For most people, the Christmas rush involves last-minute shopping and menu preparations, but in December 2021, owner-builder Alicia and her electrician husband Ian were racing to get their new home built in time for festive family fun. “I promised our two daughters that we’d be in the house before Santa came,” says Alicia, who worked during the wee hours to meet the deadline.
Who lives here?
Builder and content creator Alicia, her electrician husband Ian, and the couple’s two young daughters and son.
Three Christmas traditions: Alicia: “The kids decorate the tree and I’m not precious about it. We have a water fight in the garden and pancakes for Boxing Day breakfast.”
Favourite DIY project? “I love the fireplace, which I built from scratch: making the frame and lining it with heatproof materials, and then giving it a lovely rough rendered finish that adds texture to the room.”
Family downtime activities? “We love cooking and we also like gardening. The girls have their own flower garden. They sell their flowers and the chicken eggs.”
After 23 weeks, they moved into their two-storey, raised timber home, gradually finishing the interiors to create a five-bedroom modern farmhouse, complete with a generous back veranda, where Ian loves to smoke meats for family and friends.
While the pair have been building their own homes since their early 20s, this custom-designed house was the couple’s “most challenging” project yet. “I ran the build, sourcing all the materials and sub-contracting trades, and did a lot of the manual work myself, including constructing the kitchen, laundry and fireplace,” says Alicia.
The result feels homely and lived in, giving the impression the home has been here for years – a sentiment enhanced by second-hand finds, American farmhouse-style homewares and inherited pieces from Ian’s family of farmers. “I wanted it to have character and be full of things with a ‘story’,” says Alicia, who loves upcycling furniture she finds on Gumtree and eBay. Different shades of green meander through the soft, calm interiors, with some of the rooms colour-drenched for a cocooned effect.
“Our last house was all white and decorated to have broad appeal for selling. I wanted this one to have more colour and feel warmer,” explains Alicia. Designed to accommodate the family long-term (they’ve welcomed a baby boy since it was finished), the house has ample living spaces, including an upstairs playroom and a technology-free living room. This suits the self-proclaimed homebodies, who wanted to create a home they’d miss when away.
“I wanted living here to feel like a warm hug,” says Alicia. “We spend most of our free time at home. It’s our sanctuary and makes us feel happy.”
The living room
“We have the everyday lounge with a TV off the kitchen, but this is the ‘relaxation’ and technology-free room,” says Alicia. Porter’s Paints French Green provides a serene backdrop for textural layers, including a Kmart rug that Alicia painted with stripes, rustic baskets from Provincial Home Living and cushions from Kmart and The Cullin Design.
A wreath adds festive cheer above the rendered fireplace, while an artwork by Debbie Mackenzie echoes the pastoral scenes outside the family’s windows.
The kitchen
You can almost smell the freshly-baked bread in this warm and welcoming farmhouse kitchen, where timber beams and VJ wall panels painted in Porter’s Paints Volcanic Ash pair perfectly with the Kaboodle Kitchen cabinetry, which Alicia installed herself using Shaker-style ‘Alpine’ doors in Kaleo.
The Kaboodle Kitchen ‘Hickory Maple’ laminate benchtop complements a timber island from Provincial Home Living’s outlet, customised to fit the Schots Home Emporium stools.
Kitchen plates from Provincial Home Living are on display in a DIY plate holder in Porter’s Paints Volcanic Ash. The vintage scales are from Mill Markets.
Dining
This space is mostly used in summer, when the sun shines on VJ panels swathed in Porter’s Paints Old Stone Wall. The farmhouse cabinet (painted with Rust-Oleum in Tate Green) and table were Gumtree finds, paired with Provincial Home Living chairs and a Barn Light Australia pendant.
“The interiors feel calming, with an English cottage-meets-farmhouse feel that I love.”
Alicia, home owner
Bedrooms
An upholstered bed and timber bedsides from Temple & Webster are centrepieces in the couple’s bedroom. “I wanted the room to feel luxurious yet cosy, with soft, plump layers of bedlinen,” shares Alicia.
(Photography: Kate Enno/ Styling: Annalese Hay)
Bedding is from Target and Kmart, blinds are Ikea, curtains are Spotlight and lamps are from Provincial Home Living.
Porter’s Paints Olive Grove is calming in the couple’s daughter’s room. “We spotted the pretty bedlinen in Kmart and she asked me to make these scalloped bookshelves for her.”
The bathroom
“Evoking bathroom design details of yesteryear, the ensuite nods to classic features with its cast-iron bathtub from Schots Home Emporium, subway tiles and a chequerboard floor (both from Johnson Tiles). “I wanted to get away from ‘all-white’, create something striking and to experiment with texture,” says Alicia.
We love… upcycling
“You don’t need to spend a lot of money to make your home beautiful, and I often buy damaged furniture and repair or remodel it,” says Alicia. Look for good buys at outlet stores. Get started with @theshed_outlet (MCM House), @provincialoutlet (Provincial Home Living), and earlysettler.com.au/collections/clearance.
Builder/owner: Alicia, @provincialfarmtouch
Source book
This article originally appeared on Home Beautiful and is republished here with permission.
