WHERE THE HEART IS
HOMES
The inviting open-plan kitchen is Emma Read’s happy place in her charming cottage in Willunga, SA.
THE KITCHEN IS EMMA READ’S FAVOURITE PLACE in their 1910 brick cottage in Willunga, South Australia. Open shelves hold a collection of vintage oil paintings, vessels and ferns, while the skylight and colonial windows drench the open-plan kitchen and living area in natural light.
“For me, a kitchen has to have art, lamps and flowers. Everything I touch has to be really nice, whether it’s old wooden spoons or mismatched crockery,” 42-year-old Emma explains.
“I love being in here and I can oversee everything that’s happening with the children,” she adds of the vantage point to the backyard and pergola. Emma and her husband Matt, 48, have three children – 13-year-old Tuesday, Reggie, 10, and Abel, seven – who often help bake, create artworks in the living room or play outside in the cubby.
The exposed brick wall in the kitchen, which was once the exterior of the house prior to an extension, provides texture and a vintage kilim rug near the Falcon oven, found at an online auction, adds warmth and pattern.
Emma is a long-time collector and the kitchen, like the rest of the cottage, is filled with pieces found during travels or at antique stores, op shops and auctions.
‘Bowerbirding’ is a favourite pastime turned business, which Emma shares with her sister, Sarah Hall. Together they run a sourcing and Airbnb concept business, Read and Hall Traders, helping others to create beautiful and meaningful spaces. The sisters credit their mother, Sally, for a love of pulling rooms together, and spent many weekends as children following her to antique stores and auctions.
It was Sarah, who also lives in Willunga, who discovered the house for sale and promptly sent the ad to Emma to consider. “It was so similar to the house we grew up in and had a familiarity to it,” Emma recalls.
That was 12 years ago and at the time, the cottage was a big step after Emma and Matt had lived in a tiny weatherboard one-bedder on the Fleurieu Peninsula, with their then-baby daughter, Tuesday. “It felt like a really bright, family home that you would want to grow up in,” she says.
“It had old bones and I knew I could put all my art and furniture in it. None of it is too precious; the kids use scooters in the hallway and it’s a comfortable place where they can bring their toys out to the lounge room floor.”
The nearby Steiner school was the initial drawcard to move to the small, historic village 45 kilometres south of Adelaide, and the cottage’s proximity to the local skate park, tennis courts and stores was an added bonus. >
The stripy rug is from Armadillo, and the round mirror is from Pottery Barn. The oversized linen Freedom armchair near the fireplace is where Emma reads to the children each night.
“I have to love a piece for it to stay – there has to be a heart connection.”
“I wanted a walking-based lifestyle,” Emma says. “We’re close to the school, cafes and shops, and I love that there’s no supermarket here. We get all our food from the farmers’ market every Saturday.”
An extension was done by the previous owners, but Emma and Matt took out a wall between the kitchen and living area, and added windows and skylights. They brightened the interior with Dulux Vivid White, while the exterior was painted in Porter’s Sundance and Dulux Domino.
The formerly dark bathroom, which had featured a spa and big-screen TV, was updated with subway and encaustic tiles, as well as a skylight. With trademark resourcefulness, Emma added a timber benchtop to an Ikea cabinet for the washstand, and hung op-shop oil paintings on the walls.
Emma, a former social worker, and Matt, a paramedic, confess to be “total homebodies” who like nothing better than to spend weekends at home with their family. “The idea of a weekend with a lot of things on disturbs me, so I don’t plan anything!” Emma says.
Instead, she can usually be found rearranging furniture and vintage pieces. “The children are used to that. Sarah and I are always sourcing things and the kids love it. They get their bedrooms done so often. Creating a room doesn’t have to be expensive,” she adds. >
“It felt like a bright, family home that you would want to grow up in.”
Recently, Emma was thrilled to find a pair of old, rusted brass beds on Gumtree, which she set about restoring. They now live in Reggie and Abel’s bedroom.
“I have to love a piece for it to stay – there has to be a heart connection,” Emma explains of the furniture and homewares she purchases.
Another example is the little green chest of drawers that a friend gifted Emma, which can be found in the living room beneath the gallery wall. Good-quality rugs, vintage oil paintings, books, beeswax candles and the children’s artworks are other constants in the Read household.
For this family, creativity extends beyond the house. Matt grew up in Connecticut, in the US, and inherited a love of gardening from his grandparents. He has created a relaxed, bountiful garden with fruit trees and flowers for Emma to pick and take inside. Bunches of flowers and greenery is another way Emma brings life to a room.
“My house is my centring place and I just love being here,” she says with a contented smile. “As long as you aren’t following specific trends, you will end up with a house you love.”
Follow @readandhall, @readandhalltraders and @mysisterandthesea on Instagram.