• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Interiors Addict

Heart Your Home

@interiorsaddict on Instagram   @interiorsaddict on Facebook   @interiorsaddict on Pinterest  
Subscribe
  • Job Board
  • About
  • Before & Afters
  • RENO ADDICT
  • Kitchens
  • Bathrooms
  • Kids Rooms
  • Bedrooms
  • Living Room
  • Shopping
  • Expert Tips
  • Recipes
  • Parenting
  • Travel
Interiors Addict
  • Job Board
  • About
    • Our Story

      Australiaโ€™s largest interior design, styling and renovation blog for the everyday Aussie. By former journalist and magazine editor Jen Bishop, the original interiors addict!
      READ MORE

      Weโ€™re big on Instagram!
      @interiorsaddict

      • About
      • Contact Interiors Addict
      • Work with Interiors Addict
      • Advertise / Find a job in Interiors
      • Press
      • Get Your Free Ebook

        This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
    • bookcover-jens-reno
  • By Room
    • Browse by Room

      Where you can search for all our posts about a specific room. Only interested in kitchens and bathrooms? We got you!

      • Kitchens
      • Bathrooms
      • Kids Rooms
      • Bedrooms
      • Living Room
      • Home Office
      • Dining
      • Laundry
      • Outdoor & Exteriors
      • Renting
    • bookcover-jens-reno
  • Before & Afters
    • Before & Afters

      Who doesnโ€™t LOVE a good before & after? If you want to be inspired by the whole reno process, and not just the shiny photos at the end, this is the place for you!

      View Articles

      • Before & Afters
      • Jen’s reno
      • Real Renos
      • RENO ADDICT
    • DINING-6-AFTER-0P9A4023Before & After: This week’s Selling Houses recap (Clermont QLD)
    • AFTERLush, resort-style backyard reno provides holiday at home
  • Reno Addict
    • RENO ADDICT

      Looking for reno inspo? Find it all here, from other peopleโ€™s projects to the latest trends, tools and products, whether youโ€™re DIY-ing or employing trades.

      View articles

      • Reno Products
      • The Block
      • DIY
      • Reno Trends
      • Before & Afters
      • Real Renos
    • AFTERLush, resort-style backyard reno provides holiday at home
    • Screen Shot 2023-03-16 at 8.34.31 pmBefore & after: Classic, contemporary Adelaide bathroom reno
  • Shopping
    • Shopping

      Want to know where to buy the latest furniture, homewares, rugs, art and more? Weโ€™re always sharing our latest finds and telling you where you can buy them.

      View Articles

      • Furniture
      • Homewares
      • Art
      • Smart Home
      • Appliances
      • Reno Products
    • MargueriteNew Sage x Clare range + creative director’s top picks!
    • Screen Shot 2023-03-08 at 9.49.47 amKmart partners with Wiradjuri artist Judith Young on home range
  • Inspiration
    • Inspiration

      While Jenโ€™s a legitimate interiors addict, sheโ€™s no design professional, so she calls on an army of the countryโ€™s best to share their expertise with you. Be inspired by their stories too!

      View Articles

      • Decorating 101
      • Interviews
      • Expert Tips
      • Before & Afters
      • House Tours
      • Designers
      • Styling
      • Renovating
      • Real Renos
      • Covet my coffee table
    • AFTERLush, resort-style backyard reno provides holiday at home
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle

      Weโ€™re mostly about the home but Jen also likes to share other things she thinks youโ€™ll love, like food and travel.

      • Recipes
      • Travel
      • Parenting
    • Satay-wrap-featureFoodie Friday: An easy satay chicken wrap
    • 211025_Rosedale_12Stylist Steve Cordony’s stunning Rosedale Farm is on Airbnb!
  • Jobs
    • Advertise on our job board
    • Job Board FAQs for advertisers

Real Homes: Melissa Barratt from Home Decorating Mummas

By Jen Bishop โ€ข 7 Comments

FacebookPinEmailTweet

The co-founder of one of Facebook’s most popular Australian decorating groups has a house that many of its members envy!

melissa5

Melissa Barratt set up Home Decorating Mummas with Cheree Lawrence twoย years ago and it has more than 13,000 extremely enthusiastic members sharing their homes, bargains, ideas and homewares hacks, and giving each other inspiration.

melissa4

Melissa has always rented and definitely sees this as no barrier to having a stylish home. Her own, which she shares with her husband and four daughters near Jervis Bay on the NSW South Coast, with its muted colour scheme and always-styled look, gets hundreds of compliments each time she shares it.

