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Getting your coastal kitchen floor plan right
Watch 2:03

Getting your coastal kitchen floor plan right

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14 of the best ideas for coastal interior decorating

14 of the best ideas for coastal interior decorating

15 coastal interior decorating tips from our favourite summer homes

15 coastal interior decorating tips from our favourite summer homes

Volume two of our most loved Hamptons Homes is out now

Volume two of our most loved Hamptons Homes is out now

Top beach house decorating ideas for ultimate coastal style

Top beach house decorating ideas for ultimate coastal style

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Watch: Our renovated coastal kitchen revealed

Watch: Our renovated coastal kitchen revealed

Home Beautiful’s Coast & Country special double edition is out now!

Home Beautiful’s Coast & Country special double edition is out now!

House Rules reveal: Mikaela & Eliza's stunning coastal dream home

House Rules reveal: Mikaela & Eliza's stunning coastal dream home

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House Rules reveal: Tim & Mat's Victorian cottage renovation

House Rules reveal: Tim & Mat's Victorian cottage renovation

An enchanting family getaway on NSW’s south coast

An enchanting family getaway on NSW’s south coast

Inside the coastal bedroom of our dreams

Inside the coastal bedroom of our dreams

5 must-try tips for styling your holiday home

5 must-try tips for styling your holiday home

5 blissful beachside bathrooms to brighten your day

5 blissful beachside bathrooms to brighten your day

Gary Pepper Girl Nicole Warne gives us a sneak peek into her Australian home

Gary Pepper Girl Nicole Warne gives us a sneak peek into her Australian home

Pop and Scott do a linen cover for the Dreamer couch

Pop and Scott do a linen cover for the Dreamer couch

  1. Home
  2. Open Homes

A coastal cottage-style guest house on Sydney’s northern beaches

This beautifully renovated backyard cottage is a magnet for family, friends and far-flung guests. - by Kathryn Madden
  • 21 May 2020
A coastal cottage-style guest house on Sydney’s northern beaches

Set foot in this wonderful sun-drenched weatherboard on Sydney’s northern beaches and try to resist unleashing your smartphone. There’s a pastel-pink front door just begging to be snapped; a perfectly positioned hanging chair swaying gently on the deck; statement bathroom floor tiles that read more like graphic artwork; and a luxurious outdoor shower framed by a baby frangipani tree.

And yet for all its obvious aesthetic appeal, there’s more to this cottage than a series of carefully constructed photo opportunities.

living room

With its denim ‘Hugo’ sofa from Lounge Lovers, sandy-hued Kira & Kira ‘The Iconic’ sideboard and sunshine-yellow Smithmade cushion, the lounge room takes colour cues from its seaside locale.

Rebbeca Lu

Homeowner Merrilyn’s parents, John and Barbara, first bought the property 20 years ago, lured by its location just five minutes from the beach and its crowd-pleasing credentials; the block of land boasted a main two-storey house at the front, plus a two- bedroom granny flat out the back. “My dad was all about looking after family,” explains Merrilyn. “He purchased this place so my grandmother would have somewhere to live.”

fiddle leaf fig

Cream ‘Totem’ cotton-lurex rug, The Design Hunter.

Rebecca Lu

Over the decades, the main house has enjoyed various refurbs and renovations (including a memorable one that was featured in the August 2015 issue of Home Beautiful), but only recently did attention turn to the cottage. “I moved into the main house after both my parents passed, but I wanted to continue their legacy and keep the cottage for our family,” says Merrilyn.

bedroom

‘Palm Leaves’ wallpaper in Alabaster Pink & Mint, Cole & Sons.

Rebbeca Lu

With grown-up daughters – including one who lives in New York – visiting regularly, plus a sister in Queensland and friends dotted across the country, it seemed only fitting that she convert the flat into a full- time guest quarters. And, Merrilyn decided, should there be a gap in the calendar, she would throw open the doors to Airbnb visitors.

coastal bedroom

The beauty of this sleep zone is that it serves up the sophistication of a boutique hotel with the soul of a family home.

