The Great Escape

INTERIOR DESIGNER DARREN PALMER’S COASTAL HOLIDAY HOME IS A LESSON IN MAGICAL FACE LIFTS THAT DON’T BREAK THE BANK

- Rachel Sharp

For all his serious interior design skills, television fame and impeccable artist contacts, it’s almost hilarious that the standout piece of decor greeting guests inside Darren Palmer’s beach “shack” front door is a worn-down old oar he’s had for years.

Then again, it’s rather symbolic of the five-bedroom Hyams Beach home he and husband Olivier Duvillard have spent the past four years slowly renovating to budget: something run-down with character that’s totally repurposed to become cool.

“It’s the perfect addition to a coastal styling story, don’t you think?” prompts the interiors expert of his budget wall sculpture. “I like the house to welcome someone in from the front door. I think entrance appeal is super important and that entrance was one of the least inviting things in this house [before], so I screwed it into the wall there. Now when you walk in, it feels really light and bright and the staircase invites you up and it feels really beachy and relaxed. That’s how I want people to feel when they’re here.”