The renovation of this classic 1920’s Queenslander home demonstrates how a home can be modified to respond to modern needs of a young family of 4, whilst being sympathetic to the home’s origins. We met local businessman Matt and his wife Vali at the airport while grabbing that all neccessary pre-flight coffee. Matt struck up a conversation with us as an employee of his had been one of the electricians on The Black in Melbourne. A few months later, he reached out to us to design their full home renovation of their gorgeous 1927 Queenslander home.

The beauty of the job was its proximity to our own house, located in a semi-rural pocket near Currumbin. The area mostly comprised of acreage properties, with mature trees and grassy paddocks populated by cows and horses, all under 15 minutes to the beach – encapsulating the best of both worlds = heaven!

Matt and Vali had purchased the 1.4-acre (0.56ha) property in 2015 after years of living in a very modern home. It was love at first sight for them and their two young children, mainly because the two-storey Queenslander had the family feel they’d yearned for. They were surprised to learn that the house was originally built in the heritage area of Ipswich and relocated by the previous owners.

We were given the following brief: to renovate the interior in an architecturally sympathetic way. Often the integrity of these old buildings is lost during the update, so we were excited to show how this house could be transformed while celebrating its history.

Find below our resources guide for this classic Queenslander with a few of our favourite pieces that brought this project to life.

Dining

Natural light wasn’t in abundance in this house, so we added skylights to the kitchen and dining area.

Dining Table – ‘Parquetry’ Elm Dining Table

Dining Chairs – ‘Provincial’ Chairs from Village Stores

Pendant Lights – Vintage

Artwork – Kimmy Hogan

Floor Rug – Hypnose in Blue from Decorug

Paint colour – Resene Half Wan White

Entrance

Opposite the front door on the first floor is a nook for coat, bag and shoe storage.

Cabinetry – Polytec Ultra White

Cushion Fabric (built-in seat) – Stippled print from These Walls

Multi Hook – ‘Geo’ with antiqued brass finish from West Elm

Paint colour – Resene Half Wan White

Living

The living room has my heart. We worked with the moodiness of the house by opting for a rick, saturated wall colour that feels like a warm hug and allows the art to pop off the walls. I also love the floor-to-ceiling bookcase. My favourite aspect, though, is one I’m not responsible for – the beautiful stained-glass windows at the entry.

Sofa – Upholstered in Warwick Fabrics ‘Husk’ fabric in Steel from Molmic

Armchair – Upholstered in Warwick Fabrics ‘Axella’ Denim from Molmic

Side Table – ‘Ink Round‘ from Early Settler

Floor Lamp –  ‘Calais‘ in brass from Emac & Lawton

Artwork (pandanus and kangaroos) – Kara Rosenlund

Artwork (foliage) – Kimmy Hogan

Artwork (jar with nasturtium and jug) – Elizabeth Barnett

Wall Panelling – Easycraft VJ Panelling

Paint colour – Resene Wedgewood

Master Bedroom

Bedhead – Custom made by Heatherly Designs

Paint colour – Resene Wedgewood

Wall light – Pottery Barn

Art – Kara Rosenlund

Bed linen – I Love Linen

Bedside Table – Pottery Barn

Lamps – West Elm

Kids Bedroom 

Bed – ‘Willow’ from Fantastic Furniture

Quilt Cover – ‘Creature Features’ from Target

Bedside Table – ‘Elise’ from Provincial Home Living

Artwork – By the eight-year-old occupant works perfectly in this cool green space

Paint colour – Resene Spring Green

Bathroom

Basins – Abey Australia

Taps – Abey Australia

Floor Tiles – Burleigh Tiles

Bathroom

The bathroom is a family-friendly space where Murphy the mini labradoodle is also welcome!

Paint Colour – Resene Half Truffle

Bath – Abey

Basin – Abey

Floor Tiles – Burleigh Tiles

Towel – Nikau Store

Alfresco

Lush tropical surroundings are the drawcard here, so we utilised this with the openness of the verandah.

