Interview with Inside Out editor Richard Waller
I know myself how busy us magazine editors can be, so I was flattered when Inside Out editor Richard Waller took the time to answer my questions for Interiors Addict. He joined the magazine from Vogue Living a year ago. Here he talks about home envy being an unavoidable part of the job, describes his own renovation project, and shares why Inside Out is Australia’s best selling premium end interiors magazine.
What makes Inside Out Australia’s best interiors lifestyle magazine? Well, it’s very kind of you to say that we are the best! I can think of a few other magazines in our category that might consider themselves the best! What I would say is that you aren’t alone in that opinion because Inside Out still is Australia’s best selling premium-end interiors magazine, outselling our category competitors, Belle and Vogue Living.
In terms of points of difference, I think we offer a compelling blend of information and inspiration; brains and beauty. By that, I mean that some other mass-market-geared magazines do well on the reader-friendly DIY/information side of the equation, but offer little in the way of inspiring imagery. Other titles score very high on the ‘house envy’ factor, but don’t offer as much in terms of telling the reader where and how to acquire the things they champion and feature. I like to think that each issue of Inside Out offers equal serves of inspiration (aka ‘house envy’) and information (how did they do that/where can I get it from?). This is something that our founder editor Karen McCartney started and it’s something I intend to continue and build upon. I’ve only been editing it for just on a year now, and I’m excited at what lies ahead.
How does it differ to Vogue Living? Vogue Living is still very dear to my heart and I treasure the five or so years I spent working on that magazine and the firm friendships I made there. I think David Clark is an editor almost without peer in this marketplace. He has such a great eye. The magazine has changed a lot in the time I worked there. Increasingly, Vogue Living is less and less what I would term a traditional interiors magazine and is now more of a “super lifestyle” title, particularly over the last year or so when its focus has shifted to encompass travel and entertaining components. Each issue is a great escapist read.
What do you love about your job? So much! Above all, I love the team of highly talented people that I work alongside every day and the act of making the magazine with each and every one of them. I also love the talented and inspiring people – photographers, writers, designers, architects, decorators, artists and retailers – that my job gives me access to, and the opportunity to then share those with our readers.
What’s your own home like? You must suffer from home envy when you look at all the beautiful photos in your mag? Acute ‘home envy’ comes with the territory. Every day, the team and I see things that we would love to call our own but I’m getter better at not giving into temptation! I have a very great capacity to appreciate differing decorating and architectural styles and disciplines, but at home, my own aesthetic is pretty unwavering. Besides which, I renovated a terrace house only a few years back, so I have to live with how it is for a quite a while yet! So, at home, there’s an emphasis on calm natural materials and a natural palette and lots of natural light. So it’s travertine floors throughout on the ground level, which leads out through bi-fold doors to a small pool and courtyard area with the same large tiles (for that seamless “inside-out” look). Upstairs, it’s matt-finish oiled French oak parquetry. There are plain white walls throughout, with some nice Aussie art and a mix of contemporary design, a few rugs and a few antiques. I suppose I have a few of the usual mid-20th century clichés (a cream leather Barcelona chair – the first bit of serious furniture I ever bought when I was living in the UK over a decade ago; two felt-covered Swan chairs and an Egg chair; six Series 7 dining chairs around an oval marble dining table), but what are design clichés except things that work and function well?
The July/August 2011 issue of Inside Out (pictured) is out now.
