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Before & after: A Victorian cottage sees the light

May 2, 2018 6 Comments

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When this inner Melbourne single-fronted Victorian cottage was purchased nine years ago, it was ripe for restoration. “Before the renovation, it was small and dark. We only had two bedrooms and a small living space with a tiny lean-to kitchen and bathroom. But it was on a decent sized block for the area so we had lots of room to extend,” says homeowner Rebecca McDonnell, of the blog The Bargain Styler.

Kitchen before
BEFORE kitchen
Kitchen after
AFTER kitchen

Home to Rebecca, her husband, two small children and a dog, the family began the renovation’s two-year planning process after returning from living interstate. “By the time the back of the home was demolished it was nearly falling apart. We wanted the renovation to let light and greenery in and to accommodate the family as our children grow up,” says Rebecca, who dreamed of a contemporary, open plan layout.

Garden before
BEFORE rear of the home
Rear of the home after
AFTER rear of the home
AFTER garden
AFTER looking out to the newly landscaped backyard from the lounge room

Key to letting the light in is the ample glazing on the northern side of the home – a feature that also allows you to see from one end of the residence to the other. “I love that I can stand in the kitchen and pretty much see the kids at all times due to the angles and the number of windows in the home,” says Rebecca. It wasn’t always that way. Architect Rod Allan of ROAM Architects explains: “The site is six metres wide and 50 metres long with a party wall to the long north boundary. As a result, the house had almost no direct sunlight and no real connection between the interior and exterior spaces.”

Before pic
BEFORE Living room and kitchen
Lounge room AFTER
AFTER The back of the kitchen features timber joinery that demarcates the lounge room

The home’s new-found light is also in large part due to its central courtyard. “We were very keen to create a courtyard in the centre of the long plan which could allow light into the middle of the house. Large two-way sliding doors allow direct access to the courtyard from the second living/play space on one side with a window seat on the opposite side in the kitchen/dining space. By placing a glazed panel at the end of the corridor between the corridor and second living, there are views of the courtyard all the way to the front door,” says Rod.

Curved timber fascia
The new extension features an internal courtyard and curved timber fascia

The curved timber detailing is a design highlight too. “The soft curves of the timber fascia and the splayed wall as you enter the extension combine to create a meandering flow from the front to the back of the house and increase the sense of spaciousness. This allows the main circulation to shift from the north side of the existing house toward the south side in the extension which allows the extension to open to the north light. At the far end of the extension, the roof folds up to capture more light which helps to draw the eye through the space and adds to the sense of spaciousness,” says Rod.

Timber fascia
The new internal courtyard is home to a rather lush fiddle leaf fig!

As for her favourite aspects of her new home, Rebecca names three things: the curved walls, the exposed brick down the hallway (all original, over 100 years old), and the long bench seat in the kitchen. “The children just love it,” she adds.

Kitchen and bench seat
The nine metre long kitchen bench seat provides ample extra seating

Made from Victorian ash, the nine-metre-long seat is stylish yet functional. “It hugs the northern facade of the extension and is a place to hang out with an iPad or a book, chat, play or socialise,” says Rod. “With large sliding and double-hung windows that come down to the seat height, the seat is part of both inside and outside spaces. It really responded to Bec and Andrew’s brief to make the kitchen the social heart of the home and to do this in a way that embraces contemporary open plan living.”

Hallway before
BEFORE hallway
Hallway after
AFTER hallway

“Overall we are really happy with the way we were able to bring so much light into the house given the constraints of the site and the old single fronted house. We also love the long seat and the way this interacts with the kitchen and courtyard to make a place for socialising and indoor-outdoor living,” says Rod.

AFTER bathroom
AFTER bathroom
AFTER bathroom
AFTER bathroom

Unsurprisingly, Rebecca is also very fond of her brand new, spacious kitchen. “I love that it’s such a large size. It really is the heart of the home.”

Study nook after
AFTER what every blogger needs: a study nook

Photography: Tatjana Plit| Furniture: Curious Grace

For more | Rebecca’s blog

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Do I recommend a timber vanity top? A big fat NOP Do I recommend a timber vanity top?

