Shelley Ferguson

Shelley Ferguson, an interior design devotee, creative mum and nature junkie.

Born and bred in Papakura, South Auckland, Shelley enjoyed a simple childhood being a free-range Kiwi kid and getting up to plenty of mischief with her older twin brothers. It was the eighties and scrunchies, stubbies and sunburn were common attire, while the natural world was a playground explored by boat, bike or barefoot. As a child Shelley had an insatiable appetite for reading, and was always fascinated with how words could transport her on epic adventures to far-flung lands all from the safety of her bedroom. Appreciation of the English language led to a love affair with magazines which she would pore over for days as a teen, using them as a window to what was happening in the world. After finishing school and running away to live in The Coromandel for 6 months, Shelley realised she should probably consider studying rather than just surfing, and returned to Auckland to study Communications. This led to a 20-year career in the media industry, editing a range of magazines including a 3-year stint as Style Editor on interior and fashion brands in London.

Shelley's career highlights include winning Best Magazine, Best Editor, and Best 360 Brand Audience for her work on Your Home & Garden magazine. Another career high was working with the amazing Nadia Lim and Carlos Bagrie to conceptualise and launch NADIA magazine, winning Magazine of the Year along the way. Most recently she has been Editorial Director on the home and fashion brands at Bauer Media, including HOME, Your Home and Garden and Fashion Quarterly. Throughout her stellar career she has had an unwavering passion for interior design, architecture and real estate which has led to six seasons on The Block NZ, and hosting local TV show Slice of Paradise.

Shelley has recently relented to the voices in her brain and started her own interior design company. "I’ll be creating beautiful spaces, yet always honouring that the ultimate beauty comes from how they are lived in". Passionate about positive home psychology – helping people to love and appreciate their spaces through an understanding of historic influences, good architecture and design, function and flow, energy, rituals, connection to nature, respect for family – and fun of course, are the cornerstone values of her new venture!

Shelley has always been deeply inspired by nature, so it’s no surprise that she met and married her husband (Steven Ferguson, four-time Olympian in swimming and kayaking) who calls the nearest beach his office each day. Shelley & Steven have two awesome little boys, Flynn and Jett and they love learning, exploring, traveling and having time out together. "They’ve taught me that a home needs to work seriously hard as well as look wow!"

TESTIMONIALS

Shelley joined us as a speaker for our Mitre 10 Ladies Night 2019. It was an absolute pleasure to have Shelley as our guest speaker, and the ladies loved her talk. It was informative, down-to-earth and practical. There was something in each talk, that everyone could take away with them. And as a speaker, she is so passionate and inspiring. It was also so appreciated that Shelley took the time to go around the team and suppliers before the event started! I have had so many positive comments, the guest is something that they usually miss out on – so thank you.
-Mitre 10 Mega

We partnered with Shelley to present to TSB customers in Christchurch in an informative session covering the latest interior trends and tips on what to look for when buying your dream home. Shelley’s presentation was perfect, providing great insight, and her delivery was excellent, with some personal stories about her home buying journey. Shelley was very approachable, professional and answered all our customers questions after the presentation. We would have no hesitation in using Shelley for future events.
-TSB Bank

The event went really well and Shelley was absolutely perfect.
We just adored her, and so did our clients. She was prepared, smart, funny and did an incredible job, above and beyond.
-Drum