The Story behind Birre Home

Birre Home was probably a long time coming, and I guess this is the story of how it came to pass. We had outgrown our first home in Colac; we tried to build in town, but we had issue after issue. We thought, "Let's just go look at what's about that's move-in ready."

My husband wanted to look outside of town, but I didn't want that much seclusion. So Birregurra just seemed the best of both worlds. It has everything you need to avoid going into town but is still close enough to everything else, like the beach in Lorne, which is 30 minutes down the road, and Melbourne, which is an hour and a half away. Within a couple of weeks, we both knew this was where we would be for a very long time.

I was lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mum for the next eight years, and we had two more children. When my fourth was born, I knew that I was done. No more babies for me. We renovated our house, and I did the 3 Birds Reno School to help with the renovations. I guess that was when I found a love for interiors. My husband suggested I do a course in interior design (side note: this terrified me; I always felt I was the stupid one at school. I knew I didn't learn like others and later realized I was probably dyslexic). I studied for a year with the Design School, and I was right! There was so much more to learn and to be exposed to. I found out I wasn't stupid and had the best teacher who always encouraged and supported me. I got my Certificate IV in Interior Decorating.

Once I had finished, we planned a road trip up the east coast of Australia to celebrate my completion of the course and his business turning 10. We had spent a lot of time juggling kids, work, and study, so it was a much-needed trip.

When we drove back into Birregurra, we saw the little shop had a "For Lease" sign on it. We had joked about how having a little shop in Birregurra for years before this, as he knew I never wanted to go back to admin work, which I did after leaving school until I had babies for a good 10 years. My husband said, "Why don’t you open a little homewares shop?" Because we are the kind of people who can't not be busy, we contacted the owner and got the building a couple of weeks later.

It was so rough inside, but I had a vision of making it warm and welcoming. Birre Home opened in December 2024 after a lot of work and help from family and friends. We opened with no experience in retail besides being a checkout chick at Woolworths when I was a teenager. I knew I wanted it to be a welcoming, inclusive space to come browse and just enjoy the pretty things as much as I do. I believe I have achieved this, and I am so grateful for the support of the local businesses and community. I really do live in the best place in the world.

I guess I will finish by saying I am still learning (and never plan to stop), I love what I do, and I want to make Birre Home the best that it can be, so come and visit us in Birregurra! We have the best town for a day trip, a weekend, or a tree change. You definitely won't regret it!