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O’halloran house scope

43 Sunninghill Avenue Burradoo 2576

Deb and TIm,

Firstly, congratulations on a brilliant buy - the house is beautifully positioned, drenched in sunshine and on a level, quiet block that will really develop to epitomise the Southern Highlands ethos. Comfort in style.

The following is a summary of what we talked about Deb, the strengths and weaknesses of the house as already identified by you and the family, and the aspirations you have for improvement. Discovering the ‘rightful’ identity of each of the spaces and zones of the house is the fundamental first step. Once that is nailed, the rest will flow.

This scope lays out the road map for the work we will do together, I hope!, in bringing out the full potential of this house and in doing so, turn it into the relaxing retreat for you and for your family and friends that must certainly have be the basis for your purchasing it.

This is the preliminary step to the design process so it is essential that you feel confident we are on the same page. To that end, please give me as much feedback as you need - fell free to add, subtract, multiply or divide so that we maximise the opportunities that abound.

This is your country house and I would love to be a part of its evolution.

The house has such great street appeal with its generous sweep of a driveway and the combination of brick and timber facade. I imagine in the summer months with the trees all in leaf, the house is partially obscured, but the white pebbled drive works to keep the light bright and welcoming. Replacing the post and rail fence will not only secure the property for the beloved pooches, but it also add to the stature of the exterior by extending around the full perimeter. A painful expense, but one that will add amenity and impact!

Both sides of the front entrance have potential to be spaces that expand the living areas whilst also augmenting the look of the front face of the house.

The right side extends from the master bedroom, as you are currently configuring the floor plan, and could logically accomodate lounge furniture - what could be lovelier than rolling out of bed and onto an outdoor lounge??

Or if you’re keen gardeners, it’s a zone that could be enhanced with more planting in pots, or large planters that could offer more screening from the street.

Depending on which way the wind is blowing on any given day, optionality in outdoor spaces is a huge plus!

The pergola off the main sitting room must be a fabulous spot to sit on a winter’s day catching the sun’s rays and enjoying the garden aspect at the front of the house.

Adding extra spaces to a home is not limited to the interiors - with a big family that will soon enough get even bigger, looking for areas to expand into both inside and outside is a valuable focus - particularly with respect to the seasons and the orientation of the house. The northern aspect is the winner.

Outdoor furniture here would add to the welcoming vibes - but it’s perhaps not where you’d actually entertain - so I’m thinking a couple of chairs and a table - I see potted bulbs on the table in spring, a coffee and a good book!!

Moving inside…

As we discussed, there are a couple of issues with the way the house is being imagined right now - you cannot help but be influenced by how you understand the house was furnished and used by the previous owners. It makes even harder to imagine a new layout when the house is empty!!! But I think there are some critical shifts we could make to help you.

Entry spaces:

We have a ‘casual living’ zone that is large - it’s a bit of a thoroughfare and it feels cavernous without much to absorb the empty feels.

You have a lovely sofa installed in the area we need to demarcate further to make it feel like it has an identity and not like it’s lumped in to an area trying desperately NOT to be an amorphous corner of the universe!!!

By adding armchairs, art and a chunky rug, we can add texture and interest and in this way, visually separate it from the central area with the staircase, without blocking any light. We create a room that is sure of itself - that feels comfy and relaxed without the thoroughfare vibes.

Great couch, great coffee table, the clues for the colour scheme already peeking out from the cushions - this room is going to be a really inviting area that will not only be a lovely spot to be, but it will also do some heavy lifting as a first impression to visitors when they come in the front door.

We spoke about the floors and the busyness of cyprus pine… in an ideal world we’d have them sanded and blackened before adding furniture!! But I totally get that you are reluctant to do this until you know what you’re going to do structurally with the house. If you’re going to do any building works, you’re better to wait until you’ve finished it before touching the floors.

Oh thank heavens for lovely rugs!

Careful selection in the right colour and texture of rugs will be a major focus of my plan. I don’t suggest carpet downstairs!

As I said on Friday, white walls are great by the ocean, but in the highlands, they make no sense. I know you don’t want to be too ‘out there’ with colour, and I have a fair idea already of the direction I’d take for this house. Gentle, serene, stylish and cool.

I also have to say, natural jute rugs are also coastal - I love jute but I think on a ‘brown’ floorboard, we need a more characterful colour.

Where the vintage sideboard is in the photo on the left is the perfect spot for a line of coat hooks. Living in a colder climate with higher than average rainfall calls for many more coats - yours, the family’s, spares for visitors… you’ll be amazed how they can amass!

So this zone becomes the transition zone, you come in the front door and that is where you head to strip off your coats and hats. When you’re done with that, you turn to see the cosy nook we’ve just covered in the above.

This is also the most logical spot for dog beds. Dogs love to be where the family is, as you well know, but when you go upstairs to bed at night, this spot leaves them central to you in what will be a warmer place than by cold windows.

