Meet Sarah Turner

Designer, Event Manager, Mother and our Woman in Style.

We spent the afternoon with Sarah as she showcased her amazing styling talents and talked about her love of design, from millinery to events planning.

Sarah, tell us a little about yourself…

Originally from Toowoomba, I now call Talwood home with my husband Ben and our two children Molly 8, and Fredrick 6. After working and travelling overseas we made the decision 13 years ago to move home to Boolarwell. For the first three years I maintained my marketing role splitting my week between Toowoomba & Talwood before deciding to start our family and be on the farm full time. Not one to sit still for long, I studied millinery and started my own label Country Peonies Millinery. This allowed me to be home with my young children and still have a creative outlet.

I was fortunate enough to create bespoke pieces that were spotted trackside all over the world. I would call myself a creative person with a love of interiors, gardens and crafts. We have been lucky enough to renovate & add our own touches and style to the cottage that were first moved into and then the main house on Boolarwell. We love to preserve the history and stories that come with an old family home (our children are sixth generation) along with the odd ghost sighting or two.

How would you describe your style?

My husband does say my “Nanna Style” does come through in my fashion choices, which is true although I take it as a compliment as my Nanna was a very classic & stylish lady. She sourced fabrics from over the world to make her own bespoke outfits. I’m also a fabric hoarder and have followed in her footsteps having many items handmade by an amazing seamstress in Goondiwindi. It ensures you’ll never be spotted at an event in the same outfit as someone else and it’s designed to suit your body shape. I’ve learnt to invest in quality timeless pieces that will be staples in my wardrobe for years to come although these are often teamed with a bold print. My essential & go to pieces in the wardrobe are a tailored blazer and a silk scarf. I have an ever-growing silk scarf collection that can accessorise any outfit from finishing a basic white tee & jeans combo or to hide a bad hair day.

I love colour in fashion and events although my home is a play on neutrals (and green, it’s a neutral in my book), natural timbers and textures. I have a love of interiors and find much joy finding the perfect pieces for a room whether it be upholstering a chair passed down from my grandmother or my husband restored an old wooden surveyors stand and converted it into a lamp stand, we then used wire from old fences to make a lamp shade. These pieces have history and a story which is important to me.

We love the Design Yard, can you tell us what inspired you to create your events company?

Thank you. The Design Yard Events was a seed growing in the back of my head for many years. Again, I must thank my Nanna for the behind-the-scenes access of how to execute a party. She would host beautiful dinner parties or ladies’ tennis luncheons with my sister and I helping in the days leading up arranging flowers, polishing cutlery, decorating place cards and setting tables.
After many years organising & styling events around the community and assisting friends and family plan big events in their life I decided to bring together my passions of styling and event planning to the The Design Yard Events came to life.

I found many people would love to host a party although the thought of the thought of sourcing everything needed becomes overwhelming and it is then thrown in the too hard basket.

Working with clients I am able to do all the behind the scenes running around and create their perfect event without stress and worry to the host. I’ve also been very fortunate to be a part of many weddings across the state and specialise in property weddings (my favourite). My role can vary from planning every aspect of a wedding, assist with just the styling facet of the day or be the On the Day Coordinator working with all vendors to ensure the day run smoothly and to schedule.

The Design Yard is always evolving originally just covering event coordination, planning and styling for corporate functions, private events and weddings although I have introduced product styling to assist businesses who require beautifully styled images of their product for either websites, branding or social media.