic lines that soften the architecture. High ceilings and windowed walls dissolve the divide between indoors and out, creating a sense of flow that suits the Northern Rivers climate, where outdoor living isn’t seasonal but year-round.

Here, a calm base of natural materials offers Olive a timeless foundation her family can build on. The outdoors, too, can provide dramatic design flair: a covered entertaining area stretches into the garden, the sun traces new shadows across the timber each day, and the home assumes its palette from the surrounding landscape of sand, stone, wood, and sky.

In Emily Yates’ Byron Bay bungalow, light does the talking

A photographer who spends her days framing sparkling coastlines and warm, golden-hour vignettes, Emily Yates knows deeply the value of good light. So, when she and her husband found a mid-century shack just minutes from the beach, she recognised its potential instantly.

And why mess with a good thing? Rather than conjure a showpiece, she let the environment write the design brief, where natural materials – spotted gum timber, rattan, woven textures – set the tone, and original elements were restored rather than replaced. The result is a home that behaves like part of its surrounding ecosystem.

“Both Will and I are really inspired by Japanese architecture,” Emily explains. “We drew a lot of inspiration from natural materials – wood, woven textures. It gives the space a warm, lived-in feel.” Sunlight is the primary design feature, pouring through windows from morning until dusk, while breezes slide through the home, cooling it in the subtropical heat. The renovation collaborates with its surroundings, rather than fights with them.

Outdoor life is also central: the deck becomes a second living area, the garden supplies flowers and produce, and musical notes drift through the open windows. Even the home’s scent – incense and candles Emily burns daily – anchors the space in sensory memory.

Aleisha Hobson’s Yeppoon cottage sees art and environment intertwine

Artist Aleisha Hobson lives on Queensland’s Capricorn Coast, a place where palm trees sway against impossibly blue skies and the ocean shapes the rhythm of daily life. Unsurprisingly, the home she shares with her family feels like a continuation of that landscape – light and airy, framed by greenery on all sides.

Aleisha’s art practice is steeped in the sea: oysters, shells, tropical blooms, and beach-washed textures. Naturally her home follows suit. Think: timber floors, rattan pendants, sandy-toned furnishings, and a rotating mood board that echo the coastal palette. A front deck built by her husband acts as a breezy outdoor living room, used year-round thanks to the warm climate.

Inside, the colour scheme stays neutral so that nature can provide the saturation. Palm trees fan the windows. Sunlight sweeps through from morning to evening. Even Aleisha’s treasured shell collection, gathered over years, serves as a sculptural reminder that the most enduring decor comes from the environment itself.

“I’m inspired by things from the sea and by simple things in nature that bring that calming sense,” she says. Her home proves that you don’t need grand landscaping or architectural acrobatics to be connected to nature – just a willingness to let it into your everyday.

Ellie Watson’s Gold Coast home is a modern retreat with rainforest views

At first glance, Ellie Watson’s Gold Coast property is notable for its architecture – hers is a mid-century-inspired, limewashed home that overlooks a cinematically lush rainforest. But spend even a minute inside and you quickly realise that the real star is the landscape beyond the glass.

Ellie and her husband Alex chose the home for its acreage outlook: layers of greenery that protect a sense of privacy and respite. “It feels like you’re at a retreat when you look out,” Ellie says. With this as the backdrop, the couple built a warm, textural interior that plays to its surroundings. Natural stone counters, Danish walnut cabinetry, earthy walls, and a subtle palette allow the rainforest to do most of the talking.

Organic shapes and soft curves also give the interior a meditative quality – it feels slow (even with two toddlers underfoot). The effect is both timeless and contemporary, and stitches together Californian modernism with Mediterranean and Australian indoor–outdoor living.

Julia Ashwood’s Northern Rivers homestead brings the outside in

For Julia Ashwood, building a life around a home that embraced its natural surroundings was almost predestined. The hotelier grew up in a village in the Northern Rivers where the environment played an integral role in her childhood, and she and her husband Matt discovered their current house after a herd of cows necessitated a driving pause. Ushering them back to their paddock, they clocked a charming tin-roofed shack – within the month they saw it listed for rent online. “Matty said, ‘I know that doorway!’” recalls Julia. “We instantly knew it was going to be our home.”

While Julia and Matt’s artistic approach to design (there’s “art behind every door and under every bed,”) is enough to turn heads, it’s the 150-year-old sun-washed farmhouse’s relationship to the outdoors that makes it truly special – snake intrusions aside. The home’s veranda boasts a view of the ocean, where they watch breaching whales in winter, and the grassy backyard is as much a room as the kitchen or bedrooms – here, Julia gathers friends and family beneath palm trees for relaxed barbecues while the kids run wild. She loves “bringing the outside in,” through wildflowers or fruit and vegetable hauls that fill the kitchen each week. “I feel like it just makes the house feel like it’s living and breathing with you,” she says. Small treasures find their way inside, too – shells, rocks, crystals. “It’s ever-growing. It’s ever-evolving.”