So, they share a creative vision, they finish each other’s sentences and they have just produced another collaborative book – welcome to the power duo that is Jamie Durie and Nadine Bush.
TV personality and celebrity gardener Durie has been in the press and on our screens for years, but many people won’t have heard of Bush, who has been his long-term creative director and muse.
A former style director with a glossy interiors magazine, Bush has avoided the media glare over the years, while Durie has always been the face of the brand, which is, after all, his name, his vision and passion.
“I like being in the background,” she admits. However, this time Durie insisted she be credited on the cover and as co-author, a gesture she said meant a lot to her. “I was very touched and extremely grateful,” she adds.
The new book (which is the 13th produced by the publishing machine that is the Durie empire) is called Living Design, and is the team’s first title that covers interiors, which is Bush’s background and particular strength. “We are super proud of this one,” says Durie. “There have been 12 titles over the years and Nadine has been with me from the beginning really.
“We collaborate daily on various projects all over the world – she’s the creative director of our company – and it was just kind of right that we would share the credit on this title.”
Take a tour of Jamie Durie's home in the Hollywood Hills in the new book, Living Design
(Photo: © Tonya McCahon)
Indeed, this new production is almost the perfect blend of their skills – Bush on the interiors and Durie on the outdoor space. It’s a partnership that led to a blending of the two areas, to what they both feel is a whole new and exciting area in design.
“Her focus and strength is obviously on the interiors, such as our hotel and hospitality projects over the years. I have merged my things in to hers over the years and we have created a wonderful blend that we call transterior,” says Durie.
So what is transterior? “It’s all about this immediate connection to nature,” explains Durie with his trademark enthusiasm. “What this book is about is not just the connection to nature in terms of the physical and architectural connection, but about bringing natural objects into your home.
“I think it’s about natural shapes. It’s about unfinished beautiful wood, natural leathers and florals. That’s what I think is so exciting about this book; it’s so relevant at this time. We are all trying to get closer to nature through reality.”
Bush says that ‘transterior’ is “a totally made up word but it really describes what we do”.
Mid-century furniture plays a starring role in Jamie Durie's Hollywood home
(Photo: © Tonya McCahon)
“It’s not just about that point where architecture meets nature; it’s not just about blurring those boundaries. It’s more about creating that alfresco feeling anywhere in your home,” she says.
Durie practises what he preaches too. Readers will get a rare glimpse into his private spaces, courtesy of beautiful, indulgent photos of his two homes – a spectacular mid-century home in the hills of Hollywood, California, and his relaxed, jungle-covered home on Sydney’s northern beaches.
As he says in the book, the Hollywood home had a design object to “extend the interior of the house outward into the outdoor space in a seamless continuum”.
And it’s not just about beautiful photos either. Bush says they were passionate about giving their readers practical ideas as well as inspiration. The back half of the book contains 10 different design projects that will help people create their own transterior spaces.
The interior and exterior dissolve to create a new dimension – the transterior
(Photo: © Tonya McCahon)
“There are so many lovely interior design books and we wanted to be a little bit different,” she explains. “A lot of interior design books look beautiful and they are absolutely delicious and they are like a feast for the eyes, but when you read the text they give very little away.
“And we wanted to give a lot away. It’s always great to get an expert to decorate your home, but if you are not an expert, we wanted to show people how to look for inspiration, how to convert that inspiration into a concept and then turn that concept into the nuts and bolts of a design.”
(Images from Living Design by Jamie Durie & Nadine Bush, Lantern, RRP$59.99)
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