After living in Echuca/Moama in regional Victoria, cropping barley for a couple of years, Lynda and Jeff Milsom decided to move closer to their grandchildren who live on the Mornington Peninsula. So they bought a spacious, light-filled house on an 18.5-acre block in Shelbourne, about 20 minutes out of Bendigo. Having previously lived on 160 acres, the land size seems small to the Milsoms but with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a study, there’s still plenty of room for everyone; and, with Pop’s tractor to sit on, the grandchildren love to visit. The house had been built only recently so there was very little that needed doing; however, Lynda decided to create a delightful French-country feel. She did this “on a shoestring”, with an eclectic collection of bits and pieces from anywhere and everywhere, and the final look is utterly charming.
A PERFECT DESIGN
The house is built on one level with an open-plan kitchen/dining/living room that opens out onto a back deck. The interior was painted throughout already with Haymes Sesame, a warm and subtle off–white that creates a stylish country feel. The house is very light and open with nine foot ceilings and many full-length windows, giving a sense of space. The master bedroom has its own ensuite and double doors that look straight out to the paddocks, while the kitchen looks over the family room and directly out to the back deck. The house is filled with plenty of natural light and, even though the Milsoms have two air-conditioning/heating units, they’ve never turned them on; a woodfire heater in the living area, together with any sunshine that floods in during the day, provides ample heat. On the north-facing side of the decked area is a verandah that Lynda and Jeff added themselves, creating a more traditional Australian-country look. “We had to put that up, they didn’t have any verandahs,” Lynda says. “We’re creeping our way around the house!”
FRENCH-COUNTRY STYLE
Lynda enjoys poring through magazines then hunting down bits and pieces she loves, and, although she is an avid collector, the house is far from cluttered. In fact, it has just enough pieces to give the house a feeling of warmth and interest in a style that’s perfect for its rural setting.
The master bedroom is simple yet charming, with rustic wooden pieces such as bedside tables remade from old Baltic pine and a chest that Jeff made out of an old-style wardrobe. A little pram found in an antique store makes a delightful decorative item, lending a sense of old-world charm. The two main spare bedrooms are equally enchanting with pretty bedding and piles of old suitcases arranged as bedside tables. “I keep all my Christmas decorations in the suitcases,” Lynda says.
One element that didn’t suit the couple’s taste was the main bathroom. “There are blue laminate benchtops much to my horror,” Lynda laughs. “Th e tiles were blue too, with seashells and things over them, until we got tile paint from Bunnings and got rid of that!” Now the bathroom is crisp and white and, according to Lynda, the tile paint is yet to come off. The bathroom is filled with a charming mix of decorative pieces ranging from an old rusty wire basket from the local tip shop holding a couple of towels to the gorgeous nude sculptures from Lintons Garden & Home. All this gives the bathroom a stylish and clean country look that blends with the decor of the rest of the house.
THRILL OF THE HUNT
Lynda enjoys the challenge of collecting bits and pieces for the house while sticking to a fairly tight budget. “I love the hunt!” she says. “I love op-shops, plus we have a lot of clearing sales up here and we go to markets.” For Lynda, it’s about finding a piece she loves then finding the right spot to put it; and it doesn’t come down to paying large sums of money. In fact, there isn’t much in the house that costs more than $20 – not that you would know from having a peek inside. There’s an eclectic mix of old and new that blends beautifully to create a charming and cosy French-provincial style, such as the chairs she found in Freedom to go with her antique dining table. “I don’t like things to match,” she says. Jeff, a builder by trade, is handy when it comes to making the occasional cabinet and repairing damaged items that have been sold off$20 from Target. Sometimes, however, even Jeff wonders at all the odd bits and pieces Lynda discovers – like the old bike propped up on the front fence. “Jeff had to climb a hill at the tip to get that and they just gave it to us because they couldn’t understand why we’d want it,” she says. It certainly makes a charming decorative piece though, giving the front of the house an old-fashioned rustic feel.
If Lynda had a bigger budget, would she still hunt down items from markets and op-shops, tips and car swap meets? “I think I would,” she says. “That’s the fun of it. I don’t think I’d enjoy it if
I could have anything.”
While Linda and Jeff love living in the Bendigo area, the pull to be near their grandchildren is stronger so they will soon be putting their country home on the market. “We’re actually going to try to stay within a close commuting distance between Bendigo and the Mornington Peninsula,” Lynda says. So she’ll now have yet another house to redecorate; however, for someone who loves to hunt around and discover original treasures, this will no doubt be an absolute pleasure.
Story by Susannah Hardy
Photography by Albert Comper
Styling by Jayne Reid