A big fat NOPE! 💧 

Which is why we have recently covered ours with a Caesarstone top (thanks to @justinplace_sydney for the advice and supply) and the sweet RELIEF of not having to worry about this high traffic area anymore, I'm telling you!🤗

Doesn't matter what they tell you or how many times it's sealed, I'm not sure it's a great idea in a room which is so, well, wet!

I love having the warmth of timber in the bathroom and it's a beautiful piece, but timber on the top? Never again.

Ours probably lasted a year (if that) before it started to go downhill (and we want a good decade out of a bathroom, right?!). 2.5 years on, everything else in this bathroom looks virtually brand new and the water marked vanity top was really letting the side down and making me sad!

But I'm so pleased with this solution, I have to say! Took the plumber less than an hour to remove the sink, install the top and connect the sink back up. We didn't need to move the tap and it isn't too close to the basin.

The kids are allowed to brush their teeth and wash their hands (liquid soap 🥴) in here again and I can leave my hair straightener on there with gay abandon 😆

The reflective surface (which I can clean with whatever I like!💪🏻) brightens the room up too!

Next week I'll tell you what I really think of my brass tile trim too 😉

#interiorsaddictbathroomreno2 #interiorsaddictfamilyhomereno #timbervanity
Is there a more decadent and delicious soup than F Is there a more decadent and delicious soup than French onion?

I think not!

Grab the recipe on the blog this morning via link in bio.
Get to know me! I haven't done one of these in YE Get to know me!

I haven't done one of these in YEARS so there's possibly thousands of you who don't know my back story. Here's a few things you may not know about me!

✔️ I'm English 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and I moved here (just for one year) back in 2008😆 

✔️ I can't end the day without a bath, even if I get home really late or on a really hot day. It's a mental health thing and my happy place. 🛁 

✔️ Before becoming a blogger and running my own small business, I was a journalist from the age of 18. My favourite news gathering times were as a newspaper crime reporter (bit different to interiors!) 📓 

✔️ I once worked at New Scotland Yard in London 🚔 

✔️I had an interview at Oxford (didn't get in!) but chose not to go to uni at all after being offered a job on the local paper #universityoflife 😁

✔️ My mum died when I was 3, I have an excellent dad and one sister (younger) in the UK ❤️ 🇬🇧 

✔️ At school, my favourite subject was French 🇫🇷 and I was head girl 🤓🤓

✔️ I'm addicted to ☕️ , long hot baths and💄 (been wearing it since I was about 14!)

✔️ I'm not a phonecall person and will never ever pick up an unknown number. Ever. They can leave a message 😁

✔️ My favourite cuisine is Japanese 🍣 🍜 and Damian and I honeymooned in Tokyo and Venice 

✔️ I have zero design qualifications. I just started blogging about my passion, which is trying to persuade everyone to #heartyourhome That was 11 years ago...

✔️ My favourite tipple is a good GnT or🍷 

✔️ Cheesy as it sounds, 💁‍♀️being a mum is my absolute biggest joy in life 🧒👦

✔️ I will never give up my old school paper diary! Has to be A5 and week to view 📖 

✔️ My official surname isn't Bishop. I kept my maiden name for work after I got married but changed it for everything else. Often confuse myself!

✔️ I didn't get my Ps until I was 37 and I'm still a terrible parker 😯 🅿️

Hope you feel like you know me a bit better 😘

📸 @vanlowvanlow
Blue, green or lilac? 🎨 @nood_co coloured con Blue, green or lilac? 🎨 

@nood_co coloured concrete basins is a great Aussie business success story. Although co founder Matt Di Costa first found fame as one half of Matt and Kim on The Block, he hasn't relied on this to build his brand.

“We are very honoured to have been a part of The Block, and all they have done for us. I am, however, a believer in letting the product take centre stage,” he says.

Read our interview with Matt via link in bio now.

🙏Share your favourite colour basin in the comments!

#colouredconcrete #noodco #colouredbasin #blockheads #the block #bathroomtrends2022

Pic 1 by @naibudesign_ and 2 by @twostyleinteriors
I'd love to see more colour in Aussie interiors! I'd love to see more colour in Aussie  interiors! 🎨 

At the end of the day though, it's a matter of personal taste. I love pops of colour but it's not for everyone. 

We couldn't resist featuring this Canadian house tour today. The amazing Kelly Green  hutch (swipe) was an upcycled $200 find 🤗

Head over to the blog via link in bio to see the rest including one of the best playrooms we've seen in ages!

