Over the next couple of weeks on Interiors Addict, I’ll be sharing the story behind The Peppertree Project — a full gut renovation of our large early-2000s home in Castle Hill in Sydney’s north-west. And when I say renovation — I really mean renovation.
A little about me first. I’m Kathryn Bamford, an interior designer who began styling homes in 2012 while living in Melbourne, before moving back to Sydney and completing a Bachelor of Interior Design at Design Centre Enmore. Today, I work with clients across Australia on everything from floorplan reviews to full-scale renovations and design transformations.
This project was a little different though, because I was both the designer and the client. And did I mention living in the house while this was all happening? Oh, and my husband Greg and I also brought home a puppy in this time!
The home itself is a custom-built six-bedroom house with more than 350 square metres of internal living space, so it’s a big one! It had been rented out for around 20 years and hadn’t been well maintained. Furniture was blocking doorways, fences were rotting and falling over, and there were holes in the gyprock walls. Every surface seemed to be some shade of orange, red or yellow. But underneath all of that, I could see there was something worth saving.
The scale of the home and the generous layout meant there was huge potential. My plan from the beginning was to completely rework the floorplan to better use the space and bring the home up to the modern expectations of buyers in the area, while creating interiors that felt calm, luxurious and timeless. More on the floorplan changes tomorrow.
The house was rewired, replumbed, repaired, repainted and completely redesigned. Almost nothing remained as it was before. Over this series, I’ll be sharing the transformation room by room — from the facade redesign to the kitchen, bathrooms, materials and design decisions that shaped the final result. Here is a sneak peak of the final result inside!
The facade
But first, the facade. As you can see she was a big ol’ Apricot (that’s what we called her!) girl and needed to be turned into something more modern to stand the test of time for the next 20 years.
BEFORE: Realestate.com.au
The original facade had so many competing colours and materials, so the key was simplification. She didn’t need to be five shades of beige, apricot and red. The sporadic planting and lack of functioning side pathways also wasn’t helping her cause. We had definitely bought the ugliest duckling on a nice street.
We focused on creating a much more cohesive palette and refining the architectural details so the home felt more balanced and contemporary. One of the biggest transformations came from something relatively simple: paint.
Paint is one of the most powerful tools in a renovation. It can completely change the feel of a home and it’s also one of the few upgrades homeowners can often tackle themselves to save money. Suddenly, the house felt lighter, fresher and far more inviting.
Facade renovations are often underestimated, but they can make an enormous difference to the overall success of a project. By refining the colours, finishes and details, the home now feels aligned with the interior design direction — modern but still timeless, luxurious yet relaxed.
It’s amazing how quickly a home can shift from dated to desirable with the right updates. And while the facade was the first step, it was only the beginning.
Next in The Peppertree Project, I’ll share how we completely reworked the floorplan to better suit modern living and unlock the full potential of this very large home.
Can’t wait to see the full result? The Peppertree Project at 7 Peppertree Place, Castle Hill will be going to auction on 28 March, 2026. You can view the full listing, photography and video tour here.
Get the look:
- House colour: Dulux Natural White
- Roof colour: Monument
- Driveway pavers: Amber Tiles – Tumbled Bluestone
- Front Porch and side lane tiles: Amber Tiles – Coastal Pepper & Coastal Glacier
- Vintage pendant: Sourced by Kathryn Bamford
- Wall sconces: Beacon Lighting – MBM Seaside Exterior Up/Down Wall Bracket in Bronze
- House humber: Bunnings – Sandleford 120mm Black Slimline.
Comments
Why did you remove that beautiful tree at the front? It made the whole thing look softer and it was a tree, so much urban landscape is losing trees