There’s a universal appeal to traditional interiors, which interior designer Amy Spargo understands well. “Often, they are the result of a collection of pieces that have been gathered over time. You feel that in a space: the history, the stories, the layers. They wrap around you and make you feel good.” This sense of comfort, born of history, is readily apparent in her family’s latest home adventure. Although fully renovated over a short time – eight months from transfer of keys – the home is rich with stories: patinaed antiques, treasured pieces, and patterns that have been awaiting their time to shine.
Who lives here?
Amy Spargo, founder of Maine House Interiors, her husband Josh, a project manager, and their daughters, Hillary, 11, Primrose, nine, and Daisy, five.
What is your favourite space? Amy: “I love our dining nook, it’s the space where we gather as a family for lazy Sunday breakfasts, a game of Spot It with the kids or sitting with friends to enjoy a glass of wine on a Friday afternoon.”
Describe your decorating style? “Classic with a twist. I love working with pattern and colour and weaving a common design thread throughout a home. I always aim to create individual interest in each space while ensuring a cohesive flow.
Built in the 1970s, but with the charm of a much older house – including panelled sash windows and external shutters – the home had good bones to work with. Most importantly, Amy and her husband Josh could see how the home fit their vision of the lifestyle they wanted for their family – to be close to their girls’ school, to have space for them to play with friends, and for the home to be centre of their social world. It ticked almost every box, and where it fell short, it was malleable enough to fix. A too-small kitchen and laundry within the garage were solved by swallowing the original garage to accommodate a large new open-plan kitchen and a laundry/mudroom. Now a pretty pergola shelters cars, in place of a bulky garage.
The site of this house inspired a country feel and a broad spectrum of hues. “What drew me to the house was the trees. Even though the beach is only down the road, this feels very green and secluded. We’ve got a lot of birdlife and the girls have started hand-feeding kookaburras on the deck. It’s a lovely little pocket,” Amy explains. That appreciation for nature manifests in the decor with a gentle palette of garden-inspired hues, and botanical fabrics and wallpapers. The palette is essentially a collage of Amy’s best-loved patterns, collected over months – or even longer. “I gathered all of my favourites that were coming across my desk and I had a big basket that I would put them in, even down to tiles and paint colours that I liked. Then I pulled them all out and built my scheme from there.”
Looks aside, this is a house designed for family living. Though ‘practical’ may not be the first adjective associated with traditional interiors, it is a core tenet of Amy’s design style – and, in fact, a major benefit of the older, heirloom pieces she loves. “The beautiful rug under our dining table is deliberately patterned because we throw a lot of dinner parties, so it doesn’t matter if red wine is spilt on it – it’s already been through 100 years of life.” Having three children has driven home the importance of livability for Amy; less expensive furnishings sit alongside time-tested treasures, as well as other pragmatic choices, like wipeable oil cloth on the bar stools, indestructible granite kitchen benches and protective treatments on all fabrics. In Amy’s world, beauty and liveability walk comfortably hand in hand.
Front porch
A home designed to share was a top priority for interior designer Amy Spargo and her husband Josh, whose renovation of this Mornington Peninsula home included a new porch to create a sense of arrival. The door is framed in Egyptian limestone pavers from EStone Direct, a ‘Nuit’ lantern from French Country Collections, and urns from Julian Ronchi.
Entrance
Though not far from the sea, the home’s established trees and leafy gardens help to give it a country feel, which inspired Amy’s choice of charming floral wallpaper in the entrance, ‘Botanical Cream’ by American watercolour artist Riley Sheehey. A subtle seam of blue runs throughout the house, seen here in the vintage pieces painted in Porter’s Paints Jodhpur Blue.
“There’s a lot going on, but it’s still restful on the eye, because there are these subliminal connections, whether it’s in colour or print.”
Amy Spargo
Living room
A welcoming tone is continued in the living room, with a collage of colours and textures, including Arthur G armchairs in ‘Marsan’ fabric by Manuel Canovas. The denim blue sofa (in foreground) is the closest thing to a neutral fabric in this space. “I do like using colour in main pieces of upholstery,” says Amy, explaining with the wisdom of a mum of three. “I think, for one, it’s more forgiving than a neutral.” The wealth of colour and detail in the room includes a blue ‘Primrose’ chair from Maine House Interiors, antique secretaire and marble fire surround (an offcut from the kitchen bench), balanced by natural tones in a ‘Heavy Rustic’ sisal rug from Floorspace and matchstick blinds from Abundant Home. An Indian silk painting is bookended by Konstanty Kucewicz seascapes.
Kitchen & dining room
In the kitchen, Arabescato Corchia marble from Gladstone Granite around a Lacanche oven is a forgiving surface for spills, while a granite island is bulletproof against sticky fingers. There’s a coffee nook, but no butler’s pantry. “I hate creating disconnect in a space, particularly because we entertain a lot.” says Amy. The dining nook has an Ikea table with a custom marble top, vintage chairs and a banquette seat in ‘Burnley Ticking’ from Howe at 36 Bourne Street. When entertaining, this often becomes the ‘children’s table’, with adults in the adjoining dining space, which features a Pottery Barn table, Persian rug from Cadrys and two dining chairs in Soane Britain ‘Scrolling Fern Frond’ fabric.
