I’ve been helping my parents with the design of their newly renovated cottage and so thrilled with how it’s turned out. In this blog post I take a look at the kitchen, living/dining space, along with the front exterior.
Photography Coastpark Creative
Before - the outdated kitchen wasn’t practical and lacked in storage and usable bench space.
Before - everything had to go!
KITCHEN
The cottage was built in the 90s by the previous owner, and whilst it had great bones, it was definitely in need of a reno. My parents intend to turn the cottage into an Airbnb and also use as a guest house for when visitors come.
Let’s talk about what we were working with here. The layout wasn’t ideal and as both myself and my partner had lived in this cottage for 6 months prior to the reno starting, I had a very good idea of what didn’t work. You can also see that doorway opening there goes straight into the bathroom - I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to see the loo from your kitchen so we decided to close that in, and instead have the door to the bathroom in the bedroom so that it functions as an ensuite (much more practical too). To make our bathroom larger, we stole the pantry space (which is next to the bathroom doorway). It was very awkward to access that space given there were cupboards next to the pantry doors.
The flooring was this horrible lino which we removed and replaced with a hybrid plank from Choices Flooring. We chose the Abode Avenue hybrid flooring in the Grampian Oak colourway. It looks way better now!
For a classic look on the backsplash, we’ve gone with these amazing ‘Noosa’ Zellige tiles in white from Tile Cloud and laid them in a subway pattern. The tiles are hand made so each one is unique and has this wonderful texture. They are quite small in size, so it was a lot more work for the tiler, however now that it’s finished, I think definitely worth the extra effort.
For that more rustic look, we have chosen to go with an antique brass finish right throughout the cottage. I sourced all tapware through Yabby to keep the overall look consistent. It’s such a stunning finish, something a bit different to your usual copper or brushed brass finish. We have used their pullout kitchen mixer here - to me, the pullout feature is a must for any kitchen these days, it makes washing down the sink so much easier.
The ‘Novi’ butlers sink from Turner Hastings was a must for this farmhouse-style kitchen. It exudes so much character and was also petite in size - making it perfect for this small kitchen. We have teamed ours with Turner Hastings antique brass basket waste (which by the way, is a perfect match with our tap).
For the small window in the kitchen we went for a Roman blind from Tuiss Blinds Online. The fabric is ‘Grande Stripe’ linen with blockout backing and it looks so great in here! Not only does it offer full privacy when rolled all the way down, but when it’s up it looks super cute, and almost frames that gorgeous window. I think Roman blinds are an excellent option for more traditional, country homes.
Our benchtops are Smartstone Calacatta Dior engineered stone. As we all know, engineered stone will be banned from July 1, so I recommend Smartstone’s new Sintered Collection (o% silica), in the Calacatta Oro. It has a similar feel with a gold vein in it, although I think it actually looks even better than what we have chosen here (we selected the stone last year before the ban came into place as a heads up).
We had our cabinetry made and installed by KitchenU (the same business that did my own kitchen/laundry cabinetry) and they did such a great job with this space - we are so happy with it! Mum chose the green cabinetry colour - this is a 2pac finish and the colour is Taubmans ‘Sage Craft’. It definitely looks a lot darker than this in real life as the space is actually quite dark with not a lot of natural light. However professional photography and the use of flash has made the space look a lot lighter!
The upper cabinetry is Polytec ‘Boston Oak’ - it’s a rich, warm timber tone that works well with the green cabinets below. We decided to go with real timber shelving for the open shelves, and these were custom made by the team at The Timber Line. This shelf is made from real Tasmanian Oak and you can definitely see and feel the difference when using real timber. I love that they do custom sizes, this one was made to fit like a glove! We have styled our shelves with numerous items including this ‘Oak Park’ artwork from Juniper which we had printed and framed through Framefox, and a custom made round chopping board from Ivy Alice Vintage. She makes so many lovely chopping and serving boards in a variety of shapes and sizes (well worth a look).
LIVING ROOM
This space didn’t need a lot of work, apart from a paint re-fresh, new skirting, flooring and window treatments. And of course the all-important furnishing and decor! That is always the hardest part in my opinion, everything needs to work well together, but not too matchy-matchy and feel collected. Easier said than done! We sourced the coffee table, dining table and chairs, and side stool from Provincial Home Living. They have a great range of pieces that work well with a country aesthetic.
The sofa bed is from LoungeLovers (it’s nice and deep and super comfy for lounging around), green cushions and beige stripe cushions from Target, and book and timber knot from Bailey Loves in Montville.
We’ve added a traditional style rug (Moselle rug) from Miss Amara to the living room. It’s a beige/brown colour and works well to ground the room and define the living space. I love that it is a more classic design and works in with our country vibes.
My mum and I found these artworks in Early Settler, as soon as I saw them I thought a cluster wall would be cute above the sofa. They were reasonably priced too, which was a bonus! It seems only the larger artwork is still available to buy online, but try in store if you like any of the other ones.
Formerly the windows were adorned in a mixture of daggy old lace curtains, and pink Venetian blinds! Is it just me, or are Venetians super hard to make them go up and down? I always struggle with them and I knew guests would too! In our living room space we have used Double S-Fold Curtains from Tuiss Blinds Online for an ultra luxe look.
For the front blockout curtains we have chosen ‘Bijou Linen Oatmeal’ S-fold curtains (with blockout backing for full privacy), and ‘Madagascar Sheer Neutral’ curtains for daytime privacy. Plus they create a very dreamy feel when all closed, although it’s nice to see the greenery outside.
We also updated the door into the bedroom with this one from Bunnings and also used brand new door handles - these are in an antique brass finish from Yabby, to match our tapware throughout.
EXTERIOR RE-FRESH
My parents weren’t a fan of the traditional red and green colour scheme of the cottage (which was also on their own house too). My dad who is a professional house painter, painted the exterior in a creamy white colour and the roof in light grey. The cottage actually had great bones and the paint has given it a completely new, fresher look. We also added an Original Gooseneck wall light in Black Ace (standard projection and 40cm diameter shade) from Barn Light AU. It was the perfect finishing touch for out here, and adds so much charm and farmhouse character.
Next week I’m going to reveal the cottage bedroom and ensuite, I hope you enjoyed the tour so far!