Simone Mathews shares how reusing and re-purposing transformed her ramshackle cottage into a character-filled family home.
Photography The Palm Co / Interior design Simone Mathews / Words Beth Greshwalk
Sometimes fate has a way of bringing us to the right place at the right time. Just ask Simone Mathews, interior designer and co-director of husband Ben’s Sydney-based building company, BAM Construction.
In 2018, Simone, Ben and their four young boys were renting a property in the coastal town of Gerringong, a popular tourist destination. Suddenly, the owner notified them of their intention to sell the property.
“It was November and long-term rentals are pretty much non-existent at that time of year,” Simone recalls. However, the family happened to own a dilapidated 1800s bungalow—complete with barn doors, shiplap walls, exposed timber frames, and dramatic ceilings. Housing two bedrooms, a small kitchenette, bathroom, and shed/storage space, it sat next door to the family’s popular farmhouse accommodation, the Soul of Gerringong.
Despite the home’s tired state, “there was so much character in the original materials and just something about how the space made us feel,” Simone remembers. The timing couldn’t have been better to renovate it as the Mathews’ home and eventual rental lodging.
With their move-out date just weeks away, Simone and Ben had to act fast and on a tight budget, given their uncertainty of the property’s long-term future.
So, Ben and his team commenced the remodel on Melbourne Cup Day.
“It was really fun—like our own mini The Block,” says Simone. “We were working against the clock. There was pressure, but we used it as a challenge.”
Renovating the cottage with time and budget constraints meant simple floor changes, reusing and repurposing as much as possible, she says.
A top layer and polish would renew the original concrete floors and, although time and expense would disallow the shiplap walls to be salvaged, the decrepit barn doors could be rebuilt, using existing wall timber. Another recycled solution, the new kitchen would comprise of the timber shelving, benches and door fronts from a local café closure—sold to Simone for around $3,000.
Simone also reworked the floorplan to accommodate families. “Everything was created around what was the shed/storage area and is now the living area,” says Simone. “This space would be the heart of the home and work hard, as it includes the living/dining area, kitchen pantry, laundry and powder room.”
By dividing the home into two wings separated by a hallway, Simone implemented the all-encompassing living area on one end, and an intimate sleeping area on the other. This would include a master bedroom with ensuite and two bedrooms separated by a main bathroom.
To style the interior, Simone used her ‘70/20/10 rule’: “You have 70 percent of one style, 20 percent of another, and a final 10 per cent that brings it all together,” she says. “So, for the cottage, it was 70 percent rustic, 20 percent coastal and 10 percent classic … respecting the past and creating a new personality for today.”
Now back in Sydney and sharing the Soul Cottage with holidaymakers, Simone admits that although the scheduled completion didn’t work out perfectly— “we moved in with no main bathroom [until the following year]”—it was still perfect for her family.
“A home should make you feel good. And that is what this renovation allowed for our family,” says Simone.
