Revealed Inside Three Birds’ latest makeover

THE THREE BIRDS RENOVATIONS TEAM TOOK THEIR SIGNATURE HAMPTONS MOOD IN A PLAYFUL NEW DIRECTION FOR THIS FAMILY HOME IN SYDNEY. HERE, THEY SHARE THE SECRETS TO THEIR SUCCESS

Five years after starting their combined renovating adventure of turning ugly ducklings into divine dwellings, Erin Cayless (operations director), Bonnie Hindmarsh (creative director) and Lana Taylor (marketing director) – aka Three Birds Renovations – have perfected their formula. If you are one of their almost-half million Instagram followers, it’s likely, like us, you never tire of their transformative splashes of white paint or their devotion to cladding. They’ve nailed the planning process as well, having built a team of tradies and suppliers around them to complete their visions on time and on budget (usually without much of either to play with).

But just when you think you know what to expect from the coastal style queens, they raise the stakes yet again. This light-filled, twostorey, four-bedroom, brick-and-weatherboard home in Sydney’s Hills District is their 11th project on the fly; transformed from its beige and brown former self in just seven months with the help of builder Brad Apro of Kentmere Constructions. The project came about when clients, Aimee and Vahan, freely handed over the keys and full creative control to Three Birds and didn’t return until the last coat of paint was dry. Aimee says the decision was easy. “We’re extremely time poor and love what the Three Birds do, so we took a leap of faith,” she says.

Bonnie, the company’s co-founder and creative director, took her cues from the home’s classic shape and the family’s three kids, Kai, 13, Harley, 10, and Jade, six. “It’s the Hamptons but younger,” Bonnie explains. “There is a lot of traditional components but some quirky ideas thrown in too.” It’s no secret that Bonnie and the team love white and crisp greys so litre upon litre of Dulux White On White and Grey Pail were used to transform this home inside and out. The ocean also played a powerful muse with splashes of blue and green, and the occasional palm tree or tropical fruit filling the home. “It’s about contradiction, when something is unexpected,” says Bonnie, who with her Three Birds co-founders runs three online ‘Reno School’ courses a year (therenoschool.com).

Florals, stripes and geometrics are mixed and matched via tiles, wallpaper and Florence Broadhurst upholstery – anything goes when you’re having this much fun. “The Hamptons look is a style people genuinely love; it warms their hearts but I wanted to be playful with it,” says Bonnie. The result is friendly and utterly divine. “The feel of this home is so embracing,” she says. “Even before handing back the keys, it made me think of kids running around and lots of laughter.”

One week after moving back, Aimee is still floored. “There is so much to absorb,” she says. “It’s like walking through a brand new house, jaw dropped to the floor. We love every little thing.” Visit threebirdsrenovations.com.

“A BUTLER’S SINK WORKS SO WELL IN A HAMPTONS KITCHEN. IT ADDS BEAUTIFUL DETAIL AND A SENSE OF HISTORY”

– Bonnie Hindmarsh, creative director

“MY APPROACH IS ALWAYS PREDOMINANTLY WHITE WITH UNEXPECTED POPS OF COLOUR THROWN IN”

– Bonnie Hindmarsh, creative director

“KAI’S BEDROOM IS AGE APPROPRIATE. HE’S NOT GOING TO GROW OUT OF IT IN A HURRY”

– Bonnie Hindmarsh, creative director

THE BIG REVEAL The backyard of the Three Birds Renovations’ latest project encapsulates the warm-hearted style the trio – pro renovators Erin Cayless, Bonnie Hindmarsh and Lana Taylor – are known for. Designed for a family with three school-aged children, the outdoor area is zoned for all of life’s pillars: drinks, dining, play and escape. From the home, a gas-strut window opens to a bar where the adults can enjoy a nice wine in the chic outdoor area, which leads to the pool by Concept Pools. There is even a basketball court tucked around the corner. >

EXTERIOR Bonnie can’t take all the credit for the remarkable facelift to the front of the home (above) – the honour goes to the paint job. “The house was completely transformed through paint,” she explains. “I’d driven past this house for nearly 10 years. It had a great shape. It just needed a little love.” Lashings of TLC were delivered in the form of Stria cladding by James Hardie and multiple coats of Dulux Grey Pail painted over the beige brickwork. Dulux White On White was used on the trims.