Sitting room
Inspired by the pink-toned marble fire surround, walls in Taubmans Tawny Rose set a cosy tone in the sitting room, which Amy says was a formal space under the previous owners, and is now where the family gather to relax and watch TV. “The pink just wraps around you – you feel good surrounded by that colour.” The TV is a Samsung ‘Frame’, disguised as an artwork to sit seamlessly in this inviting corner, with a hand-painted antique screen and vintage armchair in Titley and Marr ‘Hampton’ fabric.
We love… naked windows
Window furnishings are an integral component of Amy’s room schemes – with calculated exceptions like this one. “It wasn’t a very light room and I wanted it to feel really light and casual. Also to layer up the fabrics elsewhere – the sofa with the skirt, the beautiful ottoman, the layered rugs,” she says. The bare windows also reinforce the connection to the garden, framing a birch tree that changes through the seasons.
Layered soft furnishings create a cosy space for the family to curl up together; custom sofas are piled with patterned cushions – mainly botanicals – and an ottoman in Lee Jofa ‘Chinese Peony’ fabric, contrasted with a leopard print chair found on Facebook Marketplace. An ‘Athina’ dhurrie rug from Fenton & Fenton is layered over sisal. There are several eye-catching moments in this room: the ‘Arbour’ pedestals from Lincoln Brooks either side of the window and the antique birdcage that sits centrestage; and the Aerin ‘Benit’ chandelier from Bloomingdales Lighting.
Main bedroom
Usually more inclined to mix and match prints, Amy committed to a long-standing favourite in the main bedroom. “I’ve loved this print forever. I just wanted to be surrounded by it in this room and for that to be the only focus,” she says.
Colefax and Fowler ‘Fuchsia’ chintz has been used for the curtains, bedhead and in seat pads on the ‘Bellingham’ bench from Cromwell. The pink tones are echoed in walls and ceiling in Taubmans Fawn Rose. An Aubusson rug from Cadrys and antique quilt complete the scheme.
Main ensuite
The bedroom’s fuchsia pattern continues via wallpaper in the ensuite. Timeless fittings have been chosen, including The English Tapware Company taps and shower rose, and Carrara ‘Shields’ mosaic tiles from National Tiles on the floor. The mirror on the left is a custom design by Maine House Interiors and the one on the right is vintage.
Hillary’s bedroom
Hillary’s bedroom radiates serenity in blue, with Chelsea Textiles ‘Cupid’ wallpaper and curtains trimmed with Schumacher ‘Leopard’ tape.
Primrose’s bedroom
“She loves colour and she’s a bit of a wild child,” says Amy of daughter Primrose, whose room is decorated in pink tones, with a lick of leopard print in a custom bedhead in StokeLane Textiles ‘Meryll’ fabric, Milton & King ticking stripe wallpaper, and an antique quilt.
Daisy’s bedroom
Walls in ‘Colony’ wallpaper by Maine House Interiors are contrasted with a beading-framed wallpaper panel – Schumacher ‘Madame de Pompadour’ – like a giant mural in Daisy’s bedroom. Daisy’s single bed is crowned with a separate canopy, which she calls her princess bed.
Mudroom/laundry
The newly built mudroom is the family entrance and the functional heart of the home, equipped with practical essentials: lockers for bag and shoe storage, generous benches for folding clothes, a drying cupboard and Miele washer and dryer from Harvey Norman. On the floor is honed Egyptian limestone from National Tiles with underfloor heating.
It’s also a gorgeous space to be in or pass through; Maine House Interiors ‘Primrose Garden’ wallpaper is matched with joinery and architraves in Porter’s Paints Jodhpur Blue. Even the door is finished with a little moment of joy – the handle is a collation of sealife by artist Suzie Stanford. “It’s nice to add these moments into normally boring items, because we touch it every day,” says Amy.
Powder room
Inspired by the creamy tones in the entry’s wallpaper, the powder room is a little pocket of sunshine. Maine House Interiors ‘Petite Climbing Sweet Pea’ wallpaper from Milton & King is matched with trims in Benjamin Moore York Harbor Yellow and ‘Dino’ wall lights from Florabelle, with shades in Soane Britain ‘Scrolling Fern Frond’ fabric.
Exterior
Landscape designer Julian Ronchi was brought in to work on the garden, which involved levelling terraces and expanding the limestone-paved pool area – the better for sitting and supervising children. A pergola has been planted in ornamental grapevine, which will provide summer shade over the Moroccan tiled table (from Julian Ronchi).
Interior design: Amy Spargo, Maine House Interiors, mainehouseinteriors.com.
Source Book
Builder: Wilken Homes, wilkenhomes.com.au.
Landscape design: Julian Ronchi Garden Design & Nursery, julianronchi.com.au.
