There is a distinct moment in every creative journey where the horizon shifts. For Tara Solberg, founder and creative force behind Few & Far, that shift didn’t happen in a sterile corporate boardroom or via a calculated market algorithm. It happened on a warm afternoon in Melrose, California, standing inside a global furniture showroom that felt less like a retail space and more like a portal to another world.
"Danny looked at the owner sitting at his desk at the back of the store, turned to me, and said, 'I want to be him,'" Tara recalls with a smile. "And I said, 'Well, let's have a go.'"
In her recent conversation on the Her Design, Her Story podcast, Tara sat down with Sarah Reid, an Interior Designer based in Melbourne, to trace the threads of that wild leap of faith —from her early days designing leg ropes in the surf industry to steering a thriving multi-layered business with over 60 staff, five retail stores, and a global sourcing footprint.
But beneath the commercial milestones lies a much deeper story: a philosophy centred on the poetry of slow living, the grounding nature of raw materials, and the hard-won boundaries that protect family life.
Forgetting the Rules
We often look at established creative spaces and assume they were mapped out with clinical precision. Yet, Tara’s story is a beautiful testament to following a visceral, unspoken pull. Leaving school, she sat at her family dining table, flipping through a physical directory of university courses with her mother before landing on a Bachelor of Design at COFA.
While her early career saw her jet-setting across five countries in two weeks to forecast clothing trends for surf giant Ocean and Earth, Tara found herself secretly hoarding interior magazines during her off-hours.
"I really loved the freedom of being able to create, but I eventually realised fashion was not my passion," Tara shares. "I kept paying attention to spaces. I loved the feeling you got when you walked into certain stores—how they held you there. I wanted to recreate that sensory decompression."
When she and her husband Danny finally signed the lease on a dilapidated video shop at the end of a quiet street in Huskisson in 2009, the risks were substantial. They lifted every single floorboard down to the bare earth. They poured in their savings and borrowed from their family. Yet, they never doubted the vision: to build a soulful business strictly around the lifestyle they craved on the South Coast of New South Wales.
When asked how she defines the signature Few & Far aesthetic, Tara admits it can be hard to pin down in standard design terminology.
"I've had this conversation with Danny," she laughs. "He says, 'It’s about the mix.' The old and the new. The raw and the refined. It’s about mixing textures so a space feels accumulated and gathered over time, rather than clinical or 'installed.'"
This rejection of the predictable is what draws design enthusiasts to the brand. Rather than chasing ephemeral interior trends, Tara looks for the "anchors"—solid wood foundational furniture, hand-knotted Turkish rugs, and patinated antique chests that carry the physical resonance of a past life.
"Whether a piece sparks a nostalgic memory of your childhood or you simply fall in love with its one-off nature, each vintage piece tells a story that we get to become a part of when we bring it into our sanctuaries," Tara reflects.
A Design Philosophy
This intuitive approach heavily informs Few & Far’s expanding Interior Design Services. Whether restyling a sprawling country homestead in Glenquarry or curating a coastal chalet above Hyams Beach, Tara and her design team approach spaces by listening to the land first.
"Design is an emotional resonance," Tara explains. "Our role is to provide pieces that don't fight for attention, but settle into the shadows and allow a room to breathe."
Tara’s Essential Rituals for a Grounded Space:
Perhaps the most inspiring element of Tara’s 17-year journey is her unyielding commitment to the "slow life" that sparked the business in the first place. In a retail landscape that moves at a breakneck pace, she draws a hard line between business and family.
While her two children have grown up shredding cardboard in the warehouse and dragging along to trade fairs, weekends remain strictly sacred. Every single morning, even through the biting chill of winter, Tara and Danny begin their day with a walk and a swim in the ocean.
"It is that hit of cold water and fresh air," Tara says. "It’s a beautiful start to the day and the uninterrupted space we get to clear our thoughts and talk. Connection to nature is essential. Otherwise, a business can completely consume you."
Tara’s path reminds us that creating an authentic life—and an authentic home—takes time. It requires us to slow down, listen to our intuition, and choose elements that resonate with our souls rather than logic.
If you are ready to introduce your own narrative, history, and character into your space, we invite you to explore our globally sourced collections or connect with our styling team.
Discover the Journey Further: Listen to Tara’s full, unfiltered interview on the latest episode of the Her Design, Her Story podcast.
Explore our tailored In-Home and E-Decorating Design Services to begin writing your home's next beautiful chapter.
Drawing from years of experience in homewares and design, we celebrate conscious buying, artisanal craftsmanship, and are driven by the belief that every space should be a collection of pieces that tell stories from past and present and make ways for the narrative to continue in the future. Our mission is to inspire, guide, and help you weave a unique and meaningful story within your own walls.
