In the King’s Honours list this year, a person we adore received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to interior design and there is no more a worthy recipient than Meryl Hare. 

When approached about the honour, Meryl responded: “I’m completely overwhelmed and humbled by the award. It’s just an extraordinary thing to happen and I’m so grateful. To the people that made this happen, there’s always someone in the background, thank you.” 

Meryl Hare was born in South Africa and raised in Zambia and Swaziland, migrating to Australia in 1988. This year Meryl marks 35 years of practice, with Hare + Klein having been established in Sydney in 1989. Over the years she has achieved much, and her studio is one of the most lauded in Australia. There has been a multiplicity of awards for the beautiful residential projects, which is the speciality of the design maestro, while Meryl herself has received many accolades that include being named an Indesign Luminary and celebrated at the 2022 INDE.Awards gala event as well as being recognised as a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia and inducted into the DIA Hall of Fame in 2011.

While there are awards and recognition, it is the beautiful work accomplished by Meryl and her team that lasts long in the mind. Hare + Klein produces residential design that is sophisticated and timeless, where an interior balances aesthetics with layers of visual generosity and there is texture, warmth, refined comfort and a sense of the client’s personality. 

While the practice is renowned and successful, Meryl has also generously shared her design ideas and principles in two books, Hare + Klein Texture Colour Comfort (2014 and 2018 compact edition, authored with David Clark) and Hare + Klein Interior (2020) by Meryl Hare, both published by Thames and Hudson. 

Meryl Hare has contributed to our design community and continues to do so. She is an inspiring figure with a wonderfully warm personality and a gentle disposition who just happens to be very, very talented. 

Congratulations Meryl Hare OAM. Your honour is well deserved as you have contributed personally and through your work to the Australian design community, enriching the lives of everyone, including your many happy clients!

We are honoured this year (as we were in 2023) to have Meryl as an INDE.Awards jury member.

INDE.Awards
indeawards.com

Hare + Klein
hareklein.com.au

Meet Helen Clunies-Ross, another INDE.Awards juror