'Hillstead' Family Retreat - high eight home & living

‘Hillstead’ Family Retreat

Welcome to ‘Hillstead’ a property in Inverleigh built in 1956. Where this recent renovation took place. The transformation of the farmhouse work shed into a spectacular family retreat.
A place where the family can now sit back, relax and enjoy the country views.

About 18 months ago I had my first visit to view the project. Where I walked into the untouched, well worked shed, filled with cobwebs, timbers, old tools and the original workbench. The building was in two sections, an internal brick wall dividing them with the outside toilet adjoining.

BEFORE

THE BRIEF FROM MY CLIENTS

The original house only had one living space and the growing family were finding they needed that second living area. With two teenage boys they wanted an area where they could hang out and have their friends over, or an area for the adults to entertain and chill out.

They are lovers of old timbers so to use and up cycle as much of the original and existing was a must. They also requested at least one exposed brick wall to be left for timber shelving to be installed to house all their books. They also wanted the original work bench to be incorporated into the space in some way.

PROJECT STAGES

MY VISION-INTERIOR DESIGN & STYLING

To create a country, farmhouse, industrial style retreat-
Using reclaimed timbers, this was achieved with the barn door and book shelving and re purposing the original workbench as the cabinetry

Exposed brick walls to keep the original 1950’s feel and to not make the room look too perfect like giving it a more ‘rustic feel’.

Exposed roof beams to give that country barn like feel.

Polished concrete flooring, the go to finish for hard wearing and maintenance free (it just hides everything which is what you want in the country)

Industrial pendant lighting, windows and doors, the black finishes definitely created that and was the perfect contrast colour for the yellow brick.

Added texture to the room with the lined roof and walls. These were painted in Dulux Snowy Mountain. It was the perfect material and colour used for completing the room and making all the other finishes work magically together.

AFTER

The bathroom had to be special and flow off the living area. It was only a small space so the finishes needed to be simple but classy. The feature flooring tile and shower niche did just that (the black trim around the niche was just perfect and gave that industrial touch). The good old classic white subway tile never disappoints they were just perfect for the walls.

Styling- the wrought iron feature mirror was a true statement piece and also gave the concept as a window to reflect light.
The vintage tan, leather sofa bed gave a timeless, classic feel. This colour just works perfectly with timbers, the combination of neutral tones, greys and black.
The textured rug, cushions, planters, baskets added character and warmth to the room.
The library was our wall of colour so to speak, acting as the ‘wall art’ for the room. With so many book titles it will surely create a talking point.

I just love the end result of this project and more importantly so do the owners.
Well done to all the trades engaged in this project you all did an amazing job (see trade list below) Our goal now is to be featured in Country Style magazine (a little joke between myself and the owner) ha ha!!!

This is certainly a place where I would want to sit back, relax and enjoy the serenity, with a  glass of vino of course!!!

Lisa  x

TRADE LIST:
Interior Design/Styling
Lisa Sarcevic 0417562040
high eight home & living

Building & Construction
Simon Murry 0408059672
Golden Plains Builders Pty Ltd

Barn Door & Bookshelf
Chas Williams 0403294557
Williams & Campion

External Painting
Matthew Carr 0438559635
Painting & Decorating

Polished Concrete Floor
Ryan 0438212397
Polished Off

Plumbing & Wood Heater Installation
Mark Drayton 0428520142

Brickwork
Stephen Shiells 0423656027