A COTTAGE WITH CLASS

Sydney property revamp specialist Three Birds Renovations, Bonnie Hindmarsh, Lana Taylor and Erin Cayless, saw the potential to transform this suburban home by creating a striking facade and on-trend, light and bright interiors.

“With outdated colours and lacking dimension, the facade was by far the biggest challenge of the property,” says Lana, adding that the smaller sized home risked being overwhelmed by other properties on the street – modern homes with beautifully landscaped front gardens.

Bold black and white stripe Luxaflex Canopy Awnings were chosen for the exterior, accented with classic glass French doors and a dramatic shade of charcoal grey for the walls. Three Birds Creative Director, Bonnie, describes the awnings as the key to the overall look of the facade.

“The scallop edging and the black and white stripe of the Luxaflex Canopy Awnings are the thing that has impressed me the most with this renovation, transforming the front and adding to the street appeal,” she says.

LIVING ROOM AND DINING AREA
Inside the new double entry doors, the living room and dining area feature neutral tones and soft textures to counter the drama of the home’s exterior. Keeping the view from being interrupted and ensuring privacy from the street, white Luxaflex Veri Shades¹ were chosen for the living room windows. A contemporary take on a classic window covering, Luxaflex Veri Shades combines the versatility of a vertical blind with the elegant appeal of a soft window furnishing. Featuring the premium Luxaflex Edge Vertical track system and soft sheer fabric, Veri Shades are designed to provide a balance of style, durability and child safety features.

The adjoining dining area features a picture window above built-in bench seating, flooding the space with natural light and providing a view to the outside area. To the left of the dining area is a ‘hidden private oasis’; fitted with Luxaflex Bi-Fold PolySatin Shutters, the interior shutters hide an additional room, transformed into a bar area that, when open, connects the space with the rest of the house and the alfresco outdoor area.

“We wanted this room to be multi-purpose, and the one thing we did to ensure that was to install internal Luxaflex shutters,” says Bonnie. “So you’ll be able to open the shutters and the space will be able to become part of the dining area and the outdoor area all at once.”

KITCHEN AND SITTING ROOM
Originally at the back of the house, the kitchen has been relocated into the extension. With a large glass wall beside the kitchen, accompanied by glass French doors, the kitchen and sitting area have had Luxaflex Veri Shades installed to control the sunlight.

“We wanted to create a café style seating area rather than a dining area and, with the natural light of the large glass wall, the light it brings in is divine,” says Erin.

“The kitchen features bold bursts of colour, with the soft green island bench and black statement cabinet countered by fresh, crisp colours elsewhere, making the Luxaflex Veri Shades an optimal choice. Complementing the white interior walls, the individually curved fabric vanes of the shades feature an alternating light filtering and room darkening fabric panel that can be simply rotated for sheer light control or total privacy.”

MASTER SUITE + ENSUITE
With an ensuite, walk-in-wardrobe and private outdoor deck, the master suite also features a private deck fully enclosed to encourage privacy and hide the neighbouring red brick wall.

Painted a dark charcoal shade to match the exterior of the house, the grey tones are echoed in slate Luxaflex Veri Shades that cover the French doors of the master suite. The bold choice in colour, paired with the soft fabric finish of the shades, is designed to work with the retro style of the room.

The ensuite boasts a floor-toceiling glass window welcoming in natural light, and fitted with a motorised Luxaflex Evo Cable Awning to optimise privacy at the touch of a button. Featuring the darker colour of ‘Mombasa’ to match the darker tones of the outdoor deck, the straight drop awning also provides sun and UV protection and will help to block out unwanted heat coming through the glass in summer.

NURSERY
Styled around a camel art print, beige tones were pulled from the artwork and echoed around the room from the wall colour to the Luxaflex Duette window shades. The Duette fabric in blockout opacity provides complete room darkening and zero view-through when closed. The pleated fabric design of these shades also means they can be stacked tightly up into the head rail to allow light through when open, and the ‘Top-Down/Bottom-Up’ style also provides versatility, allowing the shades to be open from the top, from the bottom or anywhere in between. “It’s the perfect balance of light and privacy, and well insulated from heat and noise,” says Lana.

MAIN BATHROOM
Locating the bathroom in the extension of the house allowed for a much larger main bathroom with high ceilings. “The space we were left for the bathroom was reasonably long, but quite skinny which lends itself to doing a wet space bathroom,” explains Erin.

Selected to complement the bold floor-to-ceiling herringbone tile pattern, Luxaflex PolySatin Shutters in white introduce simple elegance into the main bathroom. The PolySatin Shutters are resistant to moisture and will not blister, peel, flake, corrode or fade, making them ideal for wet areas such as bathrooms and laundries.

¹ Veri Shades® is a registered Trade Mark of Kilmallock (ACT) Pty. Ltd.