โ€œI think my style is very relaxed Hamptons coastal with a bit of French chic! I always try to make a place feel like our home as much as I can within reason of what our landlords allow! I want my girls’ rooms to feel to them as they would as if we owned our own home. As with most rentals, you cannot really change much regarding wall colour or putting in new hooks so I do try and find nice pieces of furniture.โ€

melissa8

melissa9

melissa6

Like many renters, 3M removable hooks are a staple! Melissa’s biggest challenge has been working with bold feature walls in her current home which are definitely not her colour choice, particularly with her obsession with white! โ€œOften people think I’m crazy with so many kids having white, but my lounge covers can be washed and so can most of my other furniture coverings.โ€

melissa7

She loves a good bargain, as do many of the fellow mummas in the group, and is also an enthusiastic upcycler, making and making over many pieces with her husband. โ€œI mix cheaper items with more expensive things. The girls’ beds, my dining table and bedroom furniture were all from Gumtree! I then painted, waxed and sealed them and styled them with a mix of cheaper and more expensive decorations and candles. I love shops like Pillowtalk and Kmart and get a lot online or after seeing it on Instagram (a woman after our own hearts!).”

melissa3

The response Melissa gets from members on the Facebook group has definitely built her confidence and she has recently enrolled to study interior design, hoping to one day make a career of it. โ€œThe girls on there are great and everyone helps and encourages in positive ways. I don’t think Cheree and I ever thought the page would be so successful! It’s also helped us go down paths we probably wouldn’t have gone down. Cheree now has her blog Oh So Busy Mum too. So yes, the page has been great for us.โ€

Love a Kmart or Adairs bargain? Transforming a roadside findย with chalk or spray paint? Love taking a peek at other people’s decor projects in real homes? Want a few hundred opinions on the best way to style your buffet? Perhaps you should apply to join!

FacebookPinEmailTweet

October 7, 2015

Primary Sidebar

Popular This Week

  • Australian kitchen dimensions: standard sizes for every last detail
  • Lime wash blonde brick house makeover for just $50! Really!
  • Palette Cam 15 apps to help you build your dream home
  • How to: bench seat with storage for just $1200
  • A budget Hamptons kitchen makeover for just $1500!

Follow us on Instagram

How's this for a compact back yard TRANSFORMATION? How's this for a compact back yard TRANSFORMATION?!

Our friends at @mintdesignau have done it again!

Homeowner Briony Marsh says: Itโ€™s totally changed our home lifestyle now we can sit outside on the lounge in the sun or shade, be in the pool, spa, sauna or cooking pizzas and hanging out with friends. It sounds cliched but it really feels like we are on holiday at home!โ€

Head over to the blog to see the finer details, including a sauna and a seriously good looking copper pizza oven. There's a lot packed into this space!

#backyards #smallpools #smallpool #homesauna #pizzaovens #outdoorpizzaoven #landscapedesigner #mintdesign #holidayathome #resortstylehomes #landscapeartist #backyard #exteriorinspiration #exteriormakeover #exteriordesigns #pergoladesign #interiorsaddict #theinteriorsaddict #jenbishop #heartyourhome
Swipe for before & afters of today's real reno. L Swipe for before & afters of today's real reno.

Located inside a 1912 sandstone villa in Adelaideโ€™s Kensington, this bathroom makeover combines classic and contemporary elements that complement the homeโ€™s original, period features. 

Designed by the homeโ€™s owner @designby_Tahirih, who is a property stylist too, the renovation came sooner than expected after water ingress made the makeover of their only bathroom an urgent necessity!

The whole project cost an impressive $20k, project managed herself.

Read all about it via link in bio now.

#realrenovations #realhomes #realreno #heartyourhome #renoaddict #freestandingbath #classicbathroom #classiccontemporary #classiccontemporaryinteriors #theinteriorsaddict  #interiorsaddict #jenbishop #homestaging #laundrymakeover #bathroomrenovations #bathroomremodels
Maybe it's an antidote to the grey weather but we Maybe it's an antidote to the grey weather but we find some of the most colourful interiors from my motherland, the UK!