Sofas – Sonoma Sofas from GlobeWest

Coffee Table – GlobeWest

Dining Chairs – GlobeWest

Cushion Fabrics – 3Beaches

Pizza Oven – Zesti

Bar Table – Custom made

Bar Stools – Interiors Online

Deign and Styling: Cedar and Suede

Editorial Styling: Sarah Ellison for Australian Homes and Garden

Photographer: Mindi Cooke

Carlene xx

HNY y’all! This marks our first blog post for 2018 and I’m not going to lie, it’s been harder than usual getting back into the swing of things this year. I’m blaming the fact that the kids are still on school holidays so we don’t have a routine and productivity is down because we’re doing much more important things such as going to the beach and theme parks and catching up with friends. Next year, I’ve decided we’re going to officially take off the first 3 weeks of January so there’s none of this trying to work, trying to play business. I’m even going to set an Out Of Office which I’ve NEVER done. Anywho, just before Christmas we revealed Paddy’s bedroom so now it’s Stella’s turn. Let’s get into it.

Sometimes I legitimately couldn’t tell you why I make the decisions I make. I’ve really had to think about WHY I decided the kids (Paddy, 8 and Stella, 6) bedrooms would be the same wall colour. I think a major motivator was the fact that their rooms backed onto each other and are mirrored layouts of each other so the symmetry influenced consistent foundation colours. I also wanted to leave room for the bathrooms to be a different colour and for the master bedroom to be another colour again but didn’t want the house to be overstimulating. So like, Paddy’s room we painted the Easycraft VJ cladding in Stella’s bedroom in Resene Madison and then used different accent colours to create a very different look.

Like Paddy’s room, we’ve created a bedroom that will grow with Stella because whilst renovating is our jam, renovating the same space over and over feels a bit reckless. This way in a few years we could literally change up the bedding only and create a completely different look despite the bold colour of the walls.

The bedding in Stella’s bedroom is from Kip and Co. I was just drawn to the dusty shade of this velvet pink quilt cover because it worked with the boldness of the wall colour. A brighter pink would have looked fairy floss (eek) and more pale pink would have been overpowered by the richness blue.

The artwork is a photo from a session we did a couple of years ago with Tess Leopold. I feel very chuffed with myself for being resourceful and utilising what we had. Of course I had to pay to have it printed and framed but it’s oh so worth it and oh so much more cost effective than buying a new print. I think the reason this image is so effective in this space is because it has so much it has so much white space and because it’s largely a landscape image with the two kids just mere dots in the background. Had this been a portrait image of the kids it just would have been a bit tacky. And what are the chances that the kids happen to be wearing pink and blue?! The stars aligned on this one.

Y’all want this rug don’t you? You should because it’s amazing. It’s called Hypnose and it’s a machine made distressed look from Decorug. It comes in Blue, Green (which we have in the master bedroom) and Cherry. It’s soft, durable and doesn’t show dirt. It also doesn’t shed. I’ve learnt; a thing or too about shedding rugs in the past few years and what I’ve learnt is that they drive me loopy. This rug has a beautiful subtle sheen to it and its colour changes slightly according to which way you’re looking at it which I love! The wall light is from Sokol. I was simply drawn to it’s industrial design and it’s affordability for a kids bedroom.

The windows in our home are key to the effectiveness of the overall design because we are fortunate to live in a semi rural area with amazing ancient native trees and vegetation so it was important that we frame them into the space. We engaged A&L Windows and Doors and Michael worked closely them them to create make the windows real WOW factors in all the rooms. Now we just need to address the fly/security screen factor because with trees comes bugs. You’ll note in the pic below that we have no window coverings up. We still don’t as I write this post but install day is close and I cannot wait, not because the kids are waking up too early (they wake up the same time year round) but because all the surfaces in there will be sun damaged if we don’t get something up quick smart. We’ve gone with a soft roman blind in a linen look (not linen). I’ll post pics once they’re up.

The kids are really too young to use their desks for anything right now. They do their homework at the kitchen bench so that we can help them whilst we’re making dinner or preparing brekkie and they do craft in the living room so right now their desks display collectables, books and basically anything the presents well. When I styled them up for the shoot I expected them to get busy rearranging their items but I think they take pride in their little display I’m dreading 5 year’s time when teenage years hit and their bedrooms become smelly warrens of stinky socks, school papers, bad posters and cookie crumbs. That’s how it works doesn’t it?!

The above pic actually shows you the type of skirting we used. It’s from Hume Doors and Timer and it’s the NSW Colonial profile. Hot tip: an ornate profile works on any style of home, not just a classical style of home and it doesn’t just work but it enhances a space. A flat profile is a fast way to cheapening your look.

The acrylic heart vase is from Lovestar and it’s one we’ve had for years that gets moved around the house although it’s really found its home in Stella’s bedroom. The doll lamp is the Lapin and Me Baby Lamp from Big Dreams Emporium. It’s a really sweet night lamp that shines a really warm light. Its little bare bum lights up and is so bloody cute.

