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 Hartley House

74 Cremorne Road

Cremorne Point 2090

My lovely friend,

Off on a new adventure! Your new house is full of charm and I am so thrilled to be submitting this design plan for your perusal. I think we can make this house absolutely sing - fill it with all the beauty and charisma that defines YOU and make it a place that you fell proud of, but also a place where you feel totally at ease, either by yourself with Bob, or with family and friends.

Let’s get started.

Hxx

Interiors:

Walking down a beautifully paved stair through lush greenery, I instantly felt as though I was arriving somewhere special, somewhere private and tranquil, a lovely start to the discovery of number 74! We will come back to the furnishing of the courtyard, but I’m keen to start this interior plan from the front door.

Entrance hall:

The front door opens more than a house, it introduces you to a home in all its humanity imbued by those who live here. So it’s really important to get the style right!!!! Currently, the most striking feature as you enter, is the yellowing floorboards. They’re not a thing of great beauty and it often strikes me that trees don’t choose to show their timber, they keep it well covered in bark, so why do we so insist?

The floorboards in your house look to be a mix of Cyprus and some other type of pine, though I can’t be sure. But they’re a mix. Reagrdless, they’re predictable and a bit old hat, so… I propose that we sand them all - and Japan Black them!

Japan black has been around for more than a hundred years, it used to used to paint around rugs where the boards weren’t covered. We know better than that now!! You’d know how much I love them by taking a look at my own house!!

These are really good images as they’re of blackened boards in homes of a similar ilk to yours. You see how instantly chic and sophisticated they make a space feel - a massive bang for the designer buck! I have great guys who can do this and I’d suggest you consider doing the floors before you move in.

The next question, is paint. As much as I’d love to wallpaper, I don’t want to blow the budget as there is a lot to achieve and I think given the lovely lines of the house, painting the walls will be NO compromise!

The colour I have selected for the entry and hallways is Porters Paints, Old Stone Wall. All woodwork, excluding the bannister and the fireplace surrounds, will be painted Porters Irish Linen.

This is one of my favourite Porters colours because it has so much character, despite it being in the so called mid-neutral zone! And do not worry about it being dark - it just isn’t. There is enough white going on, enough lamplight, enough interest for this to not be a problem. Sample pot in your sample box!

A small console for the entrance with mirror above is the most practical and attractive way to furnish this space. Your marble top table at the foot of the stairs in Bannerman St is lovely, but I wonder if we’d be better using this elsewhere. Your black consoles are too big for here, so I think probably, we find a new one, The one below is from Globewest and it’s called the Amelie Halo in antique brass.

It’s always good to have a close up image of the item, even if the proportions distort. The console is 1200W x 350D which I think is the right size for here and the antique brass colour will go brilliantly with the scheme we’re building.

Another alternative is that we use the timber table that is currently in your bedroom at Bannerman.

For the mirror to hang above, I like this one by Rachel Donath, a Melbourne designer, available through Manyara Home. It’s a bit more contemporary and groovy and it’s the perfect size!

Downstairs Bathroom:

I think we need to paint this is Old Stone Wall with Irish Linen woodwork. We will groove it up by getting rid of the cream!

The Sitting Room:

This room is heaven, it’s where I imagine if you’re home alone you’ll come to read here with the doors open to the courtyard in summer, or cosied up by the fire in winter. I see it book lined, loads of your treasures, art and interest, so that when you’re entertaining, the room will be the static epitome of the very essence of you!

So heaven needs to be the right colour. I suggest we paint it another Porters Colour called French Green. It’s a darker colour than Old Stone Wall, but with the french doors most definitely painted Natural White, and with all the natural light coming in and light linen curtains - amazing.

Earthy is how I’d describe this colour. Sublime also springs to mind. The previous owners had a weird idea re painting the wall colour only up to the picture rail - we will not be so foolish. Painting above the picture rail in the same colour pushes the ceiling up, making the room feel more spacious, more elegant.

We will take the same approach when hanging curtains - up to the ceiling they go on lovely iron coloured rods. Curtains are really important in this room for privacy and for warmth. They’ll add a softness to the space too.

Armadillo have just released the Petra rug - a berber style in long luscious pure NZ wool. Its tasselled ends really add to the chunky warmth and add to the relaxed feel. I have included samples in both the colour Sparrow and in Blanc. Personally I love the white, but I also think the richer colour would work wonderfully.

This room badly needs built in bookcases. My idea is to build a bank of them on the right hand wall as you enter, starting at the point the door extends to, so as to not impede its opening. Then on the opposite wall, perhaps we build from the french door end to about 1.5m short of the fireplace. This will then give the fireplace its space and not make it feel jammed in a corner. The shelving would all be painted the same wall colour - NOT WHITE. This will make it look so chic and by setting out to have them painted, we don’t need any fancy timber. They could no doubt be done in much cheaper MDF.

