In a Room is a conversation series where we ask our friends to share their favourite domestic spaces. For this edition, we’re joined by musician and composer Carolyn Schofield aka Fia Fiell.
Based in Melbourne, Carolyn Schofield is a pianist, composer, and electronic musician whose work bridges classical training and experimental sound. Performing under the moniker Fia Fiell, she creates expansive, atmospheric compositions that move between improvisation and meticulous layering, often performed on piano, synthesisers, and electronics. Her music has been released on both Australian and international labels, and she has appeared at leading festivals and venues across the country, building a reputation for immersive, transportive live performances.
In this edition, Carolyn reflects on the spaces where she feels most grounded: rooms that invite calm, hold memories, and open up pathways for creativity. She speaks of comfort in solitude, the importance of light and stillness, and the subtle atmospheres that make somewhere feel like home.
Carolyn Schofield • Photo by Rohan Goldsmith
I'm in my home studio right now, and I'm here is because it's warm and comfy…I was tempted to go outside and get more sunshine but comfort won – I realised the best place to do an interview would probably be the comfiest recliner, which lives in my studio. I recently got myself a second-hand replica Le Corbusier / Charlotte Perriand LC4 chaise lounge to work in when I need a bit of rest, because it’s a design that supports the body’s natural shape. It’s a great example of ‘body conscious design’, rather than messing with its functioning, unlike most chairs and lounges. It’s one of the best things about this room now, it’s so comfy and I love it.
The heart of my home would be the living room, because that's where all the members of my household (including cats) get together in the one place, relax and enjoy each other’s company. It’s where the most fun and happiness happens, because the most fun happens together. It's basically the same space as the dining and kitchen because it's a small open plan space, so that's another reason why it's the heart of the home - a lot of cooking and eating happens close by. And of course there’s TV-watching and music-listening, but that’s not why it’s the heart.
Maybe the most special rooms I spent time in as a kid were at my grandparents’ house in Brisbane, where their backyard was basically rainforest. My grandparents lived and travelled a lot in Africa and the tropics because my grandfather was an expert in tropical medicine, so in their dining/living room there were a lot of interesting objects from their travels, like a huge elephant bone and a tiny African stool, as well as Australian bush-inspired paintings and prints by my grandmother, and antique furniture from England. The space told a lot about the really rich lives they had led before I ever existed, their ancestry and cultural influences, and their love for nature and animals. I have a lot of good memories of visiting my grandparents – their home was so different to mine in Melbourne and pretty much only good stuff happened on trips to Brisbane!
I want to say endless transformation and tweaking and improvement, but that’s only because of having a home studio which is in a constant state of flux as I work on different things or try to make the space work better for my needs … I guess the endless transformation is what makes something a work space, not home. Of course feelings of home are much more than that – I’m really particular about what I want in my home spaces. I have numerous lamps in each room to get the ambience just right, plants in every room that I’ve looked after for a really long time, prints and paintings by friends and film photography by me, a lot of second hand or gifted things, and furniture carefully selected for comfort and good ‘use’ of the body (that’s an Alexander Technique phrase). But really, I think what makes a room feel like home is when your own comfort and feelings of calm and regulation are a priority, you can express yourself through your belongings and creations, and you’re not worrying about what other people think of your space – you’re not inhibiting your own personality and self-expression.
Inside the home of musician Carolyn SchofieldCarolyn Schofield • Photo by Rohan Goldsmith
I avoid rooms with bad lighting, bad air quality, uncomfortable furniture, noise, and an abundance of grey and black instead of colours and warmth. I think our environments have a huge impact on our health and how we feel, and it’s really important for spaces to make our bodily and nervous systems feel at ease – and I think all of those things put our systems ill at ease, even if we’re not totally aware of it, if they’re not actively harming us!
The first thing I tend to notice is lighting. I really carefully consider how I light my home spaces, because it has such a big impact on how I feel in a way that’s hard to describe. It's a biological need have good lighting - it really impacts our health. So I always try to get as much natural light as I can, I only use lamps with high CRI bulbs and no flicker, I avoid fluorescents as much as I can, and I match brightness and frequency spectrums to the time of day for circadian rhythm. Air quality is next. Sadly I’ve lived in homes with awful air quality (thanks to mould) and I’m still having chronic health issues years and years later, it’s been a very crappy saga. That’s probably the most important thing to be honest! Never put up with crappy air quality, mould, pollution and mustiness, just get out of there.
I also avoid rooms and spaces I find pretentious. I like it when spaces express an authenticity about the people who inhabit it, own it or create it, especially when that has nothing to do with wealth. I don’t like a lot of things I see in architecture and design magazines when they seem inauthentic or overly focused on being supposedly good design – it can strip a space of warmth and personality.
Rooms with nice big windows, a nice breeze and foliage outside for the light to filter through. Quiet rooms, without too many people, where you can feel calm. Rooms without digital devices that are on. Rooms where you can hear the birds outside. Rooms with corner windows so that the sunrise or sunset is extra beautiful.
Can I say the back deck of my rental home when it’s sunset? It's not a room, but it counts as a living/working space, and it looks out onto a valley full of gum trees and wattle.
I’d pick a sunroom or a glasshouse, except I can’t think of one that’s my all-time favourite.
Maybe I’ll just have to go back to the living room in my house. It gets the view of the sunset , as well as the sunrise, and it’s so comfy with our amazing couch, fireplace, and sound system. It’s where my only mission in life is to enjoy myself, and it’s where my cats love to hang out, and I can give them lots of kisses and pats all day.