This beautiful lilac kitchen is found in a renovated apartment by @llidesign in a grand mansion block in London's Bloomsbury. You can tour the rest of it on the blog now, via link in bio.

#londonapartment #bloomsbury
#bloomsburylondon #luxuryapartment #westendlondon #lilackitchen #colourfulkitchen #londonhome #londonhomes #londoninteriordesigner #londoninteriors #interiorsaddict #theinteriorsdaddict #jenbishop #heartyourhome #kitchenshelf #kitchenshelves #kitchenshelfie #openshelves #openshelvingkitchen
I remember the chair being such a key purchase whe I remember the chair being such a key purchase when I put together my first ever baby room for Seb. I spent many an evening relaxing on mine while pregnant as I tried to get my head around impending motherhood! Not only are glider recliners like the Chelsea fromย @iltuttoย the most comfortable chairs EVER for those many hours spent feeding and settling, why shouldn't they look this good too, am I right?!

Did you love your nursery chair? Did it look this good?!

See more on the Il Tutto Chelsea Glider Recliner Chair via link in bio now.

#feedingchair #nurserychair #nursingchair #reclinerchair #nurseryroomdecor #nursery #nurserygoals #nurserydesign #babyroomdecoration #babyrooms #babyroominspo #interiorsaddict #theinteriorsaddict #jenbishop #heartyourhome #iltutto #newmumlife
Here's a sneak peek of the kitchen and powder room Here's a sneak peek of the kitchen and powder room to whet your appetite! 

Head on over to the blog via link in bio to see the rest of this gorgeous Sydney reno by @_studio_trio 

Pix by @mareehomer.photography and styling by Jackie Brown.

#interiorsblog #interiorsaccount #interiorsaddict #theinteriorsaddict #jenbishop #heartyourhome #realreno #housetour #australianhomes #australianhouses #sydneyhomes #sydneyhouses #texturedtiles #kitchenshelfie #kitchenshelves #kitchenshelf #powderroomdesign #powderroomwallpaper #studiotrio #kitchenhooks
There's a LOT of goodness in @sageandclare's lates There's a LOT of goodness in @sageandclare's latest collection Marguerite but the Aida rug has to be my personal fave.

Handcrafted from wool, it features a rustic check design with a rainbow of nostalgic colour. Embroidered edge stitching furthers its handcrafted feel. 

โ€œThis is pure colour joy bundled up in a hard-wearing and happy rug that will lift any room with ease," says creative director Phoebe Bell.

Head over to the blog now via link in bio to see more, including Phoebe's 5 faves.

#sageandclare #rugshopping #rainbowrug #tartanrug #checkeredrug #flatweaverugs #statementrug #handcraftedhomedecor #handcraftedhomewares #funhome #interiorsblog #interiorsaddict #theinteriorsaddict #jenbishop #heartyourhome
A DIY dining nook bench seat with storage for $120 A DIY dining nook bench seat with storage for $1200!

After 4 years of saying โ€œa dining nook would be great thereโ€ฆโ€ South Australians @the_groves_abode finally got a quote from a local cabinet maker for a built-in bench seat with storage. When the $4,000 price tag was revealed, criminologist, chronic over-achiever and wannabe carpenter Andrew decided to have a crack at it instead.

And we're so impressed with the end result which cost just over a grand. Read what they did, what they used and how in the blog now, via link in bio.

#diningnook #benchseat #benchseating #builtinbench #upholsteredbench #diybench #diycouple #budgetdiy #bunningsdiy #interiorsblog #interiorsaccount #theinteriorsaddict #interiorsaddict #heartyourhome #realrenovations #realreno #diningroomideas #breakfastnook #breakfastnookdesign #homediyproject
Mess = stress! Today on the blog, @little_label_c Mess = stress!

Today on the blog, @little_label_co founder Natalie Manoushian is sharing her top tips for a more organised home. I'd love you to share your best tips in the comments too!

"Disorganisation puts barriers in the way. Imagine how much quicker you would get things done if your home or work space ran smoothly. Researchers have found that clutter can actually make it more difficult to focus on a particular task. From the frustration of not being able to find what we need, to the feeling of being constantly surrounded by chaos, a disorganised environment creates brain fog and can lead to procrastination and reduces productivity. It can also trigger feelings of stress and anxiety, making it difficult to switch off, relax and sleep well."

