“Please contact me if you would like a consultation or further information about any of the products you see here at Decorum.”Architecture
Californian Bungalows in Australia
I’ve mentioned before that many of the homes in my area are Federation style homes. The other architectural style that’s prominent around here, is the Californian Bungalow.
via L J Hooker
The Cal Bung, as it is affectionately called, became popular in Australia in the 1920′s. It was imported from Pasadena, California in 1916 by an Australian Real Estate Agent who assembled it for show in the Sydney suburb of Rosebery. It caught on rapidly and was so popular that not many other styles were built in the 1920′s.
via Real Estate View
It even underwent regional adaptations being built in local red brick in Melbourne, local liver-coloured brick in Sydney and in limestone in South Australia. The Queensland version was elevated and made from timber and galvanised iron roofing.
They were typically of sound and solid construction. They were often built of rustic materials including rough-hewn sandstone, heavy timber and wood shingles. The roofs were low pitched with two or three assymetrical gables with pillars supporting the front verandah. They were generally positioned on a good-sized block with a large backyard and usually had room for a driveway and a garage as cars were becoming more popular during the time of construction.
via Simplified Bee
The attractive brickwork at the front often changed to common brick, which was cheaper, down the sides and to the rear of the house. On the inside, the floor plan was more open than the Victorian and Federation homes which came before.
Colour and decor by Inside Out Colour and Design
They are ripe for renovating, as they are usually close to public transport within a relatively short distance of the capital cities. Families tend to add another level either into the roofline or ontop in the southern states, or build in underneath in the north. The back of the house can fairly easily be extended to take further advantage of the indoor/outdoor living and create open-plan family areas. Usually the many period features such as exposed beams, leadlight windows and ornate ceilings are retained.
Decor by Inside Out Colour and Design
If you would like assistance with renovating your Californian Bungalow, contact us for on on-line or in-person consultation.
Hoppy Chinese New Year
Just hopping in to wish you a lovely weekend.
It’s Chinese New Year and time to welcome in The Year of The Rabbit. From all accounts it’s meant to be a calm and peaceful year. I think the people of Queensland are looking forward to that!
This house, or at least information about it, landed in my Inbox this week.
Byron Bay House
I love their garden art, very apt for the Year of The Rabbit.
Kung Hei Fat Choy!
Federation Style on Australia Day
One of the most popular style of houses around my area, is the Federation House. It was an early style of Australian architecture and consists of a sprawling, assymetrical structure. It often will have a verandah that encircles the house and roofs with gables, turrets and dormer windows.
via Domain
There are often unlikely angles, bay windows and towers at corners. It was developed to meet the demands of the prosperous middle classes who wanted to show off their new-found wealth that coincided with Federation itself in 1901. The Federation House borrowed styles from many countries and eras which is fitting for this melting pot of a nation, we call home.
via Domain
Inside the house, colours were muted but decoration was ornate. Australian motifs abound with flora and fauna both displayed in the plaster ceilings or used in fabrics, wallpaper or tiles.
from "The Federation House" by Hugh Fraser and Ray Joyce
Coloured glass or lead-light was used throughout Federation homes and the top panels of the front door often featured panels of colour in soft pastels with Art Nouveau or Australian motifs. Round bulls-eye windows as well as bay windows were popular. The bay window would often house a window seat which is such a versatile design.
Colour choice by Inside Out Colour and Design
Fortunately today, these houses are being remodelled (rather than bulldozed) to include many of the period details but with an emphasis on more contemporary living. The dark, muted tones of the turn of the century are gone and the window coverings are more streamlined and suited to today’s busy lifestyles.
Modern take on a Federation Living room by Inside Out Colour and Design
The verandahs are sought after and have often been extended to create an outdoor living space adjacent to the modern kitchen.
Wide verandah
The bathrooms have been updated but still include that old world charm.