Rebecca Lu
shelving

House guests wondering how to while away their days need only glance to a corner of the living room.

Rebecca Lu

A new purpose for the home called for a new look – and a top- to-toe transformation led by Merrilyn’s daughter Simone, an interior designer who works in sustainability.

blue kitchen

The kitchen, once clad in tired terracotta and monochrome, now pops thanks to cabinetry in deep blue Dulux Vipere, a ‘Triple Kick’ pendant light by Melbourne designer Volker Haug, Phoenix ‘Lexi’ tapware in brushed gold, and ‘Transit’ bar stools from Curious Grace.

Rebecca Lu

Over nine months, the duo revived and reworked each space in the 1998-built cottage. “It was definitely of that era,” says Simone, recalling the carpeted floors and terracotta kitchen tiles. The layout remained largely unchanged, but rickety interior walls were rebuilt and clad in Weathertex weatherboard, usually reserved for exteriors but chosen here for their noise-cancelling thickness and visual texture and depth.

dining room

“A woman at the local market does beautiful native flowers – I always get some when guests are coming,” says Merrilyn. The ‘Rust Confetti’ artwork by Rachel Castle reflects the room’s warm palette.

Rebecca Lu

The kitchen cabinetry pops in a dreamy deep turquoise, while palm- printed pink wallpaper in one of the bedrooms is as sophisticated as it is sweet. “I never play it safe,” says Simone simply. “And we wanted to create lots of Instagrammable moments.”

bathroom tiles

Striking azure tiles from Tiles By Kate give new meaning to “floor show” in the bathroom.

Rebecca Lu

Above all, the focus was on creating spaces too lovely to leave (save for the very inviting sparkling blue sea just down the road). “The cottage used to have that typical granny look,” reflects Merrilyn. “We’ve kept it homely but completely modernised it.”

outdoor shower

A fitting finale for this seaside sanctuary? Reece’s Milli Inox overhead rail shower, for rinsing off sandy feet and bodies after a day at the beach.

Rebecca Lu
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Kathryn Madden
Kathryn Madden
With a weakness for words and an eye for style, Kathryn spends her days writing about everything from furnishings to fashion and feminism. Currently the Features Editor of Marie Claire magazine, her work can also be found in Home Beautiful, InStyle, Grazia and Qantas.

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Getting your coastal kitchen floor plan right
Watch 2:03

Getting your coastal kitchen floor plan right

{headline}

{headline}

14 of the best ideas for coastal interior decorating

14 of the best ideas for coastal interior decorating

15 coastal interior decorating tips from our favourite summer homes

15 coastal interior decorating tips from our favourite summer homes

Volume two of our most loved Hamptons Homes is out now

Volume two of our most loved Hamptons Homes is out now

Top beach house decorating ideas for ultimate coastal style

Top beach house decorating ideas for ultimate coastal style

{headline}

{headline}

Watch: Our renovated coastal kitchen revealed

Watch: Our renovated coastal kitchen revealed

Home Beautiful’s Coast & Country special double edition is out now!

Home Beautiful’s Coast & Country special double edition is out now!

House Rules reveal: Mikaela & Eliza's stunning coastal dream home

House Rules reveal: Mikaela & Eliza's stunning coastal dream home

{headline}

{headline}

House Rules reveal: Tim & Mat's Victorian cottage renovation

House Rules reveal: Tim & Mat's Victorian cottage renovation

An enchanting family getaway on NSW’s south coast

An enchanting family getaway on NSW’s south coast

Inside the coastal bedroom of our dreams

Inside the coastal bedroom of our dreams

5 must-try tips for styling your holiday home

5 must-try tips for styling your holiday home

5 blissful beachside bathrooms to brighten your day

5 blissful beachside bathrooms to brighten your day

Gary Pepper Girl Nicole Warne gives us a sneak peek into her Australian home

Gary Pepper Girl Nicole Warne gives us a sneak peek into her Australian home

Pop and Scott do a linen cover for the Dreamer couch

Pop and Scott do a linen cover for the Dreamer couch

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