Time hadn’t been kind to the century-old cottage that Georgina and her brother Brad inherited on their family’s third-generation farm four years ago. Ad hoc updates, a string of quick fixes and a long stint as a rental had left the NSW North Coast home, that was previously owned by their grandparents, in a tired state. “We got to a point where we were like, ‘Well, what do we do with the cottage?’” recalls Georgina.
Who stays here?
Georgina and her husband Cameron, farmers and owners of Hirehood, and their three children Jackson, six, Billy, four, and Charlotte, two. The couple share the cottage with Georgina’s brother, Brad.
The best part of the renovation process? Georgina: “It was really nice to be able to work together as a family. We’ve all done bits and pieces ourselves. Along the way you kind of learn what’s involved in putting a house back together, like what’s behind this wall? How was it put in? You know where every little piece came from.”
Favourite room? “I love the kitchen. I’m in there really early in the morning when the sunlight streams in through the window, and I can look out and see the big fig tree; it’s all just so beautiful.”
They agreed on one thing: the building meant far too much to their family to fall into further disrepair. “It’s the original farmhouse and we wanted it to live on and be handed down to our kids,” she adds. Budgets were tight, so they opted to do the lion’s share of the renovation themselves, with the goal of tidying things up and making the home liveable again. But the more Georgina worked on the cottage alongside her family – husband Cameron, brother Brad, her mum Tracy and Uncle Dave, a builder – the more she fell under its spell. “I really didn’t want it to be just a white cottage,” she says. “I wanted it to stand out and be unique.”
Undaunted by the sheer labour involved in laying flooring, replacing walls and installing a kitchen thrifted from a house in nearby Bangalow, Georgina soon hit a roadblock when decisions had to be made concerning paint colours, furniture selection and infusing the cottage with personality. Having worked on a previous project with interior design studio Cedar & Suede, Georgina called on its founder Carlene Duffy for help. “The whole way she had my complete trust,” says Georgina, who didn’t bat an eyelid when Carlene suggested a brazen palette of lime green, burgundy and dusty blues accentuated by flashes of red.
Stripping the home back to its studs and making it whole again was a full-circle moment for Georgina, whose kids now enjoy a childhood like hers. “Hopefully it’ll last another hundred years,” she says
Kitchen
Georgina loves the kitchen cabinets painted in Porter’s Paints Dark Newport Blue and splashback tiled in ‘Rosa’ travertine herringbone mosaics from Burleigh Tiles . However, her favourite feature is the ‘Henley’ double fluted farmhouse sink from ABI Interiors. “None of the original cabinet doors fit that sink, so we bought similar doors from Ikea, cut them in half and glued them back together,” says Georgina. “It was so much work, but I kept saying, ‘I really want this sink’.
“The second-hand kitchen was one of the first things we bought before we even started renovating.”
Georgina, homeowner.
A corner dining booth feels inviting and maximises the space available. The ‘Newport’ round pedestal table from Abide Interiors is the hero of the home’s dining zone, while chairs thrifted on Facebook Marketplace are painted in Resene Raging Bull. “Georgina almost didn’t paint the chairs,” recalls Carlene. “I said, ‘Well, you have to paint the chairs,’ and when she did she said, ‘I’m so glad you made me paint them’.”
Living
Throughout the cottage, Facebook Marketplace finds mingle with upcycled Ikea pieces. An Ikea ‘Ektorp’ sofa in the living area is reupholstered in bold ‘Amboli Indigo’ fabric from Warwick. The armchair and ottoman are also from Ikea, and are covered in ‘Brixham Indigo’ and ‘Mojave Russett’ respectively, which are both also from Warwick. A ‘Barcelona’ pendant light from Gypset Cargo ties the whole look together.
Bedrooms
Painted in Porter’s Paints Back Country, the couple’s bedroom, known as ‘the mustard room’, showcases a vintage chest of drawers and a ‘Biscayne’ rattan bedhead in Tobacco from Naturally Cane. A ‘Kantha’ coverlet from Temple & Webster tops the linen-dressed bed (for similar, try I Love Linen).
With walls painted in Resene Mocha, the ‘rust bedroom’ is perhaps the cosiest room in the house. Curtains with classic blue stripes are contrasted with a vintage Kantha cotton floral bedspread from Etsy and bedding in marine blue from I Love Linen. An ‘Austin’ wall light from Emac & Lawton illuminates the rattan bedside table (for similar, try the ‘President’ rattan bedside table from Naturally Cane).
“They wanted to celebrate the house, and I interpreted that as ‘let’s go nuts with colour.”
Carlene, designer
The only time the cottage’s colour palette came into question was when Georgina began painting the bunk room in Resene Gingko, which appeared almost neon before the blinds were installed. Two coats of Resene Tangaroa high gloss turned a simple ‘Dante’ pine bunk bed from Luxo Living into a hero feature, while glass panes in a vintage wardrobe were replaced with fabric curtaining in ‘Amboli Indigo’ from Warwick.
Bathroom
Penny round tiles contrast with ‘Artisan Roma Piazza’ matte floor tiles, both from Burleigh Tiles, while a Roman shade in ‘Salford in Abyss’ from Warwick highlights the salvaged timber windows in the bathroom. VJ panels in Resene Double Fossil are a backdrop for thrifted art and a cane vanity mirror.
Laundry/mudroom
Vintage baskets are a pretty and practical way to add interest to the laundry walls, painted in Resene Peanut.
The rear hall serves as a compact mudroom, with patterned flooring from Burleigh Tiles leading from the threshold into the laundry. ‘Hövolm’ peg board rails from Ikea create additional hanging and storage space.
Interior design: Cedar & Suede, cedarandsuede.com.au.
Builder: David Green.
Stay: This home is available for short-term rental accommodation on Airbnb as Keltara.
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