Bathroom Design by Inside Out Colour and Design
I love working with these houses. Not just because they are iconic Australian houses but they lend so well to being enhanced and modified to suit today’s families. If you require assistance with colour or decor for your Federation Home, contact us for an on-line or in-person consultation.
Happy Australia Day
Colour in Echuca
Greetings from Australia’s Paddlesteamer Capital – Echuca.
Paddlesteamer Canberra
I’ve just dropped in to show you a few of the buildings in this river town that have caught my eye.
Local house painted in grey
Cute house with wide verandahs
Now an office in Echuca
Echuca Post Office now a cafe
I loved seeing all these old buildings with clever colour placement on their exteriors.
If you would like assistance in choosing the colours for your home, contact us to arrange a consultation.
Choosing Exterior Paint Colours
It’s the dead of winter here in Sydney and absolutely freezing. Yet many people are starting to plan paint colours for the outside of their homes in readiness for summer. I’ve been choosing colours all over Sydney so thought I would give you some ideas.
Painting a house via Freefoto.com
A general rule of thumb is to choose three colours – a white or off white for the window frames, and eaves, a colour for the walls and a contrasting colour for the trims.
Modern Architecture via Domain.com.au
Depending on the architecture of the building the trim could be battens and shingles on Federation or Californian Bungalow style homes, or gutters, garage doors and railings for more modern style homes.
Californian Bungalow Photographer Lyn Johnston
This is only a guide and more or less colours could be selected. Window frames could be darker rather than lighter. However, I think that three gives enough variance and difference between each of the architectural features.
Of course, if the house is brick then you don’t need to choose a wall colour, but the colour of the bricks will have a huge influence on the other colours.
Brick Federation Home Photographer Lyn Johnston
If you are painting every surface, then choose the wall colour first as it will be the main colour and the one most people will notice.
If gutters are Colorbond and not being painted, you need to consider their colour.
Colorbond Guttering
If windows are powder coated and will not be painted, then make sure you focus on the colour and choose wall colours that blend or contrast with them.
Windows by Stegbar
If the roof can be seen from the street or the garden, then you must consider the roof colour too.
Expansive roof via Real Estate View
Have a look at the colours your neighbours have chosen. You don’t want to stand out too far from the crowd and you certainly don’t want to be exactly the same. Make sure you’ve considered what you want to achieve by painting your house. Do you want it to look larger or smaller? Do you want it to look updated or keep a traditional look?
All in a row
The architectural style of the home must be considered. A modern style house would not really suit a Heritage palette. You also need to think about what architectural elements you would like to enhance and which ones you would like to hide. I usually try to choose the same colour as the wall for the downpipes. I can’t imagine anyone thinking that they are worthy of being made a feature!
Tuscan Style Home
Choosing a colour is the easy part. Getting the right shade is a bit more difficult. Buy test pots and paint large pieces of paper in the shades of your choice. A Colour Consultant will bring large samples to show you, so you don’t have to do this step. Look at the swatch on all important parts of the house – the northern side that gets most of the sunlight will look completely different from the southern side which never receives any direct light. If it’s overcast, make sure it’s not too pale as full sun will lighten the colour considerably.
Using a professional will help take the angst out of choosing the right colour. Contact me if you would like some assistance.
Cabana Club
Last year my daughter and a handful of her friends met once a month for a Book Club. It was really an excuse for a weekend play-date alternating at each members home.
This year the same group has created the Cabana Club. Again they go from house to house each month building a temporary cabana in which to hang out and drink mocktails. (Where do they come up with these ideas?)
Mocktails being served
The inaugural meeting was held at our home on Saturday afternoon and fortunately we were having a last burst of summer weather so the girls could play in the pool.
Inaugural Cabana at our house
So while the girls were chattering and dancing, eating and sipping, I searched the web for pool cabanas.
