PAPER TRAILS

ENSCONCED IN THE NATURAL BEAUTY OF QUEENSLAND’S BURLEIGH HEADS, THE COASTAL HOME OF A WALLPAPER DESIGNER IS EVERYTHING YOU’D EXPECT OF A CREATIVE SOUL

The owner of wallpaper company These Walls practices what she preaches at her Gold Coast house, turning a daggy duplex into a special family home

Disheartened by the ongoing maintenance issues of their charming 1970s home, which had originally enticed them with treetop views and a remote location, Sara Hingle and her husband Mick decided to look for something quite the opposite. Topping the wishlist was a solid home with good bones for their family of four, ideally close to the attractions of Burleigh Heads on Queensland’s verdant coast.

In April 2016, Sara, owner and creative director of wallpaper company These Walls, and Mick, who has a commercial painting business, discovered a little duplex a short walk from the beach and their favourite cafes. By May, it was theirs.

“We wanted a relaxed lifestyle that this new location would deliver on,” says Sara. “Also appealing was that it was well-built so, once renovated, it would need only minor maintenance.”

The configuration was another factor that appealed. Set on a corner block, the home enjoys a wonderful sense of privacy with the other half of the duplex only joined to the Hingles’ by the garage and driveway at the rear.

However, their new purchase had a few flaws. “It was pretty daggy,” says Sara. “Think mismatched floor tiles and apricot colours (not in a good way!), with ugly, busy exterior bricks. But it was good structurally, and it felt so solid after living in our previous deteriorating house.”

The couple, who had never embarked on a full renovation before, called on the help of friends in various trades to put their

GARDEN Homeowner Sara (pictured) says the yard had to be “dug out and started again” with decking added alongside the house for improved functionality.PATIO (opposite) The covered verandah features a unique upscaled coffee table from Bunnings that’s been topped with Inax ‘ Yohen Border YB102’ tiles that were left over from the laundry splashback.

PATIO (above left) Outdoor sofa from Bunnings. LIVING AREA (above right) Walter Frog the French bulldog poses with the timber sideboard, found in an op-shop. KITCHEN (opposite) ‘Earth’ honed terrazzo tiles from Fibonacci Stone and Quantum Quartz benchtops in White Swirl from Gold Coast Marble & Granite frame the view.