Project by @in.house.design
📸 @philcrozier
Create an unexpected city oasis with an emphasis o Create an unexpected city oasis with an emphasis on light and nature.

That was the brief for the conversion of a corner shop and a warehouse bakery into a luxury family home in Sydney's Newtown. And how about the library?!

Take the tour of this very special @annacarindesign project on the blog now, via link in bio.

Pic: @justinalexanderphoto
The things that excite me as a 40 year old 🤭 N The things that excite me as a 40 year old 🤭

None of us enjoy laundry (OK, there are a few of you out there who do. Weird!) but we have to do it. And often. So if your laundry bin can be as good looking, functional and space saving as this, then why wouldn't you?!

I've lost track of how many baskets I've thrown out because they've gone soggy or mouldy. They look pretty, sure, but they're not fit for purpose and they're often messy and overflowing.

Here's what I love about his @brabantia_australia one:

✔️ ventilation holes
✔️ no need to remove the lid for small items plus it hides your dirty laundry from view
✔️ easily removable and washable inner laundry bag that velcros back on 
✔️ corrosion resistant so fine in bathroom or laundry 
✔️ Brabantia make things as sustainably as possible
✔️ compact, sleek, European design
✔️ 10 year warranty
✔️ tall and skinny so takes up less floor in my tiny laundry

The Rolls Royce of laundry bins? I think so 👌🏻

TOLD you this was going to be exciting!

Now I need to know, do you have your laundry basket in the bathroom, the laundry, every bedroom? We used to have one in each bedroom but moved to the laundry-only situation which I much prefer (one for colours and one for whites). My boys know to put their used clothes in the bin in the laundry each night and they're 7 and 3!  #raisingfuturehusbands

#gifted
"Living rooms are important spaces where our publi "Living rooms are important spaces where our public and private lives intersect."

So says stylist @nataliewalton in her gorgeous new book Style, the Art of Creating a Beautiful Home.

"They are where we gather to welcome guests and entertain. But they are also where we decompress and relax at the end of the day. Increasingly, they are open-plan spaces and need to work within a greater scheme. Bringing all the elements together cohesively requires care and consideration. And, if you want a space that lives up to its true potential, make it personal and create with conviction."

Read an extract, the chapter on elevating your living room, on the blog today via link in bio.

Published by @thamesandhudsonau Pix by @chriswarnes 

#livingroomdesigns #nataliewalton #coffeetablebooks #designbooks #interiorsbooks #livingroominteriors #elevateyourspace
Kids and husband messing with my vignettes again🤨

PS. The coaster was RIGHT THERE 🤪
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Amy Collins Walker

About Amy Collins Walker

Amy is our regular feature writer, an experienced journalist and interior stylist living in Perth, Western Australia. Find out more about her styling work at http://www.amycollinswalker.com/

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Comments

  1. AvatarKatherine McKinney says

    September 30, 2018 at 7:37 am

    Why do people think it’s ok to do this, to take beautiful old houses and turn them into ghastly imitations of hospital operating rooms?! It’s criminal! If you want an ugly modern horror, then go build one. Don’t destroy an antique gem with your terrible taste.

    Reply
    • AvatarAndrea says

      June 9, 2019 at 4:37 pm

      Looks amazing (some people just have nothing nice to say – above)!

      Reply
    • AvatarCas says

      June 9, 2019 at 7:10 pm

      You’ve clearly not been in a hospital operating room lately

      Reply
    • AvatarAnn says

      June 9, 2019 at 8:30 pm

      Why do people do this? Tear other people down without enough information or just plain good manners? If you can’t say something kind… log off! Don’t look! Learn to knit!

      Reply
    • AvatarSara says

      June 9, 2019 at 9:37 pm

      Rebecca and her husband can do whatever they want with their home. They could of knocked it down and built new but they didn’t. Maybe try a different perspective on life if you think they’ve ruined a house, they have simply made the house a home! ❤️

      Reply
  2. AvatarH says

    June 9, 2019 at 10:27 am

    Maybe you have terrible taste? Everyone likes different things. I love what they’ve done. They’ve kept the period features that were there and added to it. At the end of the day, they had to pay for it and they have to live in it, not you! If you’ve got nothing nice to say…don’t say anything.

    Reply

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