Something simple like this one from Landscape Designers Good Manors
Or perhaps a structure adjacent to the pool for entertaining, relaxing and cooking would be wonderful and really extend the living areas of a house.
via Australian House and Garden. Photographer Steve Ryan
A bite to eat between tennis and the pool.
This cabana has it all - fire, lounge seats, dining table and kitchen.
This cabana by Mabley Handler is decked out in summer colours
The girls would love this at the bottom of the garden. A fully equipped house just for the pool.
This is my favourite and belongs to cyclist Lance Armstrong. It looks very cosy.
What did you get up to this weekend?
City or the Bush
Do you browse the real estate section of the newspaper?
It’s one of my favourite past times. I enjoy looking at the different styles of homes and how they have been decorated. Lately there’s one house that has caught my eye.
Apart from the beautifully appointed rooms, it is situated on one of my favourite locations- on a cliff overlooking the water.
When you sign up to my monthly newsletter, you will receive my article How To Create YOUR Harmonious Environment absolutely free. One of the questions I pose is “Where are you most comfortable – country, city or beach?” No question about it, for me it’s near the water.
So this house would be my ideal. I love how you not only see the ocean, but also the coastline. That helps to give perspective to the view and provides a wonderful fairyland at night when the ocean is inky black.
So where are you most comfortable?
Sydney City Skyline via www.rogerswebsite.com
City,
Kangaroo Valley via www.kangaroovalleytourist.asn.au
Country or
James Robertson House
Water
Australian Style
Tomorrow is Australia Day. On 26 January 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip, commander of the First Fleet of eleven convict ships from Great Britain and the first governor of New South Wales, arrived at Sydney Cove. The raising of the Union Jack there symbolised British occupation of the eastern half of the continent claimed by Captain James Cook on 22 August in 1770.
Each year on this day we celebrate all things Australian – meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars – to name a few. Being a Public Holiday, there are numerous events across the country. The back yard barbies get fired up and the beaches are packed.
So I thought I would take a look at what constitutes Australian Style. The Australian Financial Review compiled a quick snapshot of Australia this weekend and the following statistics were interesting.
90% of us live within an hour of the coast
65% of us own our own home
60% of us live in the five biggest cities
There are 22.1 million of us, growing at a rate of one new person every 1 minute and 11 seconds. That’s 443,000 per year of which 285,000 are immigrants and 158,000 are natural increases. Our overseas born population are made up of 4.3% from the UK, 2% from NZ, 1% from China, 1% from Italy and 0.8% Vietnam.
Image via studentservicesdirect.com.au
I picked up my copy of Australian Style which was first published in 1991 and subsequently reprinted a few times. The dust jacket sums up our style. “Australia is a kaleidoscope of parodoxes, a western democracy at the edge of Asia, an English penal colony that became a multicultural land of opportunity, a place where birds laugh and mammals lay eggs and everything familiar is somehow altered, suddenly unique.”
Australian Style
That about sums it up really, we do not have an Australian Style as such, but rather many different styles. We take influences from all corners of the globe as we travel the world. Tuscan inspired homes sit beside Californian Bungalows and modern apartments. Our geographic location has displaced us from our western heritage and we have been forced to adapt and develop our own style.
We are surrounded by colour. Lorikeets, beach, desert and rainforest all reflect the intense vibrant colours of our country. Our strong light, not seen anywhere else, is clear and hard. Our colour choices for homes and fashion are, therefore, bold.
Rainbow Lorikeet
Daintree Forest via theodora.com.au
Uluru via australiaadventures.com.au
There are however, some iconic Australian Styles in homes.
In Queensland, the timber homes were built on stumps or stilts with wide lattice enclosed verandahs. The stilts were to deter snakes and protect the home from floods. The lattice verandahs became semi-open bedrooms on hot summer nights.
A Classic Queenslander
Further south, Federation style homes and Californian Bungalows were being built during the first half of the 20th Century. These solid, double brick homes are still in demand today and are being extended to accommodate our current lifestyle.