Read the full post via link in bio now 

#littlelabelco #labelling #labellingeverything #homeorganisation #homeorganizationtips #homeorganising #homeorganisation #organisationtips #tidyingtips #homehack #storagegoals #pantrymakeover #interiorsblog #interiorsaddict #theinteriorsaddict #jenbishop #heartyourhome #cupboardstorage
Swipe for before ๐Ÿ˜ฒ @adoremagazine's Loni Parke Swipe for before ๐Ÿ˜ฒ

@adoremagazine's Loni Parker and her partner are stuck into their second home reno and it's looking great! Today, we bring you the before and afters of the main bedroom, guest bedroom and ensuite (pictured). Head over to the blog via link in bio to see the rest and more info on what they did and used.

Enjoy!

#bathroomdesignideas #bathroomtrends2023 #adorehome #adorehomemagazine #1960shouse
#1960shome #60srenovation #ensuitebathroom
#ensuite #ensuitedesign #kitkattiles #doublevanity #theinteriorsdaddict
#interiorsaddict #jenbishop #heartyourhome #curvedvanity #timbervanity

Pix by @coastpark.creative
Follow on Instagram
Visit Jen's profile on Pinterest.

Get Your Free Ebook

Ebook cover

Never miss the latest renovating and interiors products, news and inspo again! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll send you the best bits from the blog, direct to your inbox. Plus you'll get our latest eBook: What Made The Biggest Impact in Jen's Own Reno.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Avatar

About Jen Bishop

Jen Bishop is our owner and publisher and an experienced journalist and editor. Interiors Addict has been her full-time job for more than 10 years. She is mum to two young boys and lives in Sydney.

More from House Tours

Before & After: This week’s Selling Houses recap (Clermont QLD)

Kitchen

Lilac kitchen stars in luxury London apartment reno

Luxe, textured materials star in modern classic Sydney home reno

Adore Home’s latest reno: Contemporary meets mid-century

Step inside and be inspired by Australia’s best sustainable homes

Small space living: Three houses on one petite Melbourne block

Edwina Bartholomew shares what she’s loved about her Sydney home

Resort style makeover for dated 80s Gold Coast home

AFTER lounge

Dated 90’s Port Macquarie home given stylish refresh

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarS says

    October 7, 2015 at 1:52 pm

    Until they delete you for no reason!

    Reply
    • AvatarJen Bishop says

      October 8, 2015 at 1:10 pm

      My post about this article got deleted when I tried to share it because people complained I was sharing a blog. Go figure! I’m not sure why there has to be so much negativity on the internet!

      Reply
    • AvatarJessica says

      August 17, 2016 at 12:28 pm

      Yes!!! I had an awful experience buying from their HDM store and when I confronted Cherrie about it I was removed from the group. TERRIBLE admin for a fantastic group and TERRIBLE customer service

      Reply
  2. AvatarBelinda says

    November 11, 2015 at 2:11 pm

    They may have deleted you for not following the page rules? The amount of people that try to sell items, buy items, promote themselves as sellers etc is phenomenal, and it clearly states in the rules that HDM’s is not about that.
    Jen – totally agree ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  3. AvatarBeccy says

    January 29, 2016 at 1:01 am

    I think I have been deleted too and have no clues why? I am renovating and just put new wardrobes in and asked peoples opinion on storing clothes the best way then bang gone no explanation???? People ask all the time how to store children’s toys that’s ok apparently. .. confused?????

    Reply
  4. AvatarLusa says

    June 29, 2017 at 11:37 am

    Seems many of us are deleted for no reason.

    Reply
    • AvatarJen Bishop says

      June 29, 2017 at 12:11 pm

      Funnily enough I was also deleted for no apparent reason! Jen

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Footer

Interiors Addict

Interiors Addict

  • About
  • Contact
  • Work with Jen
  • Press
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure Policy

Browse

  • RENO ADDICT
  • Jen’s Reno
  • House Tours
  • Real Renos
  • Interviews
  • Styling
  • Designers
  • Bedrooms
  • Covet My Coffee Table
  • Expert Tips
  • The Block
  • Art
  • Furniture
  • Recipes

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RENO ADDICT

Copyright © 2011–2023 Addicted Media Pty Ltd
Website care by ClickWP ยท Log in

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!