My Houzz: A White Coastal-style Townhouse
A family with vision creates a light and bright oasis on a limited budget
Lisa Atkinson
28 November 2016
Houzz Contributor. I am an interiors, commercial lifestyle, and fine art photographer based in Frankston South, just out of Melbourne on the stunning Mornington Peninsula. I have been professionally photographing for over 25 years, and have worked with many talented interior designers and builders, both residentially and commercially.
Houzz Contributor. I am an interiors, commercial lifestyle, and fine art photographer... More
When searching for a new home, there’s a certain skill to be able to look past the garish and dated features of a house and see the potential for what it could become. What is now a serene, white and light-filled coastal townhouse on Australia’s Mornington Peninsula beaches, initially had a Tuscan yellow exterior and a dated interior. However, Michelle and Gary Woods, along with their daughter Macey, knew how great it could be.
As the owner of Mich and Mace, a stall at the famous Tyabb Vintage Shed that sells retro industrial and upcycled furniture and accessories, Michelle had a vision to create a white nautical haven. With a lot of elbow grease, and a handy husband to help with the DIY jobs, the family created their dream home on a limited budget.
As the owner of Mich and Mace, a stall at the famous Tyabb Vintage Shed that sells retro industrial and upcycled furniture and accessories, Michelle had a vision to create a white nautical haven. With a lot of elbow grease, and a handy husband to help with the DIY jobs, the family created their dream home on a limited budget.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Michelle and Gary Woods, and their 15-year old daughter Macey
Location: Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia
Size: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
The couple had just sold their Victorian-style home in Mt Martha when they found their new abode. It was Gary and Macey who discovered the home, while Michelle was at work.
She knew on the first inspection it was the one, “I just knew, despite the orange, blue and yellow sand walls,” she says. “I saw the wooden floors and tall French doors and fell in love.” She didn’t waste any time and put in an offer on the way out the door. “Gary nearly fell over as we just had a quick look and hadn’t even discussed it. Luckily for us the market was down, and the low offer was accepted.”
Who lives here: Michelle and Gary Woods, and their 15-year old daughter Macey
Location: Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia
Size: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
The couple had just sold their Victorian-style home in Mt Martha when they found their new abode. It was Gary and Macey who discovered the home, while Michelle was at work.
She knew on the first inspection it was the one, “I just knew, despite the orange, blue and yellow sand walls,” she says. “I saw the wooden floors and tall French doors and fell in love.” She didn’t waste any time and put in an offer on the way out the door. “Gary nearly fell over as we just had a quick look and hadn’t even discussed it. Luckily for us the market was down, and the low offer was accepted.”
First things first; the original layout had to be changed. The kitchen was in the middle of what is now the downstairs living room, which didn’t suit the modern family. Gary did a lot of the work himself, but also received help from Michelle’s brother, uncle and the couple’s friends.
The other challenge when the family initially moved in was living with bad lighting and garish colour as Michelle is not a ‘colour person’. “I couldn’t see at night with all the orange. One day, I came home from work and found that Gary had blanked it all out with an undercoat – it was the best present ever!” says Michelle. The palette of the house is now white. “I start with white then add colour, but my colour is normally neutral too. As much as I want to add colour I can’t live with it,” says Michelle.
The couple also enjoy upcycling furniture when possible. Gary upcycled a $15 console table in the lounge downstairs by taking off the laminate top and painting the black metal legs white. He added two pieces of vintage wood as a top. “It looks amazing and is one of my favourite treasures pieces in the home,” says Michelle.
The other challenge when the family initially moved in was living with bad lighting and garish colour as Michelle is not a ‘colour person’. “I couldn’t see at night with all the orange. One day, I came home from work and found that Gary had blanked it all out with an undercoat – it was the best present ever!” says Michelle. The palette of the house is now white. “I start with white then add colour, but my colour is normally neutral too. As much as I want to add colour I can’t live with it,” says Michelle.
The couple also enjoy upcycling furniture when possible. Gary upcycled a $15 console table in the lounge downstairs by taking off the laminate top and painting the black metal legs white. He added two pieces of vintage wood as a top. “It looks amazing and is one of my favourite treasures pieces in the home,” says Michelle.
Original sand-swirled walls would have needed to be re-plastered, but as the family knew they wanted wood-lined walls, Gary simply did the work himself. The new style was expensive, but felt nautical and fresh, and suited the house and family.
“These days it costs so much more to get this look, but you can now get it by using panels which are white primed – a great option to have the same look without all the priming yourself,” Michelle says.
“These days it costs so much more to get this look, but you can now get it by using panels which are white primed – a great option to have the same look without all the priming yourself,” Michelle says.
The living room is a comfortable place for the family to relax in. Michelle opted for big solid furniture for this room as she said the furniture she brought from the old home got lost in the room.
Michelle and Gary painted and hung barn-door rollers with the addition of beautiful French doors from Manon bis in Hawksburn. This made a boring entrance area facing the laundry and under-stair area feel grand.
Michelle and Gary painted and hung barn-door rollers with the addition of beautiful French doors from Manon bis in Hawksburn. This made a boring entrance area facing the laundry and under-stair area feel grand.
This office is connected to the living room and is Michelle’s favourite room in the house. It was originally a bedroom, but the couple decided, with one child, it was a better use of space to turn it into an office.
“It was dark green for a long time then one day I said let’s paint it! The vintage colour was beautiful, but just stood out. Keeping it white and simple was the way to go here,” Michelle says.
The warehouse light was one Michelle had for years, and she enlisted help to get it working again. The fabric cord was actually from an old iron, but Michelle cleverly upcycled it.
“It was dark green for a long time then one day I said let’s paint it! The vintage colour was beautiful, but just stood out. Keeping it white and simple was the way to go here,” Michelle says.