Australian Federation Home
Californian Bungalow
After all, Australian Style is all about our lifestyle – relaxed and outdoors. The lines between inside and out have been blurred. Wide verandahs and courtyards have been translated to Jamie Durie’s Outdoor Room philosophy giving us more space to enjoy the great Australian climate. This Melbourne courtyard is a prime example.
Happy Australia Day for tomorrow!
Worst Dressed Wednesdays
Today we’re looking at house that has been renovated with a second storey extension and a side…..um……box. I’m sure from the inside this addition has given the occupants much needed room but it’s not the prettiest thing from the exterior. And what makes it unattractive is not so much the choice of colour but rather the colour placement.
Original Californian Bungalow
I’m only guessing, but originally the house would’ve looked alot like this one. Many houses in metropolitan Sydney suburbs that were established around the 1920′s looked like this – a Californian Bungalow. They were often made with this dark brown red brick. These houses traditionally would have been 2/3 bedroom, one bathroom, a lounge, dining room and kitchen. Naturally today they are being extended and that usually means upwards. The interiors are being reconfigured to accommodate larger families and our desire for indoor/outdoor living. Originally double brick, it is a costly exercise to keep the extensions in the same materials so often the upper story is Blueboard and painted or the whole house is painted so the extensions aren’t quite so obvious.
Extended Californian Bungalow with painted extension
Extended Californian Bungalow fully painted
However this house has made the extensions stand out. The upper storey is only really visible from the back and as the house is on a corner allotment, that means everyone who passes sees the back as well as the front and the side with the “box”.
Rear of house with grey box
The brick box, which may have been there originally, is painted in a dark charcoal grey whilst the extensions are in a light yellowy cream. This dark colour really stands out against the lighter colour and seems to advance rather than recede, which is what I think it should do. We’ve talked before about making items which are not pretty stand out and in this case, I would’ve painted all the extension in the same colour rather than choosing different colours for different parts.
Front of house with grey box
The front doesn’t look too bad except for that grey box on the right and the small window has been picked out in lemon.
The beauty of engaging a professional to assist in choosing colours is not only in selecting which colour and which shade but also where to place the colours. The colour scheme in this case is not the issue, it’s the placement which has spoilt it.
Sydney Design 09
With less than a week to go until the launch of this year’s Sydney Design, I thought I might tantalise your taste buds and suggest a few events that sound interesting.
Body Raft by David Trubridge
The first is a talk given by New Zealand furntiure designer David Trubridge next Saturday 1 August. David Trubridge graduated from Newcastle University in Northern England in 1972 with a degree in Naval Architecture (boat design). For the next ten years he lived and worked in rural Northumberland. He taught himself furniture making while working part-time as a forester on a private estate. He went on to develop his own designs which were exhibited around Britain. Now residing and designing in New Zealand David likes to bring cultural nourishment into people’s lives without using up precious resources and energy.
Danks Street Depot
On 3 August, you may care to enjoy breakfast with Jared Ingersoll, the chef and Director of Danks Street Depot and others as they explore sustainability issues including environmental responsibility in design and architecture, cradle-to-cradle design and rematerialisation and how the current trends in food consumption (localisation, sustainable consumption, organic foods) translate to the design industry.
Sydney High Rise Walk
Maybe getting up and about is more your style. On the 1st, 8th and 15th you can enjoy a 2hour walk around Sydney’s CBD taking in the High Rise buildings. Have you ever wondered why Australia Square is round? Where is the highest garden? or Who designed the tallest tower? These questions will be answered as you pound the pavement and enjoy the sunshine.
Everything from talks to tours to workshops to exhibitions will be happening between the 1 and 16 August. Don’t miss out on this exciting event. The Young Blood Designers Market will be held on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th as well. This is a great place to check out our up and coming talent in furniture, fashion, jewellery, lighting and more. Some of the talks and tours are already booked out so make sure you get onboard and reserve your place now.
