While renovating previous houses, Peter and Amanda have touched on styles ranging from art deco to coastal chic and Tuscan. And through these projects, they have learned to change a look while still incorporating treasured pieces. The couple were familiar with their current home well before they bought it two years ago. The French-provincial house in Woolooware, south of Sydney, was built six years earlier by a couple well known to them, but while they’d watched it being constructed they’d never actually seen inside. “We’d been searching for a house for about six months when I saw this one advertised in the local paper,” Amanda states. “It had typical French-provincial columns and a courtyard with clipped box hedges, espaliered star jasmine and a water feature. As soon as I saw it I knew it was exactly what we wanted.”
The previous owner favoured a more feminine, country feel, but Amanda prefers a classical approach. Being a relatively new house, there was very little that needed changing other than paintingthe interior and tweaking the decor a little. The upper level consists of three bedrooms and a study, a parents’ retreat, a large family bathroom and an ensuite. All the bedrooms open to balconies which extend the full width of the house, front and back. “Th e rear balcony has views of the city skyline with the ocean at Cronulla in the distance,” Amanda says. “In summer you can open up the doors and enjoy a cool breeze – it’s beautiful.”
Downstairs there are two sitting rooms, a dining room, a laundry and a beautifully fi tted traditional kitchen in the French-provincial style. Here, too, sliding doors open up the house to the timber-decked balcony overlooking the pool and cabana at the rear.
KEEPING IT NEUTRAL
“I can’t live with a lot of colour,” Amanda says. “I like mainly neutrals, French grey, black and white.” Th e bedrooms are painted with Dulux Antique White USA and carpeted in cream, and the couple chose a soft Dulux Moss Vale Green for the walls downstairs to complement the polished timber floorboards. There are no curtains on the windows or French doors as the plantation shutters which were already installed suited Amanda’s decorating style perfectly.
In the parents’ retreat, where the couple watch television in the evenings, Amanda used black and white to dramatic effect. An inviting white fabric-covered sofa and matching armchair are set off perfectly with striking zebra-print cushions and a faux-fur rug. The ornate wrought-iron coff ee table was purchased from Eclectic Home &
Garden in Cronulla, while the decorative wall-mounted filigree cross has moved house with Amanda many times before, and seen a variety of colour changes. “We’ve had white, cream, green and now black decor,” she laughs.
The spacious white-tiled family bathroom has a free standing, rolltop bath and a granite-top twin-basin vanity. Under floor heating is a welcome luxury on chilly mornings and Amanda’s carefully chosen accessories – like the embroidered French towels from Country Homes & Interiors in Moss Vale, the French wall clock and three framed floral pictures – add comfort and style.
AND SO TO BED ...
French-provincial style reigns in the guest bedrooms. The first of these is decorated in a romantic blend of cream and white with a fabric upholstered bedhead from Freedom, plus pretty, white bedside tables and a dressing table. The dainty occasional chair, with its heart-shape woven cane back, and the fl eur-de-lis above the bed came from Plaisirs de la Vie in Maroubra. For visiting grandchildren there’s a pretty blue and white bedroom with a patchwork quilt, a heart-shape floral wreath on the wall and a dainty mirror.
The master bedroom is more dramatic in style. “It was all cream and white, but I couldn’t live with it,” Amanda says. “It just wasn’t me. I like things to be a bit more dramatic.” The sleigh bed from Harvey Norman is strikingly dressed in black self-patterned Mercer + Reid sheets and a bedspread from Adairs. The two stunning black and silver cushions are from Freedom, and the black marble and metal lamps are also from Harvey Norman. Above the bed hangs an original painting of a reclining nude by Amanda’s friend, artist Gail Gillard-Rutland.
Downstairs, the L-shape, open-plan living area features a sofa and an extra-large armchair from Coco Republic. Both pieces have cushions covered with natural linen, while big, white quilted cushions and smaller ones with a fl eur-de-lis motif add an extra level of comfort. Two stone finials are set on the mantelpiece beneath a framed French heraldic print, and beside the gas fi replace, a statue Amanda has treasured for as long as she can remember stands on a cast-iron column, which has moved house with her for the past 25 years.
ENTERTAINING IDEAS
Eight diners can be seated comfortably at the wrought-iron and glass dining setting from Freedom, while Amanda keeps in contact with her guests from the beautifully fi tted French-provincial kitchen. The island bench has a marble top and the wooden benches under the cupboards are made of brush box. Th e cooker is a La Germania and includes a gas cooktop with an electric oven and a Fisher & Paykel DishDrawer is concealed in the island bench. “I’m especially pleased with the brushed, stainless-steel finish of the appliances,” Amanda states. “You never see a fingermark on it.”
Amanda adjusted her style to the French-provincial feel of the house by cleverly combining just enough French accents – such as the fleur-de-lis motifs, photographic prints of French antique gates, embroidered towels, cupids in various guises and items in wrought iron – with pieces she’s owned and treasured for years. And that’s the essence of decorating, to blend the existing with the new, creating a harmonious and comfortable home. She makes it look so easy!
Story by Sue Stravs
Photography by Tony Potter
Styling by Greg Sukendro