Large dogs = large beds…. a necessary evil, but one we can make so much more attractive by clever positioning and the right sizing choices!!

This little space here is not big enough for the generous coat and hat capacity we need - but it’s still a pretty little sunny spot that shall not be overlooked! I’ve got some ideas…

It could be an alternative spot for the dogs bed as the sunshine coming through here would be much appreciated I’m sure! Hooks for dog leads would also be a logical addition as often dog walk paraphernalia gets lost in the coat jam.

The space might also be better left uncluttered. It’s something to explore and I look forward to pondering more and coming back to you with more options in the plan.

The lovely barn door is a feature and by keeping this zone simple and unadorned, the barn door gets it's chance to hog the limelight and the entrance to the formal sitting room becomes even more emphatic.

Formal Living Room:

This room is fabulous. Even with the massive shelving unit trying to dominate, the vaulted ceiling and the scale of the room still wins the day. It will be a complete delight to style it up and make it a sensational room to entertain or to cosy up on a cold night, just the two of you. I love this room so much. I’d have bought the house on the strength of this one alone!

Again, these wicker shades feel coastal to me and this one is undersized and flimsy in this spot. Lighting in a room is king - we need to sort this room out pronto - new pendant, a floor lamp and no doubt a couple of table lamps. It is the fundamental element of any interior design.

Interesting little fireplace…. but if it is effective, we are going to tell ourselves it is quirky and gorgeous and that we lurve it…

Coffee table is a work in progress - MCM House yet to deliver its top.

Art on the walls?

Another delicious rug, a new colour scheme, a candle burning, the red wine breathing…. I’m moving in.

Rooms like this are rare - beautifully proportioned and with a lovely sunny aspect, it would be hard not to end up with a Belle Magazine front cover feature!! I know that flashy is NOT your game and I promise you, that is not the vibe I’d go for - I just think that the room has so many outstanding features that all we lust after in interiors and I cannot wait to share my ideas with you!

Covering any window is sacrilege, most especially when that window is a feature which must have been added because of the light value it brings, thereby justifying the expense. SO to cover it over with a shelving unit that is not in sympathy with the house as you’ll enjoy it, is madness.

So off with its head!

A further issue I have with it is that it dictates the furniture placement. Without it, you can orientate the room so that it doesn’t feel like a line up for TV viewing and can instead, be inclusive and interesting.

I’m thinking the hutch must be removable, so that’s how we get it out. I’d sell it on FB as units like this are a far cheaper alternative to built in joinery and so people are always after them.

With it gone, we can then get the full benefit of this soaring ceiling and really lean in to the beauty of the room. I am thinking that we could potentially reconfigure the modular so that the width of the room is filled with couch, allowing for an armchair also to be added. We could also put the tv on the wall perpendicular to where it is now, which would have the bonus of concealing it further from the view of the barn door.

Kitchen:

One thing that has bothered me here is the lack of pantry - I know it bothers you more and I think it’s going to drive you nuts once you’re moved in and frequently in residence. Country homes are by design, much more remote and it’s not an easy or simple thing to jump in the car when you need a couple of extra ingredients for dinner, like tinned tomatoes, that you were so sure you had in plentiful supply. Then you remember, your Sydney house has plenty…. (bane of my life - but oh, SUCH a first world problem!!)

So you need a big pantry, bottom line. And here it is!

I know we are not spending money on things that may not survive a rethink down the track, but I think this area is where you can logically, cheaply and effectively add a large pantry with a ton of storage. Move this ridiculous sideboard and the structure behind is the perfect place to add a wall of joinery. You’d likely want to move the aircon duct as you’ll be covering it with cupboard, but you only have to move it a few inches further forward and you don’t need to worry about concealing the hole as the base of the unit will do that. All that is then required is the carcass and doors and voila, one very decent sized pantry.

Without redesigning the kitchen, there really isn’t an alternative place for a tall pantry - and let’s face it, hefting out this dubious collection of massive ‘vintage’ furniture items is a bonus for us AND for the lucky FB Marketplace shoppers snapping them up! It may well be that the money you make selling them will go most of the way towards this new built-in pantry that you’re going to love with all your heart. I am a believer!!!!

I’d love to change the colour in the kitchen and we could investigate including the cupboard fronts. Sometimes, depending on what they’re made from, this can be a mistake because the paint doesn’t adhere properly to the surface and so it easily chips. If this is the case, we will just love the cream and change the handles to something a bit groovier.

The other area you feel unsure about is in front of the fireplace, between the island bench and the back wall of doors to outside.

I’ve just found the most amazing chairs that would be insane in this spot - you want to create a nook in front of the fire that is a place to sit with a wine or a cuppa, while dinner cooks itself and all things are right in the world…

The magic here, my friend, is in the furniture!!

And the rug….

And the colour….

And did I mention the lighting….

The island bench is under-sized and being vintage, or repurposed, you have to forgive it.

