This week on our Home Life Series, we step inside Miriam McWilliam’s transformed home in Blackwood, Victoria. What was once a dated '90s brick bungalow is now a vibrant, Japanese-inspired retreat. As the founder and creative force behind her design studio, Studio Mimi Moon, Miriam understood the importance of a well-curated mood board in shaping her vision and the interiors are a testament to that. Miriam knows how to mix vintage finds and modern design elements that blend seamlessly together.
The space reflects a perfect balance of influences, from the calming energy of Japanese bathhouses to bold, 1970s-inspired colours and textures. Miriam’s design vision shines through in every room, and carefully selected vintage pieces add warmth and personality, turning what was once a tired space into a creative home full of character.
Join us as we discover how Miriam's home beautifully weaves together travel, memories, and design, creating a one-of-a-kind space that truly feels like a place to call home.
Hi Miriam, thank you so much for welcoming us into your beautiful home here in Blackwood. Could you start by telling us who lives here with you and what makes this space so special to you all?
I live here with my husband Hamish, son Atlas (nearly 6), daughter Sunday (nearly 3) and our beloved 14 year old dog Poncho. We love our home because it feels solid, cosy (the large fire is a game changer!) and we’ve been able to make it ours by eclectic art and vintage finds that we’ve collected over the years, and through a renovation we completed in 2022. We especially love that every window has a green view into the garden and that we have enough space to run free in the yard and have friends and family come and stay for the weekend in the converted garage / workshop and green-bathhouse at the back of the property. It feels like our calm, tranquil paradise amongst the business of life… and the parrots, cockatoos, magpies, kookaburras and crows are our friends.
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Can you share a bit about your journey and how you discovered this home? How has it evolved since you and your family moved in, and what changes have you made to really make it your own?
We discovered this home back in May 2020, between the first and second lockdown when we had escaped the city the first chance we could get, for a dog friendly bush walk in the nearby O’Briens Crossing, in the Lerderderg State Forest. After our walk, we stopped in the quaint main St. of Blackwood, at the Post Office Cafe for a coffee and I just couldn’t get over the feeling that the town evoked, the leaves were turning colours, there was a special energy about it that’s for sure. I jumped on RealEstate.com and was fascinated by the (then) lower prices of houses on sale… we weren’t even looking to buy, although we had always hoped we would find something regionally that we could call home one day. In the weeks that followed we had a look at a place in Malmsbury, which had a gallery attached to it, but the house needed a lot of work, so not achievable budget wise, so at the last minute on the way to that viewing, we attended the showing of our current home - a 90’s red brick, that wasn’t our style, but had a gorgeous established garden and trees, had good solid bones and we could see a lot of potential - the rest was history!
The changes we made first were to paint the interior (white to start and a few cover-ups with black tile paint to some very 90’s floral strips in the bathrooms and kitchen), the exterior bricks were painted black, along with the front fence and gate, to sit back more comfortably in the green landscape - the red brick was very bright! We brought more light into the house by re-doing the patio roof, with clear instead of tin sheeting, with natural reeds for filtered light and we painted the concrete entrance ways and patio a light grey, and installed some new glass and wooden doors to create some more garden views.
A couple of years down the track, we collaborated with a friend and local; Caitlin Perry of Setsquare Studio to envision how we could make better use of the space and began a renovation project of the kitchen, laundry, ensuite and bathroom. Also replacing the carpet / tiles and bamboo flooring with engineered wooden flooring that we just love. We created a studio / workshop / guest space in the large garage at the rear of the property (thanks to Hamish’s previously undiscovered DYI skills!) and a bath house with a deep clawfoot bath we already had, which we made, with my brother and uncle’s help out of second hand windows and doors, which also doubles as a greenhouse for our plants. This space along with our vintage caravan housed us over the winter months, while our renovation was happening with our local builder Pat Rogers.
Your bathrooms are incredibly serene and evoke the feeling of a Japanese bathhouse, yet you’ve balanced the use of bold colour and texture. How did you create that sense of calm while still staying true to your creative style?
Thank you - this is exactly what I wanted to achieve! Because of the mountain location, in the town of Blackwood sitting amongst the trees in the Wombat and Lerderderg State Forests it felt natural to draw on the calm, green landscape outside and bring it more within. Hamish and I have a long & great love of Japan, and our little mountainside village reminded us of some of the mountain villages we have visited over the years in Japan, so using this as an inspiration was very natural choice.
