Heart & soul Muted tones and textures transform this home in Sydney’s southern suburbs into a space with understated style

INSPIRED BY LONG-CHERISHED VALUES OF QUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY, AN INTERIOR DESIGNER BREATHES LOVE AND LIFE INTO HER 1950S SYDNEY COTTAGE

Beaming as she opens her front door, homeowner Sarah’s smile radiates warmth and welcome, echoing the signature aesthetic that defines the thoughtfully curated interiors beckoning beyond the threshold. The 1950s cottage in Sydney’s southern suburbs that Sarah, an interior designer, renovated together with her builder husband, Tim, is a testament to their credo of, as she puts it, “creating something that’s going to stand the test of time”. When the couple bought the home in 2014, it had been in the same family for three decades and “looked tired and rundown”, says Sarah. She had searched for nine months for a single-level home on a lovely street with a north-facing backyard. “Those were the key things,” she says. “We knew that, with our skills, we could change the rest of it.”

Sarah and Tim rented it out until they began renovating in 2018, when they gutted the interiors and reconfigured the layout to include a fourth bedroom (used as a home office) and second bathroom.

Just completed, the renovation is a total about-face that nonetheless honours the home’s sturdy bones and historical significance. “I didn’t want it to feel like it had lost its 1950s-cottage feel,” explains Sarah. “All the windows are brand new but they’re timber and the same profile that the original house had. It didn’t interest me to put aluminium in here. I wanted it to feel like it was a newer version of the original.”

Her decorating ethos is informed by the same attention to detail, with a focus on “buy well, buy once and then treasure it”. Sarah credits her “very creative and resourceful” mum, Judy, and late grandmother, Eileen, for instilling the values she cherishes.

Her mother also lit the spark for her passion for interiors. Growing up as an only child in NSW’s Blue Mountains, Sarah – and her imagination – had the run of a rambling property. “I had my own little playroom and vividly remember, from such a young age, taking everything out, rearranging it and putting it back in,” she says. “I would see my mum do this around our house so I would replicate it. Without even realising it, I was teaching myself spatial planning, proportion and scale, and how things work together.”

Sarah’s own home is a mirror of her experience and philosophy of sustainability and substance – from the beloved and battered recycled timber dining table that has “evolved with us” to the “vision board” in her office, where a snapshot of a farmhouse in country NSW signals her dream to find a rural property to love back to life. Just as she and Tim have done with this home. “I don’t know how it’s going to happen,” muses Sarah, flashing a friendly smile, “but it will, I know.”

RAW & RUSSET A sense of comfort and calm permeates the living area of a cottage lovingly revived by interior designer Sarah and her builder husband, Tim (pictured opposite, with Mala the cocker spaniel). “I like anything nature-driven, earthy and grounded,” says Sarah, who has layered the interiors in muted tones and textures that cast a warm glow against a backdrop of panelled walls in Dulux Natural White. A “super-relaxed and casual” linen-covered lounge from MCM House invites rest, amid cushions including a terracotta favourite from The White Place in Orange, NSW, one of the couple’s favoured country-getaway destinations. A trio of original oil paintings by John Emmett that had adorned the home of Sarah’s grandmother for 50 years sing a new song here, alongside a contemporary piece from Pampa. “I like the juxtaposition,” notes Sarah, who also appreciates how a solid-brass wall light from Emac & Lawton spotlights the art. “I wanted something that had a bit of character and personality,” she says. The floor cushion is from Jardan, the log stool from Inartisan and the rug is vintage. >

A striking splashback from Di Lorenzo Tiles ensures wow-factor in the kitchen. “I didn’t want it to be a standard white subway tile,” says Sarah of the handpainted tiles, which echo the lovely detail in an 80-year-old Turkish runner (seek similar at Pamono). “I wanted to inject personality without going over the top.” Visit dilorenzo.com.au.

KITCHEN & DINING AREA Sunlight from the north-facing yard pours into the adjoining kitchen and dining areas, where crockery that Sarah commissioned from a potter in Indonesia (below) is always in reach on open shelving in the galley kitchen (opposite). Shaker-profile cabinetry in Ghostgum amplifies the sense of space. “We don’t need to have stuff stored away for a special occasion,” says Sarah. “Every day is a special occasion.” A Coco Republic dining table also attests to her “buy once, buy well” motto. “It was our first purchase together as a couple, so it feels sentimental,” she says. “I know where the red-wine stain came from and then it makes me remember that fun dinner party.” Above the table, a cotton pendant light from The Society Inc by Sibella Court “perches like a little cloud” and partially hides a black Spence & Lyda light. Sarah also upcycled a vintage mirror that was formerly her mum’s, painting the brass-coloured frame black. Engineered boards from Preference Floors pay homage to the home’s history. “You can see knots in the timber – they’ve got character,” says Sarah. The bentwood chairs are all vintage and have been collected over many years. >