This weeks home tour is a fresh and bright Hampton's Queenslander. Featuring my fav colour combination of classic black and white its a great example of a beautiful family home.
Who lives here
Elisha Manning - Marketing, Luke Manning - Director of Business Development, Lachlan - 7, Bailey 5, Isla 2 and one more on the way (due July). No pets as yet.
Style of home and location
Hamptons Queenslander - a combination of the style of a Hamptons beach house with the relaxed charm of Australia's own Queenslander home. Located in Camp Hill, Brisbane.
We purchased the home in October 2016 and it settled just before Christmas 2016. The next few months were spent designing, seeking council approvals, sourcing a builder, etc (as with many builds this process took longer than we had initially hoped). We kicked off building in June 2017 and the build took approx 5 months to complete - we moved in a week before Christmas.
Tell us a little about your renovation journey?
We had been hunting for the perfect home to purchase or renovate for a few months when we came across a small 2 bed, 1 bath Queenslander in our preferred suburb. We had to move fast (so fast that I didn't even get a chance to see it in person before we signed the contract). Whilst small in size it was in a great location and was on a decent sized block which ticked a lot of boxes for us.
Our brief to our designer, Chris Brumby of Big House Little House was to achieve an open-plan classic take on the Queenslander. The home takes cues from the classic style of the Hamptons but has a strong focus on modern, tropical Queenslander living with a strong connection between indoors and outdoors. With 3 children and 1 one on the way it was important for us to design the home with our living on the lower ground to maximise the connection to our backyard. You will often find us on weekends gathered on the patio or by the pool sharing a meal or drinks with family and friends. We loved the relaxed style of living that the house provides.
I love the timelessness and effortless elegance of the Hampton's style. The neutral colour palette, intricate details and charm of a weatherboard home were all characteristics that attracted us to the Hampton's style. Inspiration was sourced through images on pinterest and instagram - I have hundreds of images saved of homes and rooms that I loved that we used to draw inspiration from to create our dream home.
Did you enjoy the process of building and designing your home? Any hiccups along the way or things you would do differently?
Renovating (or building in general for that matter) is a rollercoaster of emotions and a mix of joy and stress! Being a creative person with a passion for interior design I revelled in the design phase and in building out the detail of our home. During the renovation, we were on site every single day to oversee the build and ensure the brief was carried out.
Camp Hill is appropriately named due to the steep landscape and rocky ground - this presented some challenges and additional cost through escalation and retaining and was a large component of our budget. Whilst there were challenges and minor changes that had to be made along the way we didn't encounter any major renovation issues. In saying that, it was still a busy and stressful time and we are certainly enjoying having the majority of the work behind us and to be enjoying our new home.
Favourite room in your home?
Thats a tough one as there are so many spaces to love - If I had to pick just one room I would say our kitchen. It is everything I had envisaged and more. The crisp, white shaker cabinetry (by Corona Cabinets) provides a classic feel.
To add some strength to the overall design we choose stone marble bench tops featuring a large vein to break up the whiteness of the space. The butlers pantry comes in handy when entertaining and is used regularly on a daily basis for storing glassware, making tea & coffee and keeping appliances out of sight!
Any further plans scheduled for the future or areas still to complete?
As with any renovation and having only been in the house for a few months there are still a few projects to complete. These include a media room, kids play room, finishing off the children bedrooms and putting in a putting green down one side of the house (for my golf enthusiast husband).
Is this your forever home or do you have plans for the future?
This home is our forever home (at least for the foreseeable future). We designed it to meet the needs of our growing and evolving family. Whilst the blueprint of the house isn't likely to change, I look forward to watching the house evolve with our family over the years.
I can't resist mixing things up and taking on new projects - so the house is always changing and there is always something on the go!
LINKS TO LOVE
Instagram accounts:
@Ourlittleabode - our personal account on our renovation journey plus photography@bighouselittlehouse - our building designer and photography
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