From the renovating Interior Designer:

Background

Nestled in the charming Darlington suburb of Perth Hills, this beautiful home is surrounded by native flora and fauna, and a babbling winter creek.

The owners, busy professionals, purchased the property in 2021 as a weekend getaway from the bustling city life.

When they found this home, it reminded them of their previous countryside home in England.

Six months later, they enlisted the help of Bronika Carter, from Bronika Carter Design, to transform it into their dream home away from home.

The brief in short

• Remove the bath in the main bathroom, and make room for a walk-in shower.
• Reconfigure the large linen cupboard to make extra space in the bathroom for a 2nd toilet.
• Re-design the powder room and laundry, plus specify new timber flooring for the kitchen, dining areas and hallway.
• Design a colourful kitchen and incorporate the owner’s favourite mustard and pink colours.

From tired to inspired

The cedar clad three bedroom home was a pre-built construction and had been placed on this beautiful bush block site in the Perth Hills village of Darlington only around 20 years ago.

The home had great bones, but the interiors were tired, and outdated in terms of functionality and style.

The new owners called upon Bronika Carter Design to re-design the home, to achieve the feel of a weekend getaway with provision to allow them to finesse the living and bedroom areas later.

The designer was asked to fix the layout to make it more functional, improve storage and add some colour to the dated bland interiors

Requests and highlights

From one owner’s very first brief, “give me some colour!”, Carter knew she had to create a vibrant and cheerful space.

The designer took inspiration from the yellow wattle blooming around Perth Hills in the spring, as well as the owner’s love for mustards and pinks.

The kitchen was the main focus of the renovation, with the designer transforming it to provide more functional storage and incorporating innovative ideas and bright materials.

The satin nickel Tradco Classic hardware range and English style Falcon oven ideally complement the traditional joinery and country style home, while also providing a great functional addition for the busy kitchen space.

The newly renovated kitchen is now layered with colours, textures, and functionality, making it a hard-working space.

The large gathering island overlooks the newly constructed garden and provides a perfect space for friends and family to gather and enjoy the home-cooked produce from the raised vegetable garden.

The owners can now relax and enjoy their tranquil countryside retreat while indulging in their love for walking, gardening, and good books…

Constraints

The interior walls were constructed of single sheets of MDF, and 25mm timber studs with timber battens covering the joints.

The floors were constructed of MDF and were springy – not structurally sound enough for waterproofing or tiles in the wet areas.

Hence why linoleum flooring had been previously installed, and the splashbacks had been made of plastic tile sheets.

Carter took the opportunity to re-design the layout to make it more functional, and specify new BCA compliant floor joists, and stud walls.