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weekend, young Shelley Boyd would jump on a bus in Rotorua, New Zealand to escape to the countryside to see her Nanna.

For hours on end, the duo would sew, laugh and make a huge mess. It didn’t take long for the budding designer to fall in love with textiles. Shelley says she didn’t have a choice – it was in her blood.

“All my family are very creative and a lot of them are heavily involved in the fashion industry,” the now design veteran says.

“My grandmother was so talented. She made exquisite dresses. We would sew and do crafty projects all weekend.

“Just like Nanna, I loved sewing and my dolls and I ended up having the best wardrobe.”

Shelley’s love of fabric and creativity blossomed, but the creative director and founder of Boyd Blue, a furniture supplier, says she never dreamt of pursing a career in the interior design industry. “When I finished school I always knew I wanted to work in the fashion industry, just like my family,” Shelley says.

“I went to Wellington Polytechnic to do a diploma in fashion and textiles. After that I moved to London and I landed a job with an amazing interior designer, Anne Rossiter, in Bath.

“She made incredible curtains and then I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the fabric industry.”

From there, Shelley started working as a sales representative, selling luxurious upholstery fabric.

A few years later she joined her mum and dad on the Gold Coast, after they packed up their lives in Rotorua. After a plethora of jobs — in the fabric industry, flipping pancakes, waitressing and working as a nightclub maitre d' — she fell in love with interior design at the age of 33.

With the goal of opening her own businesses, Shelley found a niche in the market and started selling fabric to designers out of the boot of her car in 1999.

Her business, Boyd Blue, has grown exponentially in the past 21 years. She now sells an eclectic collection of furniture, homewares, lighting, textiles, rugs and artwork to designers and the public in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

She travels almost six months of the year, to places like India, Indonesia and the Philippines, to source products from multigenerational family businesses.

The 54-year-old visits Varanasi, India, two or three times a year to meet with her rug supplier.

Every mohair hand-knotted rug that Shelley imports and sells is from a small family business. She says she cannot stop smiling when she sees grandparents, parents, cousins and uncles sitting quietly on the floor in a row, with a large loom, designing and knotting a rug as a family project. Her finds are regularly featured on reality home renovation shows The Block and House Rules. Shaynna Blaze, Darren Palmer, 2019 Block contestants Mitch and Mark, and 2013 Block winners Alisa and Lysandra often source products from her showrooms. Shelley says her motto is buy once, buy well.

“I don’t buy from China and I refuse to buy cookie-cutter furniture or anything that pops out of a machine,” she says.

“I think everyone should slow down and not buy rubbish. Take time to research, thinking about sustainability and investing in long-term pieces.”

Her key tip for renovating a home is to have a good budget and not buy everything at once. “You shouldn’t try and do your whole house on a tight budget,” she says.

“I strongly believe you get what you pay for. Take your time and invest in a professional designer if you are not confident as mistakes can be costly.”

Shelley says Diy-ers shouldn’t be scared to go big. “I love oversized artwork – it is a great statement in a home,” she says.

“My favourite artists are Charles Blackman and Melissa Egan. Also it’s a good idea to invest in the biggest, most comfortable furniture you can afford because you will have it for many years to come.

“My favourite piece in my home is my two 3m linen sofas.”

Shelley and husband Ion Chiet built their mega contemporary Burleigh cantilever pole home 13 years ago. The build took nine months and saw Ion carefully design a “glass bowl” on the cliff face of Burleigh National Park.

The interior is eclectic yet pared back, with monochrome and a pop of colour in every room.

Shelley says there have been high and low moments during her 21 years in business but her “supreme confidence” has helped her soldier on.

“One of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t start earlier but I am a great believer in that things happen for a reason,” she says.

SHE’S THE SECRET WEAPON OF REALITY RENOVATION STARS AND YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY TRY SHELLEY BOYD’S TRICKS AT HOME, WRITES

SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT Rachael Johns

pursuing a career as an author, Rachael Johns worked in a small-town library in Western Australia. Every time she picked up a book she didn’t like to judge the cover because she was scared to miss out on a good story.

Like books, Rachael loves discovering the tale behind the smiles of family, friends and even strangers.

The life story of her library boss and friend Lorreen is the inspiration behind the Perth-based author’s 25th novel, Something to Talk About.

“Lorreen is a strong, gutsy and independent heroine,” Rachael, 40, says.

“She lost her arm to cancer at 19 way before I knew her, and I was always in awe of how she could do more with only one fully functional arm than most people could do with two.

“She knits, she quilts, covers books with contact, rides a motorbike and has even been a volunteer ambulance officer.”

In the novel, Lorreen is transformed into fictional local farmer and one-armed heroine, Tabitha Cooper-jones.

She is a dairy farmer and business owner adored by the local community but has a tragic past, losing not only her mum and her arm but also her dream of a music career.

Having given up on relationships, she’s decided to have a baby on her own through donor sperm and is pregnant when the book begins.

“I really wanted Tabitha to be like my friend – a really optimistic person who doesn’t let her disability get in the way of living a full life,” the author says.

“Writing about an amputee was a challenge as it’s not something I have any personal experience with, but Lorreen was so generous in sharing her story and her day-to-day life that she made it a lot easier.

“She also provided a sensitivity read, making sure I had portrayed Tabitha in a realistic and empathetic way.”

Rachael’s ninth rural romance novel is set in the small dairy farming community of (fictional) Walsh and nearby ghost town Rose Hill.

Within the first few pages readers meet hero Ferg Mcwilliams. He is a city teacher who comes to work in the rural community. He’s suffered his own betrayal and just wants to lie low and wallow.

But he finds it impossible to stay off the radar when he starts coaching the kids’ cricket team and has a legion of single female supporters.

The only woman who doesn’t seem to have her sights set on Ferg is Tabitha.

Despite a disastrous first meeting and a visit from a past love, circumstances keep throwing them together.

Rachael says the story of how Tabitha and Ferg met is vaguely similar to how she met her husband Craig in 2001.

“It might have been love at first sight for him but not for me,” the now mother-of-three laughs.

“I thought he was a little bit crazy and weird, and still do.

“We met when we were both working at Coles, he was assistant manager and I was front-end supervisor on Thursday nights and Saturdays.

“It wasn’t until we both attended a 21st party and got talking that I discovered we shared a love of books and writing. He asked me out that night, I said yes, and the rest as they say is history.”

The penchant for a rural romance was sparked by Rachael’s time living in Kojonup, Western Australia in 2004.

Rachael says the first few months, in the middle of nowhere with her husband, baby and no family support, was hard. But six years later she left the town as a very different woman.

“Kojonup converted me from a city girl to a country girl at heart,” she says.

“Now the words of rural romance make me smile.

“The romance genre offers a positive message in an often depressing world.

“Add rural into the mix and you have all the added layers of conflicts that come with small town life, particularly the fact everyone knows everyone else’s businesses.”

Rachael says she has come a long way since her first published manuscript, Jilted, in 2012.

“It has been a journey and there is no stopping me now,” she says.

“I hope now if people decide to try one of my books, about pretty normal people creating pretty amazing happy ever afters, they enjoy them and pine a little when it ends.”