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3. Think about your flooring We’ve moved past the days where carpet dominated flooring choices at home. As hard flooring takes its place, texture is moving to the forefront. Here are some good textural options: Timber: Oak is a popular timber choice as its grain adds just the right amount of texture to suit any interior style. From the blonde oaks that are seen in Scandinavian decorating styles to dark chocolate tones that amp up the glamour, the variation of tints make oak easy to team with your style. Spotted gum, blackbutt and other Australian species are growing in popularity, and their distinctive grains and colours make them a good match for timeless interiors.
3. Cosy up your bathroom underfoot Treated wood is an alternative to tiles and stone and makes a welcome warmer for one place bare feet must always go: the bathroom. A cosy, seamless feel can be achieved by continuing the wood across the wet area, in practical slat form. To achieve this look and avoid warping or expansion of wood, researching timbers and sealants is paramount. Solid timbers with a tight grain let in the least moisture, locally sourced bamboo makes for a fashionable choice, or try cedar, mahogany or teak. Next, ensure you consult an expert for the best sealant for your wood choice.
“There’s no wall to hang a TV in this bedroom. Where can I put it?” Challenge: No wall to hang it on Solution: A bed-end box custom designed and made to look like the finished end of a bed or enclosed console table provides the ideal hiding place for a pop-up TV. Constructed specially to encase the unit and made to open at the top, an internal mechanism allows for the TV to lift up from inside the box to the ideal height for viewing and closes away just as seamlessly. To have the pop-up mechanism accessible by remote control or home integrated system will enhance the experience
Thanks to the small footprint, there’s less space to heat, cool, and illuminate, making the house more energy efficient. “The house has some decent passive design chops too – thermal mass in the floors, north- and south-facing windows for light and heat, lots of windows that open to let the Fremantle Doctor [cooling afternoon sea breeze] blow through the house, and good insulation throughout,” Weir says. The concrete floor also contributes to the efficiency of the house, by absorbing the sun’s heat and keeping the house warm in winter.
With limited internal walls, and a simple curtain separating the bedroom from the living space and kitchen, the flexible open-plan interior allows Karin to use the whole space in an informal, spacious way, or in more formal manner. “The intention with not having walls, and with having the large windows, is that the space becomes one light-filled room, and the whole house can be utilised at once. At night time the curtain can be drawn and you have your privacy,” Weir says. The large low windows bring the outside in and blur the boundaries of the small house, creating a larger sense of space. Here, a friend’s dog, Xolo, gives the space a test run.
The house was custom-built and clad in black weatherboard, while the studio part is a prefabricated shed made with specifically sourced corrugated fibre-cement walls. “We had to bring the corrugated cladding over from the UK after Karin spotted it on an episode of British Grand Designs,” Weir says. As well as referencing the neighbouring heritage buildings, the project had to take into account an enormous jacaranda tree that sat right in the centre of the site. Great lengths were taken to protect and maintain the mature tree and its spreading branches, so the house was designed to wrap around it. The tree now provides shade through the summer and acts like a second roof to limit the intensive heat on the black building.
10. Try high contrast This minimalistic kitchen extension juxtaposes a cool, close-to-clinical interior with warm and tactile cedar cladding. The polished-concrete floor transitions seamlessly to exterior paving, and Sky-Frame doors provide uninterrupted views of the garden from all angles.
7. Dig deep Two pairs of sliding doors are set below ground level in this handsome Oxfordshire home, ensuring the interior is flooded with light. Tactile travertine flooring inside is matched with a coordinating exterior design for a seamless convergence. The green roof improves the build’s eco credentials, as well as providing a pretty patchwork to look upon from upper-floor windows.
6. Take a cue from nature This ethereal extension is part of a barn conversion. Rather than mirror the profile of the existing building, the new addition has been designed to sit to the side of the barn’s steeply pitched roof, iridescent in glass. With the garden visible on three sides, it’s easy inspiration for a calm colour scheme using elements of wood and hints of mauve.
5. Lighten the load Slight metal frames give these sliding doors a delicate and unobtrusive appearance that’s in accordance with the clean lines of the kitchen. Slab-front cabinets and hypnotically veined marble benchtops create an understated cook space. An engineered-oak herringbone floor warms up the subtle grey and white scheme and meshes effortlessly with the room’s other naturalistic elements, including the leafy trees seen through the matching roof glazing.
4. Court classic charm This glamorous grey beauty proves that sliding glass doors can sit happily in a more traditional kitchen. Shaker-style cabinets with chrome cup handles are a classic choice, while a barely-there induction stove provides a touch of contemporary tech. Sliding doors are a prime pick for those who intend their interior decor and outside space to take centre stage, over architectural features.