Those ridiculously sweet angel wings I had pegged for this space before I even knew what this space would look like. They’re from What She Said Co. and they act as Stella’s night light (which I turn off before I go to bed because I don’t understand how people sleep with lights on). The ottoman is from a fab homewares brand called Arro Home and I love the random pop of terracotta in this space. The earthiness of the colour (along with the sage green sliding door) somehow helps to prevent the colours in this room from being a cliche (because blue and pink ain’t ground breaking, my friends).

The velvet blue chair is the buddy to the one we used in Paddy’s room and which used to be part of our dining setting. They are a vintage find from the RSPCA which I found a few years ago. Sometimes you just get lucky and these chairs demonstrate why sometimes you should go op shopping when you’re not looking for anything in particular because how bang on is that blue velvet?!

The book shelves are the old tried and tested Ikea art ledges that we painted the same colour as the wall to help disguise them. I wanted the books to be the feature here not the shelves and if we’d left them white here it would have cheapened the look. I love that these shelves mean that the kids can see all of their books clearly whilst also providing colour.

Dang it, we didn’t get a good photo of the kids; bench seats which I so regret because they’re cute as hell. In the pic above you can just see it poking into shot behind Stella and I’ve included the fabric in the moodboard below. In here, we used These Walls Leopard Palm fabric in Night. Could the colours be any more perfect?! You really need to check out their latest range because it’s superb.

Next week, we’re revealing the exterior, which is arguably the most impressive part of this project and if you ask Michael, was certainly the most laborious. On a side not, Ready Set Reno airs again from this Saturday 6.30pm on 9Life where you can see how this whole (7 years coming) renovation unfolded.

Please leave questions in the comments below because you can bet your bottom dollar that others will have the same question. Until next week…….

Carlene xx

For Domain.com.au

I’m guilty of spending too much on my kids’ bedrooms. My daughter has the best room in the house and I still have to stop myself from adding to it. It took me 5 trips to the paint shop to select the right shade of taupe/greige for her walls when I’m usually a maverick with paint colours. As for my son’s room, it boasts a very impressive gallery wall atop a very on pointe dusty blue painted wall and better bedding than our own bedroom so I don’t judge those of you with highly decorated kids room. Rather, I stand with you and here’s why.

1. For the same reason we clean them, dress them, and comb them

We think of our kids as an extension of ourselves so if they’re looking grubby and dishevelled then that reflects on us. Terrible but true. The same applies to the kids’ bedrooms. In a culture where we are bombarded with home design and renovation imagery, we are placing more and more emphasis on our home interiors and we don’t want our children’s bedrooms to be left behind.

Goosebumps Bedding, Image by Annette O’Brien

2. Because kids’ rooms are fun

I mean seriously, the children’s homewares market has gone absolutely bonkers; lamps in the shape of watermelons, cushions in the shape of pears, whimsical, magical wall murals, and it feels like even the most unlikely retailers are tapping into kids’ homewares. It is all fun and frivolous and it is the one space in our house where we can let go, go crazy and draw on our inner child, the one space where you don’t have to tone it down and so we ain’t.

Goosebumps Bedding, Image by Annette O’Brien

3. Because we spend too much time on Instagram and Pinterest

We are swipe-happy “Instagrammers” and pin-happy “Pinteresters” where we are inundated with images of beautifully put together kids’ spaces, making it easier to do it yourself. It’s different than just seeing product in the shop where you have to use your imagination on how it would look in situ and how you can pull it all together. My design clients always tell me the same thing; they know what they like but they don’t know how to pull it all together. This sort of accessibility to product and design instils confidence, which is most of what pulling together a room entails.

Goosebumps Bedding, Image by Annette O’Brien

4. Because we are clucky shoppers

Kids bedroom items are generally completely and utterly adorable, pulling at our heartstrings/ovaries and few women have the capacity to resist that sort of emotive temptation. I think it’s a hormonal thing.

Goosebumps Bedding, Image by Annette O’Brien

5. Because we are bad a maths

You see, each item, individually, is significantly less expensive than the adult version so we think hey, that’s not such a big outlay.  For instance, a single quilt cover can be half the price of a King size; there a huge range of cheap and cheerful wall prints out there that adult spaces couldn’t pull off; and all those inexpensive round children jute rugs, cost nothing compared to what you have to spend in the living room floor. My advice is to not add up all those individual items because the total won’t be pretty.

Carlene xx