CASUAL LOUNGE Refreshing and relaxed, this lounge area (below) is incredibly inviting thanks to the crisp white ‘Bronte’ lounge and ottoman from Lounge Lovers (the covers, thankfully, can be removed for cleaning). For a wash of contrasting colour, the Three Birds team added a Slim Aarons ‘Snorkelling In Malta’ print. “The scale of that print makes it work,” remarks creative director and co-founder Bonnie. Another secret to this area’s success is the natural base, namely the Oak Elegance engineered timber flooring in Coastal Oak from Godfrey Hirst and the Kaya Diamond rug from Early Settler, while rattan armchairs inject more texture (try the ‘Martini’ chair in rattan white wash from Oz Design Furniture.) ENTRY “When you open the front door to a home I want to look at something beautiful,” says Bonnie, pictured opposite, centre, with Erin, left, and Lana, right. Before the renovation, this entry (opposite far left) fell short: it was dark and dingy and the area under the stairs was dead space. Bonnie turned it around by building a banquette, adding HardieGroove V-groove cladding and Portsea exterior lights to the wall, and using encaustic tiles in ‘Middleton Beach’ from Tile Cloud on the floor. “It went from dead space into a real moment,” she says. The super chic door is from Parkwood Doors. >

KITCHEN The playful Hamptons design code comes to a head in the kitchen (below), built by Carrera By Design and peppered with Electrolux appliances. In a move straight out of the American East Coast playbook, the island, with a butler’s sink from Reece (opposite top right), sits in the room like a piece of furniture. Bonnie shook up the traditional look with a splash of Dulux Angora Blue. “I wanted to create a fun version of a Hamptons space,” she says. The Caesarstone benchtop in Empira White, hovers over furniture-like legs so the family’s three children can sit around the island. “It’s where they spend so much time with the kids, sharing meals and having regular chats,” says Bonnie. Overhead, ‘Constance’ pendants from Beacon Lighting add the right kind of drama. “They’re ribbed glass so they sit quietly in the space,” she says.

DINING NOOK The dining table tucks in a small but effective nook off the kitchen (above). The space-saving star here is the built-in banquette seating, upholstered with a custom stripe from Materialised. “All the kids can squeeze in along the banquette,” says Bonnie, “and you can push the table right up to the bench and it doesn’t take up much room.”

CASUAL LOUNGE A wall of colonialstyle windows connects the casual lounge area to the kitchen (left). The feature brings traditional detailing into the building’s DNA, but Bonnie says it was a design decision driven by budget constraints. “We would have opened the kitchen up, but we needed to keep the beam, which was holding up the whole house,” she says. “So we used glass to connect the spaces without having to do expensive structural work.” >

MAIN BEDROOM & ENSUITE In shades of blue and white, via tiles from Tile Cloud and a Reece vanity and fittings, the ensuite (above) is crisp and airy. Moisture-resistant coastal-look shutters from Luxaflex also add another layer of white. Bonnie continues the theme into the walk-in robe (above right) where she repurposed a brass shell soap dish from Target to make a curtain hook for the sheer curtains. Elsewhere in the bedroom (right & opposite), romance was top-of-mind with Bonnie and the team adding wall mouldings from Intrim and a custom bench seat (right), “to give the couple a bit of luxury in that room,” she says. The couple’s bed (opposite) was upgraded with a Giselle bedhead from Heatherly Design in super-pretty Florence Broadhurst Japanese Panels fabric in FB1459 from Materialised and Florence Broadhurst cushions, also from Materialised. >

KAI’S BEDROOM Designed for Kai just before his 13th birthday, this bedroom will go from kid zone to young adult without missing a beat (above). The Dulux Ocean Current blue ceiling is just muted enough to feel sophisticated in the space, and ties in with the blues and greens throughout the home. Bonnie added a playful palm lamp and rattan furniture from Freedom to continue the coastal vibe, but it is the built-in twin beds, separated by an integrated desk (right), that steal the show, putting to use the awkward space where the ceiling slopes to the floor. The room’s beautiful architecture is also celebrated with Florence Broadhurst Turnabouts wallpaper from Materialised, showing off its sharp angles. “With the vaulted ceiling, Kai’s bedroom was always the best room in the house – we just needed to make it work for him,” says Bonnie.

JADE’S BEDROOM Bonnie says the design intention for Jade’s bedroom was to “do something ‘oh my gosh, I’m a six-year-old and I’m absolutely loving my room’.” The result is drop-dead gorgeous and, according to Jade’s mum, a complete success. The custom bunk (below), painted in Dulux Lip Gloss with a double bed/daybed below is like Jade’s private castle. Bonnie went to the detail of giving the balustrade a shaker-style cross profile to carry through the home’s Hamptons mood. And the dreamy finishing touch? A hanging basket chair from Byron Bay Hanging Chairs in the corner (opposite left).