I have always loved to bring big, bold patterns and colours into my design work - both graphic design and while styling my home, so even though it’s my instinct to go bright and bold, the environment is always a deciding factor when it comes to choosing tiles and textures and fittings that makes sense in the existing setting. The green tiles were a dream of mine since I was in high school and spent a couple of Summers in Lorne, working with my best friend and staying at her Dad’s house - which had the most stunning floor to ceiling green tiles that just made me want to linger.
Gold shower and basins made sense because of the rich gold mining history in Blackwood and our address in Old Golden Point Rd. I always love to try and strike the balance between earthy and luxe - and the gold, matt brass finishes brought the luxe for me. We kept the wooden trims on all the doors and brought more wood into the space with vintage furniture we already had, and second hand sliding doors, which seems to be prevalent a lot in Japan to achieve the hand crafted, cosy feel that wood brings.
The deep bath reminds us of the immersive properties of the Japanese Onsen, so that was a must to include for the ultimate experience. The green, square, textured tiles were sourced from Japan - much to our tilers horror, at the painstaking paper backed sheets that he said he hadn’t seen since the 90’s!
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We love your blend of found, vintage and special one-off pieces that bring so much character to your home. Where do you source these incredible finds from? And what are some of your favourite pieces?
I have collected all of these things over many years; bringing them from rental to many rental in Melbourne (and a stint in Edinburgh and New York), whilst on our many travelling adventures in our 20’s and 30’s, at many an op shop and more recently on Facebook marketplace and Instagram Vintage shops.
Some of my favourite pieces are the vintage teak furniture that bring the mid century, and Japanese feel to life in our home, plus my collection of ceramics on the kitchen shelves and vintage oceanic treasures that feature on our wall above the bench seat nook. I love the sea, and even though it’s not just down the road, we can always source fresh seafood for feasting with friends - so bringing it into the dining and living space made sense.
You specialise in creating artfully crafted brand identities and visual narratives. Can you explain a bit more about the work you do at Studio Mimi Moon and the kind of projects you love to bring to life?
I really love working with small-medium businesses and events to bring their ideas to life through creating their own custom brand identity. I ask a lot of questions before I dive deep into the conceptual phase, to gain insight into their aims, their mission, vision and target audience and find out what really sets them apart from everyone else. It’s really about connecting my clients with their people - their customers, their event attendees and communicating the right message to draw in the right crowd authentically. It’s quite exciting to see a brand come to life!
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You've worked on so many diverse projects across different industries. Is there one project or collaboration that stands out as particularly meaningful or transformative for you, and why?
So many to mention - but I really loved collaborating with Caitlin (Setsquare Studio) on our renovation project; it was the perfect canvas to explore things more in the 3D space, and apply some of my graphic design principles to a different canvas; choosing tiles, colours, textures and fittings that Caitlin was able to so effortlessly translate into the 3D - to really help us make the best decisions for the space.
We met up once a week for a while to workshop our ideas and look at them in the 3D model and we were able to barter services for part of the project also, with me re-branding the Setsquare Studio logo and developing a new colour palette for her Interior Design brand.
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Where do you seek inspiration from? What are some of your favourite artists?
I seek inspiration from my travels, I find travelling to different places around the world and even within Australia expands my mind creatively and opens me up to new colours, textures, experiences and connections - which in turn inspires me to take this approach in my design work. In the online world, Instagram has always been a favourite visual mood board of mine, following my favourite artist, designers and brands.
Some of my favourite artists and creatives are Jenny Kee (icon!) for her colour, pattern, multidisciplinary approach and approach to life - her autobiography ‘A Big Life’ was a big eye opener for me creatively many years ago. Sunday Reed, founder of The Heide Museum (and for inspiration for my daughter Sunday’s name) for her determination and support as a key patron of the arts, at a time when Melbourne was more conservative in its approach to art and design. Florence Broadhurst; Sydney socialite and wallpaper design icon in the Australian design scene in the 1930’s-70’s. Yayoi Kusama; Big, bright, bold, experiential, intricate, timeless… another absolute icon and powerhouse of art and design.
More recently, Morgana Celeste, Melbourne based artist and designer whose Papier-mâché painting sits on our wall with the seafood vintage pieces. She has found a gorgeous, nostalgic medium and made the most idyllic landscapes that takes us back to faded, sun-lit memories of our childhood in such an intimate and transformative way. Ben Bjork, a friend and talented visual artist that we most recently purchased a large abstract piece from titled ‘I Dream within a Dream (within a Dream),’ for our 20th year anniversary, which now proudly sits on our living room wall, after viewing his show and falling in love with it at his exhibition ‘Coastals’ at Brunswick St Gallery, in late 2024.