In terms of furnishing this room, we need to have a conversation!! I think your white couch and the two chairs that are currently beside it in Bannerman. We take that lovely round coffee table for here, too. But that is about it! Perhaps add a couple of reindeer hides over the chairs for added texture and lushness, and lets talk about which painting to hang on the wall to the left as you enter.

Family room/dining room:

It has a black floor and the walls here are Porters Paints, Rubble. All woodwork is irish Linen, again, except of course the lovely fireplace. But! I’m thinking the mantle itself could be picked out in the colour Wet Cement, because want to link it to the kitchen. More on that to come.

So this area where the fireplace is - this is where your dining table should be because this is the bigger, darker zone that asks politely to be a dining room. The area at the balcony end is casual - it’s where you want to get comfy-womfy with your cuppa tea in the morning, or enjoy a glass-oh in the evening witnessing the sunset.

You have groovy black Bentwood chairs, I say we stick with them and find a dining table to fit here.I’m loving this -

I can get this table for about half the price you’d pay at Manyara Home, who have it on display currently in black. I think at 2400mm it would fabulous on the black floor with the black Bentwoods. Your Bok chairs are great to have in other rooms, and can be requisitioned if and when required for extra dining room seating.

We need curtains at the balcony end and after our chat, I’ve selected this linen sheer called Kyoto, Pistachio. With the Bastion, Old Stone Wall and French Green, this will be a lovely addition and they won’t be lined here so you’ll get that lovely soft translucence.

So how to furnish this spot by the balcony? As we discussed, we want relaxing, comfy chairs. I love these - they’re called Relax chairs would you believe, and they have that lovely waterfront feel.

Then we think about a hide on the floor beneath them because despite a slight reluctance… and I promise no two tone cow ‘spots’…. this is the perfect spot for hide because it doesn’t fade in the sun and it’s easily taken out and shaken free of dust!

Kitchen:

Hmmmm… not allowed to renovate. Well, the best I can offer is that we paint the cupboards in Wet Cement, the walls in Rubble, and leave the rest for stage two. I can have a new bench top priced in terrazzo, which is a fabulous material that doesn’t kill tradies.

These are the vibes of terrazzo.

I think the best plan for instant relief is to replace the bench top and to paint the doors, paint the walls, and we can style up the kitchen to feel fabulous un the interim between now and when you decide what to do next,

Maybe nothing!

On the balcony, I cannot recommend this more highly. Franka is a trusted supplier of mine, I get loads of sofas and chairs through them, But recently, they’ve begun importing range of outdoor furniture that I think is fab.

This balcony is where you’ll spend loads of time, so it is important you like how it looks. We need to discuss, but I’m thinking we put your existing teak furniture (currently on the back verandah at Bannerman), in the front courtyard, and get some of this for the balcony.

It is available in various different components, from this more lounge vibe pictured above, or more dining setting as pictured below.

Mistress bedroom:

This is your space. This is you. You’re not a pink kinduva gal - you’re much more a Dark Newport Blue gal. With the Eternal Ivory linen curtains and the awful wardrobe doors painted Irish Linen, this room is going be divine, Actually, replacing the wardrobe doors may indeed be cheaper than painting them, but I can get that costed. Either way, they are NOT remaining varnished!

This colour is really special. It is darker but you sleep in a bedroom, you create moooood in a bedroom, you don’t perform surgery here, So it can be darker, moodier, more intimate. Balanced with the curtain fabric above left, the effect is harmonious and luxurious.

And then we lighten it with the Irish Linen woodwork, it has the beautiful timber fireplace, and we add a lovely bedhead and linen

And all is truly well with the world..

Bedroom 2:

This is the room that may double as study and guest room. My suggestion is that we paint it the lighter version, Newport Blue, of your bedroom colour, and pair it with another sheer linen curtain in Kyoto Duckegg. All woodwork, you guessed it, Irish Linen.

As we discussed, it would be great to retrofit shelving inside the wardrobe here, with all your files and printer etc cleverly hidden away unless you’re working. But for a desk, an attractive table vibe is what we talked about. How about this one?

If you wanted a smaller one, this is the Orson, also from Globewest, is 1500W x 600D, with a trade price of $1050 +GST.

A couch we have talked about… a fold out.

This one is from Freedom and it’s called The Sorrento and I’d go the ivory colour. It measures 2330W and 970D and it’s currently in sale for $2324! I’d call Freedom in Artarmon and see if they have it on the floor. You could go and have a look at it before deciding but I think at that price point, you can’t really go wrong.

Perhaps we could use one of those small glass side tables you have in here, too.

Bedroom 3:

This room is nothing to do with Newport, straight or dark. It’s going to be Volcanic Ash, you saw it here first.