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Real Reno: Dated Melbourne apartment gets wallet-friendly reno

December 1, 2016 Leave a Comment

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New floorboards, a neutral colour palette with pops of mustard yellow and wallpaper, and a clever use of space, has completely transformed a home-away-from-home in Melbourne’s inner south-east for a busy mum and her teenage daughter. “My daughter and I live here during the week for work and school/university. We have a family home in Olinda (in the Dandenong Ranges ) which we retreat to on weekends,” said Jo McComiskey, former creative director for House & Garden magazine and owner of The Bedspread Shop.

Before living room
Before living room
After living room
After living room

“The home was previously owned by a lovely old lady who sadly needed care. It had been freshly painted white, which was great, however the soft green carpet had to go. The potential was there, as it was an empty shell once the floors were replaced. It was then a matter of style, a colour palette and clever storage ideas,” she said.

To date, Jo has spent around $10,000 on the cosmetic renovations, which she’s chipped away at for the past two years, starting with faux timber floorboards from Masters and a kitchen revamp. “The cabinetry was fine, it just needed tweaking so I replaced the green laminate benchtop with white Caesarstone and the stove top. We also removed all the little silver handles on the cabinets and replaced them with natural timber knobs (I didn’t want any cold metal and prefer the look of soft timber hardware).”

Before kitchen
Before kitchen
After kitchen
After kitchen
After
After kitchen and living room

A coat of chalkboard paint transformed the side of the pantry into a handy message board, while the living room, Jo’s favourite space, was given a lift by changing the all-white colour palette. “Painting one wall in the living space a soft grey has made a huge difference; too much white can be vacuous and wallpaper adds softness and surprise. The wallpaper is from the Sanderson Home range,” says Jo.

“The plantation shutters really lifted the space. It instantly lost its tired look once they went in. I love the gallery wall which is still a work-in-progress, and the light from the large windows. I’ll eventually buy a daybed to position along the windows and little door to the balcony.

“I also made a huge square-panelled mirror for the living area which measures 180x120cm. I bought the backing, mirror squares etc from Bunnings – it weighs a tonne! It’s like a Pottery Barn style mirror that stands against the wall,” said Jo.

After enterance
After entrance
After study
After study

The Glen Iris ground floor apartment also had an unusual layout. Jo’s solution: turn the main bedroom into an entrance and study, and the dining room into the new main bedroom. “Everyone comes in the old main bedroom door through the driveway and garden, so it was odd having that as a bedroom. Plus my daughter was in her final years at school and needed a private study space (her bedroom is too small). We wallpapered the study too in a sweet floral as it’s so close to the garden,” says Jo.

Before dining room (now main bedroom)
Before dining room (now main bedroom)
bedrooom
After main bedroom
After bedroom
After main bedroom
After main bedroom
After main bedroom

“In the main bedroom I installed floating Ikea storage as space is tight and there were no built ins, and wallpapered one wall in a Scandi style paper, again from Sanderson Home,” Jo said.

Now Jo’s daughter has finished high school, the bathroom is next on the reno hit list along with replacing the 80’s silver door handles. “Timber handles are hard to come buy, however I have a source (a friend) and I’m just waiting on him to change over his handles so he can pass the old ones on to me. If you are reading this Bill…I’m still waiting, I haven’t forgotten!” she jokes.

After hallway
After hallway

And it seems Jo, who has now overhauled four homes, isn’t the only one in her street with the renovation bug – her neighbours have also been busy and have repaid her (well sort of) for her patience. “I love our little garden – I have done a lot of work planting, and for privacy have installed a sweet standing herb planter, a lemon tree, and an extended paved area for seating. The boys at the construction site next door were kind enough to ‘donate’ some pavers that matched my existing paving in the garden. How thoughtful after a year of 7am drilling, hammering, listening to Eddie Maguire and mountains of dust — it was the least they could do!”

–Jo McComiskey is the owner of The Bedspread Shop in Malvern, Victoria.

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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 🤪
#weatherforit 🥶 Need a new blanket? Look no fu #weatherforit 🥶

Need a new blanket? Look no further than these gorgeous South African blankets from @baobabcollective, sustainably sourced, ethically crafted and imported by a Southern Highlands couple.

On the blog now via link in bio.
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