A longer, narrower island could offer better amenity, accomodate bar stools and generally work more efficiently, but I think you may choose to live with this for the time being.

If you decided you DID want to change it, you could remove the marble (and use it somewhere else - like for a coffee table or even for in the construction of an outside table…we would preserve it of course!) and replace it with a longer bench top that better suited the space. It could then take house a couple of bar stools and look better proportioned.

Ideas run wild!!

Whilst my strong advice is to wait until you see how you go with it the way it is, I think we can find a better pendant light than this poor soldier.

You’ll get sick of me saying this - but once again I stress that lighting is the fundamental element to how we experience any space, so considering how we design lighting is key.

Dining Room:

The dining table and chairs are installed, but so are the dogs. By relocating their bed, we free this far wall up for a cabinet of some kind that could potentially be for wine storage, or if you didn’t like that idea, a piece of art would pack a punch here as the eye is drawn down this long room.

As I suggested on Friday, I really think that the whole centre of the house would benefit from curtains across the back of the house to protect from the cold, but also because they bring such humanity!! Linen would be my preference because of the relaxed vibe they give, and most definitely lined! This would make the space so much more inviting at night,, it would dampen sound and really add to the feeling of warmth.

Again, I think the jute rug isn’t helping you out here - to review!

Table and chairs are fab.

Master Bedroom:

At the risk of repeating myself and really annoying you… I really want you to consider using the downstairs master bedroom and bathroom as guest accomodation and instead, using the room above it for you guys. I know it doesn’t give you an ensuite, but in time that could be solved and in the interim, you have a lovely big bathroom upstairs.

The master suite downstairs is lovely - don’t get me wrong - but the practicality of actually shutting this ‘wing’ off makes good sense. There is a ton of highland charm here, no doubt about it. The little sitting room with its sink, its own bathroom, and the accessibility to outside makes it a totally independent zone to the rest of the house that could be a huge advantage if you were to have guests, or indeed, if guest wanted to stay here in your absence.

For now, however, I will assume your original plan of inhabiting this downstairs area.

I love the brick wall (top left photo) and the cute fireplace - there is potential to really take this space to another level just with colour and art and ‘bits’ on shelves etc etc. I love it.

I’m thinking luscious Hale Mercantile linen, a reindeer hide (or many more) draped over the chairs, an interesting and evocative colour scheme - we can make this whole wing sing. It just needs texture, warmth, styling and love - all of which is available in abundance.

The bathroom and loo can be given a style injection too with some strategic moves - grey is a tricky and I think cold choise for a bathroom, but there is much we can add to counter that coldness without any significant expense.

Let’s go upstairs…

The staircase needs carpeting asap - it’s cold and rattly and harsh without and by softening the tread, we beef up the cosy. As much as I love boards, I think for sound and warmth, carpet wins the day in a two storey house every time, particularly in a cold climate.

My suggestion would be to carpet the stairs and the upper halls. But I think we add character and intrigue in other ways too - with a gentle colour scheme and art.

I love this room. Or have I aready told you??!! It has a grandeur about it a lovely quality of light. Whether you want it as your bedroom or prefer to keep it as a guest room for family, it will be a lovely room to decorate and style.

A new pendant light, a bed and bedside tables, a scrumptious but appropriately sized occasional chair - the room is large and could take a chest of drawers too, for extra storage.

I’d ask you to consider replacing the shutters with curtains, you’d so improve the quality of light and you’d allow the beautiful trees out there to be appreciated far more than having them filtered by the shutters. To discuss!!

Guest bedrooms:

No need to spend money here my friend, but a paint job to keep these rooms in sync with the rest of the house will really integrate them an make the house feel united. Colour, lamps, bedlinen - and art when the time comes for you to shift your focus to this fabulous pursuit. A second home is a mjor project - you get the bones in place and then things like adding art becomes a pleasure you really savour.

Bedheads are great, bedsides are fine - let’s entice the devil from the detail! Colour scheme, art and general character filling goodness.

Outdoors:

The back deck is gorgeous and will be fun to perfect. We get rid of that vintage daybed and lean in to a more modern, relaxed vibe that is not trying to be some shabby chic centrefold!! Furniture that looks sleek, that all of you sprawl out over to soak up the rays and enjoy all that the property promises - that is our aim

To conclude:

Deb, I am well aware that you will have a budget in mind and that you won’t be keen to spend money where you don’t need to. I would love to come and talk through art and treasures from your Sydney home that might be relocated - there are so many ways we can expand the style you clearly have to your new second home without burning budget. Putting in an other bathroom and potentially doing other works down the track will benefit from what we save in this first instance - but making this place look and feel O’Halloran is our objective.

If I am involved, we will get underway with our task immediately so that by Christmas, the O’Halloran effect is in full play.

Over to you.

Henrietta x

Mountain Ridge Homestead

O'Halloran House CIP