The warehouse light was one Michelle had for years, and she enlisted help to get it working again. The fabric cord was actually from an old iron, but Michelle cleverly upcycled it.
Michelle’s vintage treasures are mixed with more modern pieces, including these baskets and accessories from Provincial Home Living.
“Most of the fittings in the home I already had as I have been a vintage collector for a long time, so it was great to be able to use pieces in this house,” Michelle says.
The couple started off with a budget and sold old furniture and restored pieces on eBay to afford things like the wood lining. However, Michelle says they got impatient with this and began buying on credit cards, which she does not recommend to others. “Patience is best if you can,” she says.
Michelle’s 15-year old daughter Macey has her bedroom downstairs. Gary altered shutters found on Outlook Tip Shop to fit four of their windows, including the ones in Macey’s bedroom.
Macey had outgrown her childhood bedroom in their previous home, but was not really a fan of the vintage feel of the rest of the house, so she and Michelle shopped at Ikea, Typo and Kmart to get a great range of young, hip, and budget-friendly items to create this gorgeous teen retreat.
Although Macey’s room has a slightly more contemporary feel to the rest of the home, it still features the same colour palette of white with natural elements.
Macey loves her room, as well as being close to the amazing shops of Mornington’s Main Street.
The wood-lined walls in Macey’s room are the only ones in the house which run horizontally, as it is a small room and the horizontal lines makes the space feel larger.
The downstairs bathroom was one of the hardest and smallest rooms in the house to renovate. They had the shower base and tiles sprayed, made a niche in the shower and took the tiles up to the ceiling to make it feel grand. Gary cut down an old table to make the vanity, and they picked up a small white bowl basin on sale at Bunnings for $100.
“It is such a narrow room, but it feels so good now. It would have cost so much more to re-tile and change the base so we are really happy with result,” says Michelle.
“It is such a narrow room, but it feels so good now. It would have cost so much more to re-tile and change the base so we are really happy with result,” says Michelle.
Behind the sliding French doors near the entrance lies a small but practical laundry, next to a large closet which provides under-stair storage.
The upstairs area of the townhouse is an open-plan living, dining, and kitchen area, with a large balcony, and also the master bedroom and main bathroom.
Michelle loves having the kitchen upstairs, as she says it makes her feel like she’s in a tree house. She also says it’s easy to clean and perfect for entertaining in.
The family were keen to change to kitchen cabinets to a more nautical style, but it was too expensive at the time, so they removed and cleaned them instead, then painted them matt white and added industrial-style chunky handles instead of the curved handles that were originally there.
“It changed the feel straight away and made the kitchen feel more solid, Michelle says. “Ikea is great for decent, affordable pieces to mix with what you have. Luckily my uncle Tony helped Gary fit it all, which saved us quite a bit of money.”
Removing overhead unused faux-leadlight kitchen cupboards along one of the side walls was the best move to open up the kitchen. And installing another window, where the cupboards had previously been, allowed more natural light in.
The family were keen to change to kitchen cabinets to a more nautical style, but it was too expensive at the time, so they removed and cleaned them instead, then painted them matt white and added industrial-style chunky handles instead of the curved handles that were originally there.
“It changed the feel straight away and made the kitchen feel more solid, Michelle says. “Ikea is great for decent, affordable pieces to mix with what you have. Luckily my uncle Tony helped Gary fit it all, which saved us quite a bit of money.”
Removing overhead unused faux-leadlight kitchen cupboards along one of the side walls was the best move to open up the kitchen. And installing another window, where the cupboards had previously been, allowed more natural light in.
Michelle loves mixing styles from industrial to French, coastal and vintage. Lately, she has been inspired by the shop GreediLulu in Mornington, which stocks decor in South African style, and she decorates with pieces from it, including this necklace.
Michelle purchased two armoires from Scout in St Kilda before she moved in and put them in the dining area. “I knew they would work as they are tall and square, just like the home,” she says. “I only saw this house briefly and didn’t have measurements but knew one [would go] upstairs and one downstairs.” The room opens up onto a balcony, which is the prime place to be in summer.
A lamp Gary made from a vintage piece of wood from Montreaux in Prahran is a treasured piece in the upstairs living area.
Blinds: Dollar Curtains
Blinds: Dollar Curtains
Gary also covered Ikea Lack shelves in fence wood and painted them white to enhance the coastal style. From there, Michelle added wooden and rustic pieces from her own collection.
The master bedroom is next to the open-plan living area upstairs. It originally featured bright blue carpet, which the couple replaced with walnut floating floor fitted by Fowles.
The master bedroom features a cosy little reading nook.
Gary also installed the outdoor decking in the small backyard, which the family use often. “Last Christmas my brother Dean and his family who live in USA came out for Christmas,” Michelle says. “It was the hottest Christmas day and we all sat around after lunch on our back deck, which has afternoon shade. It was so relaxing and we all then went to the beach over the road later in the day.”
Many of the vintage nautical-themed treasures were originally sourced for the Mich and Mace stall, but ended up in the family’s home instead, including this life saving ring.
The exterior of the house also needed a fresh lick of paint, which the couple did during one of their holiday periods.
Despite being on the busy Esplanade, the townhouse is set back on the block, and features double glazing on the windows for sound and weather insulation.
“Every day it feels beautiful, and you want to be home,” says Michelle. “Why go on holidays when your home is just a walk across the road from the beach, and it’s a gorgeous haven that’s also close to amazing shops and restaurants. On hot nights we take our dinner in a picnic basket and walk across to the point to enjoy the sunset.”
What do you think of this white-on-white beach house? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
What do you think of this white-on-white beach house? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
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Love all the rustic wood features!
Love the soft colors