3. Find your angle Sculptural sophistication and a slick, spartan interior unite in this zinc-clad extension. Two sets of sliding doors snake around the corner of the rear, joining at the junction of a peaceful pond area. Huge roof lights mean that light is assured – without the need for a ‘glass box’ structure
As we’re all searching for that illusive indoor/outdoor lifestyle, where our homes melt seamlessly into gorgeous gardens, it’s no wonder that exterior doors of all shapes and sizes continue to make attractive additions. While bi-folds have been the door du jour for a while, now Crittall-style frames and large sliding panels are giving them some competition. Each style has its merits; sliding doors will never give you a completely open facade, but they do allow for fewer frames when closed. Sliding doors also work brilliantly on a wider building where they can give a maximised view of the garden. These 10 admirable examples show how to use sliding doors and how to decorate to complement them. Take a look before deciding if this style is up your street.
Tip: A cupboard that keeps your laptop out of sight is ideal in the bedroom, where computers, tablets and smart phones can disturb sleep with light, noise and radiation. If your wardrobe allows, set your desk up inside and when you’re finished working, close the doors and wheel your chair out of the way until you’re ready to use it again.
In the family bathroom, half walls between the shower and the vanity mean that more than one family member can use the room at once.
Having the master bedroom off the main living room means that the owners can live in just this wing of the house when they are on their own.
In the open-plan living room and kitchen, Tatton played with ceiling heights and scale. The big room seems in proportion because of the raised ceilings, the warm recycled tawa floors and paler poplar plywood ceilings. A decent fireplace was a must to keep the house warm throughout the winter. The door beyond the fireplace leads to the master suite.
Pendant light fittings, sourced from Spain by the owners, help to mark out the dining zone in the generous open-plan area. The kitchen joinery is reflected in the sideboard materials and design.
The courtyard allows this back room to share views, breezes and the sounds of the sea, but is slightly withdrawn from the busiest areas at the front of the house.
On one side of the courtyard is the whanau room, where overflow crowds can also bunk down. The generous family bathroom and separate toilet are across the hallway. Light fittings are vintage, a nod to the owners’ mid-century furniture.
A gallery hall welcomes visitors to their first vista of the sea. A small bedroom, family bathroom, toilet and laundry open off on the right of this hallway.
. Make over your living room with white paint and slipcovers Try painting just the base and legs of a wooden coffee table, or spray paint a woven light fixture white to lighten up your room. Accessories like vases, baskets and trunks can be painted white, and simple white slipcovers for sofas and armchairs can be bleached periodically to keep their crisp look.
Collect seashells Instead of strewing them across a table, try collecting shells in a row of hefty glass jars lined up at the centre of the coffee table. 5. Paint the floors white If you want to try white floors but are not crazy about the upkeep, test the idea out first in a room that gets little foot traffic, like an attic bedroom.
Create a crisp backdrop for clean nautical style White walls, ceilings and trim make crisp stripes, woven furniture and natural-fiber rugs look even better. And using white on all of the walls throughout an open-concept home is a foolproof way to make the space feel more expansive.
Create a crisp backdrop for clean nautical style White walls, ceilings and trim make crisp stripes, woven furniture and natural-fiber rugs look even better. And using white on all of the walls throughout an open-concept home is a foolproof way to make the space feel more expansive.
Hang white curtains It’s so simple – if you haven’t tried white curtains yet, perhaps it’s time to become a convert. Thin white curtains look amazing fluttering in a slight breeze and work well layered with nearly any other window treatment. Try pairing them with bamboo shades for an especially summery combo.
Paint an interior brick wall white A redbrick interior wall is one thing in an urban loft; in a little cottage, it can stick out like a sore thumb. Give yourself permission to cover up the brick that’s been bugging you with a fresh coat of white paint – you’ll probably wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
. Add white painted planking to walls Adding planking is not a quick or cheap project, but it can make a big difference in the way a home looks and feels. Choose wide, horizontal planks for that seaside cottage look.
Or mix it up: If your decorating style embraces different textures, or you’re looking to do something a little different to the norm, then select a different material, colour and/or texture (timber, metallic, glass or statement colour) for cupboards, splashbacks, benches, or fixtures and other fittings. This kitchen is a good example, utilising American oak veneer (un-stained with a sprayed clear coat) for the cupboards and extended ceiling in addition to a black veneer bench, the streamlined design creates a statement within the home while not overpowering the rest of the interior. It is this balance, between statement and a complementary streamlined design – that makes it timeless.
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