Sustainably Awesome: Nat Cheney on her Sustainable Coworking Dreams

In 2014, Natalie Cheney decided--let's open Nauti Studios.

After transforming the old warehouse space into the fantastically nautical themed space it is today, Nat opened the doors to the creatives of Sydney. One of the most interesting things about Nauti Studios is its emphasis on sustainability, upcycling, and caring for the environment. We spoke to Nat about why it is just so important to her.

Sustainability is always very important to you. When you decided to start working on a co-working space, did you know you wanted to use upcycled and sustainable materials?

100%. I have always liked using found materials in my practices. They really appeal to me on multiple levels; environmentally, financially, aesthetically, and emotionally. 

Before starting Nauti I was living in Melbourne for four years doing illustration. I had paid work but I wasn’t by any means loaded. I would use found materials for a lot of my work because, MONEY. Money is a thing. But also I found that pre-loved and pre-used objects have their own charming history and character. 

Whether it’s paper, wood, a lamp shade, a room. They have character from where they’ve been, who used them, what they were made of, why they were made. I love that. I love those stories. Those rich histories. 

This methodology may possibly have grown in me from descending from a long line of farmers and green-thumbs. Some of my fondest childhood memories are from running around on my Grandparents’ farm. Mum once sent me to the farm for eight months straight because I kept breaking my arms. So I spent the good part of a year sleeping with cows in fields, swimming in the stream, adventuring with the cattle dogs, getting down the well with Grandpa, spotting foxes, making beer with my Grandpa (lol he was cheeky - he trained me to be his little brew hand), gardening. I loved it there. Farm life, unless you run a massive produce farm, tends to come hand in hand with a DIY attitude. I have definitely inherited that. My folks, too, have been renovating their house themselves for similar reasons for FAR TOO LONG. Lol. My dad’s out there in the summer lifting each 35kg retaining brick himself. Part of me hates that he’s spending his retirement working, but he enjoys it, and he sure appreciates it. There is a lot of joy in his eyes when he looks at something he’s built, and I can relate to that. There is nothing quite like seeing something you’ve made and transformed, be enjoyed. 

I get a lot of joy from seeing people learn, grow, connect and thrive at Nauti, and my re-use of used/reject materials gives me a similar joy. I get to watch something I’ve made being enjoyed, but also I get to see the disused and unloved materials I source get a new life. A new purpose. 

I also LOVE nature. I feel so at home when I’m out in the forest, or the sea. The desert. The sky (another story). On top of a mountain with the breeze in my face. The natural landscape is so varied, so vast; it is incredible. A lot of people are super wasteful when making their products, crafts, buildings, whatever. I just can’t do it. Whenever I can I recycle and reuse things I do, because nature is so magic. 

Nauti Studios is an eclectic and vibrant space. How did you go about finding the materials you used?

A magician never reveals their secrets ;)

Lots of the items in the space have a story! What’s your favourite story?

Hmmm… That’s a hard question. Dang. Um… Definitely the top story. That’s where the studio is. ;)

You’re a self taught builder, and built Nauti Studios from scratch in both Stanmore and Hazelbrook. How did you go about teaching yourself these skills?

Very slowly and painfully. Very. Painfully. Learning by making mistakes and doing things the wrong way first.  LOL!

A lot of people seem to think that sustainability can be a hard practice to live life by. Do you agree?

It’s as hard as changing any habit. Which can be very hard, but once it’s ingrained, it becomes easy. I think the difficulty is in getting in the habit of asking where things come from, and by saying “no” to sources and things that aren’t sustainable. Companies make it so easy, and so convenient for you to not give a shit about the environment. If someone is wanting to live a more sustainable lifestyle I would recommend seeing what you buy and where you buy it from. If you don’t agree with where something comes from, or how it was made, don’t buy it. Don’t give them your money. Don’t fuel their business further unless they start producing things sustainably. 

Personal agency. Yumbo. 

It’s like if you buy cookies from Scouts when they come to your door, but every time you buy from them they take a poop on your front lawn. Your neighbours buy from them too, because they go to their door and it’s easy, convenient. Then they shit on your neighbours lawn. Everyone just keeps on buying the cookies and complaining about the smell in the street. Why would you keep buying from them if they keep doing more and more poops on your lawn, your neighbours lawn, every body’s lawns? You wouldn’t. Unless your lawn needs fertilising. Then, fair play to you.

One of the favourite features of the space are the boats we have! Why boats, and why nautical?

When I fist got the studio I was chatting with my mate Steve, who is an architect. We were talking about the best ways to lay out the studios, and he asked me if I was going to have a theme. I think in hindsight he, as a professional architect, meant “tasteful interior design colour palette theme”. But I straight away thought “YEAH! SOMETHING FUN! NAUTICAL WOOOOHOOOOO!” 

What’s one tip you’d give to someone about living a sustainable life?

Every time you go to buy something think “Who is my money going to at the end of the line?”, and “Do they care about the environment?”. If the answer is no, then walk away and give your money to someone who gives a shit (but not on your front lawn (unless you want them to)).