Aspen Lou is a country girl, having grown up on a farm in rural Victoria, Australia. Interior Design has always been her passion, and she believes in creating homes that are not only stylish but also functional and cohesive to the rural lifestyle. Living remotely, she has developed an understanding of the challenges of accessing interior design services rurally and has a passion and drive to make interior design accessible to all rural corners of Australia
Aspen Quick, Entrepreneur & Rural Interior Design Specialist
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life so we can get to know you better.
Aspen is an entrepreneur, a Rural Interior Design Specialist, and the founder of Herbie Home Interiors. She’s a wine lover, dog mum, and fiancé. She wears a lot of hats, but so do most ladies!
Aspen has three dogs of different breeds: a whippet, a staffy, and a bitza (bits of every breed) who looks like a teddy bear! She and her fiancé are often mistaken for dog walkers.
Aspen grew up on a horse stud, breeding and training horses for dressage and showjumping disciplines. She has also spent some time on broadacre and hay properties. She loves the country, and it’s where she feels most calm. Her fiancé, Sam, works in agriculture as a diesel mechanic and machine operator on a property that does hay contracting.
Aspen’s career didn’t start in design. In fact, she worked in a completely different industry as a public servant. Her journey to interior design was long and adventurous, but nonetheless, worth it! Aspen has always loved interiors, styling, and historic architecture, and she would often be found re-styling her home.
Four years ago, Aspen decided she wanted more out of her career, a career fueled by passion and excitement. She dabbled in a few ‘side hustles’ that didn’t go to plan, but they ultimately led her to undertake her studies with The Interior Design Institute, where she completed her Certificate in Interior Design. With this, Aspen launched her personal brand, Aspen Lou Interior Design, and founded her business, Herbie Home Interiors. Both focus on rural clients and bringing interior design to all corners of rural Australia and beyond.
What services or products does (your company) offer?
Our core service is our eDesign service. This is how we bring interior design to all rural corners of Australia. Our eDesign service allows us to work with rural clients virtually to design and produce their interior projects, whether it’s a renovation or a new build. We put together the concept for our client’s project, draw floor plans, and select all pieces, including paint, flooring, window furnishings, and hardware. We deliver this to our client online with a shopping list and cost schedule.
Our other service is our in-person design service, where we work closely with our rural clients on their projects. We do everything from concept development to 2D floor plans and 3D renderings, organisation of trades, selection of paint, flooring, window furnishings, and hardware, as well as ordering and managing these items. We also style the project, ensuring it is ready for delivery to our clients.
We are looking to offer an exclusive VIP membership aimed at clients who want to undertake their renovation or new build themselves but need expert advice along the way. This will include a monthly membership for our clients for as long or as short as they need it.
What’s your purpose, mission, and driving force for all the work you do?
Our purpose is to serve our rural community and create beautiful homes that offer an escape from the farm at the end of the day, encourage conversation, and foster meaningful family time. We spend so much time in our homes, and they are our shelter, our family's comfort, the farm office, and the place where we look after each other. That’s why we feel it’s important to embrace our homes and create beautiful spaces.
We are driven by our own experience of farm life, where the family home became second to the farm and was often a disorganised mess. It was still our home, but if we had an organised, clutter-free home that wasn’t the dumping ground for the office, farm, and clothes, it would have allowed us more connection and quality time as a family. We want to change that for others and ensure the rural home is made a priority and a sanctuary to escape to at the end of the day.
Our mission is to be Australia’s best-known, award-winning Rural Interior Design Specialist, having transformed hundreds of rural homes by 2030.
What kind of audience do you target your business towards, and how do you address their needs?
Our target audience is our rural community. Whether it’s those who live on a property, in a big or small country town, or remotely, we are here to specifically serve the needs of this community when it comes to interior design.
Being from the country, we know that rural life is different from city life, and our needs at home reflect that difference. We assist our clients in addressing the specific needs of their homes in direct correlation with their rural lifestyle.
What trends do you see emerging in rural interior design, and how are you incorporating them into your projects?
I’m seeing a lot more upcycling of beautiful timber furniture that is old, scuffed, or dated, being given fresh life with a sand, stain, and wax. This makes me so happy because I think it’s beautiful that old pieces that have stood the test of time get some love and enter a new era with new trends. Old furniture has such history, and I think it’s important we embrace that in our own way and enjoy the quality craftsmanship of these pieces.
I’m also seeing darker colours being introduced in country homes against rustic timber floors and furniture. Traditionally, country homes have had lighter tones to keep them bright and airy against the timber floors and furniture. However, now we are seeing darker colours introduced with paint and accents to create a moody yet rustic feel in spaces. I personally am loving this take on the modern country home!
How do you approach creating homes that are both stylish and functional?
I strongly believe in having both functionality and style in the home, and people see that through my designs. I believe there is no point in having something in your home that doesn’t serve some sort of purpose.
I approach this by conducting a detailed initial consultation with my clients to understand what they want, don’t want, need, aspire to, and crave. We discuss how their home is used daily, where they spend their time most, and what their biggest pain points are. From here, I look at solutions for those pain points, finding functional ways to alleviate them intentionally.
For example, a client was frustrated with their current kitchen and its pokey cupboards. We came up with the solution of having only drawers in their lower cabinets so their kitchen items were easy to store and grab when needed. We also determined that pot racks inside the drawers under their oven were something they needed to help keep their drawers organised and alleviate their frustration with messy pots!
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