BLUE-SKY THINKING

Placing complete trust in their interior designer paid off for the owners of this home in Mount Martha, Victoria. The result? A home they all love.

- Judy Pascoe

Many people feel a little uneasy when taken out of their comfort zone but from a design perspective it is often the best place to be if you are going to achieve something wonderful. In the case of this family who were looking to move from their home in inner-city Melbourne to Mount Martha where they had holidayed happily for years, the house they inspected with a view to buying was hardly their dream property. But it was on a large block of land, close to the beach and the shopping village of Mount Martha.

Kate Walker of KWD had worked her magic on their previous home in Melbourne so they sought her advice on the new property. “Kate could see that the house had great bones and she immediately visualised what it could become with the right design direction,” says the owner. “It was a massive leap of faith for me because I didn’t have a sense of what we could create.”

Kate led the family on a journey of discovery – about themselves as well as the house. “She definitely took us out of our comfort zone and the things that I was most nervous and unconfident about are those I now love the most,” enthuses the owner. The family was on a tight renovation budget for the three-bedroom home but Kate delivered on every aspect of their wish list including three bathrooms, two living spaces and a self-contained guest suite. Having seen ‘Beechwood’, the property Kate had renovated for her own family some years ago, they knew they wanted a similar coastal aesthetic and the same design principles.