Design Case Study - Pointside Beaumaris

We have recently begun the interior design on an old lady in  Beaumaris, a Victorian-era home, built in 1890, called Pointside. We know the home really well and the client too- she has quite a few ideas (1000’s of ideas actually!) and she wants this project to be amazing. She talks about design all the time, she could very well be our most challenging client we will ever work with – can you guess who the client is?!?

In the words of Taylor Swift – ‘It’s me, hi I’m the problem, it’s me!’ Yep, I am about to design and renovate my own home, which is super exciting but also a little daunting at the same time – I am feeling all the feels and emotions our clients experience as they embark on their projects.

From our experience, successful projects follow a design process, with every detail and a cohesive plan to execute the design in place. We are approaching the project just as we would any other project and going through the entire design process, where we will manage the budget, timeline and design outcomes just as we would for our clients when we are engaged for full interior design services.

We thought it might be a great process to share with you, so you can read about the genuine challenges, ideas and compromises that I will face as we bring this renovation to life.

Place - Pointside, Beaumaris

Place is vitally important in the design process, as it not only indicates basic information about the site location and orientation, it also informs us of the architecture style and era and ways to bring the outside in. As the 1927 image above shows, Beaumaris has always been known for its strong connection to nature and still is to this day.

The large mansion you can see above was built in 1890 by Matthew Lang and he named it ‘The Point’. Behind the mansion (now across the road), were his servants’ quarters, coach house and horse stables- which he named ‘Pointside’ – we are the lucky custodians of the historical home Pointside and have lived here for 8 years. Despite being the lesser building of the mansion, it is still a very generous home by today’s standards. My husband and I – two country kids from Corowa, were instantly drawn to the comforts of our upbringing – spacious gardens and a generously sized home to share with our loved ones. The abundance of natural light, 3.4 metre ceilings, glimpses of the bay and other charms in the home, found us compelled to continue the legacy of the historic home.

(Side note- The Point mansion was demolished in 1959 and a set of units now in place, with views over Ricketts Point).

Over the 8 years, we have come to love the home even more and have created so many wonderful memories doing what makes us happy – cooking, gardening, reading by the fire, designing, playing music and entertaining with our loved ones – in essence, our home is our hygge headquarters.

Prior to us moving in, the old girl has had a few renovations and extensions, with the latest being approximately 20 years ago. Today, with bathrooms leaking, joinery tiring, paint peeling and cold drafts due to tired windows and glazing, the time has come to renovate our home.

The brief is quite ambitious, but as we do with our client projects, we will have a realistic and honest approach, tackling essential scopes of work first and foremost, followed by some ‘wish list’ items. We have no doubt that renovating our old lady, plus the recent rising building costs, that there will be some surprises along the way. We can plan as best as we can, but surprises will no doubt be discovered in demolition. You can’t be 100% certain of what’s feasible until demolition begins- flexibility is key for renovations in older homes and no matter what your budget and scope of work is, there are always compromises and trade-offs in all projects.

We hope that we can show you our approach, our thinking and design experience as to why we have prioritised some decisions over others. We also hope that we can explain and show you the thinking behind our decisions and offer alternative design solutions that you could apply to your own design project.

Design isn’t a linear process, there are so many variables that need to be considered. Taking a humanistic approach also means that it really is personal- what cabinetry finish and oven I prefer in my kitchen will be different to other people, and the same goes for pretty much all design decisions, from a sofa to a rug to your bedroom linen. That is what makes design so amazing – it’s deeply personal and a journey of tapping into your story and lifestyle, to arrive at the best possible design outcome for you. At the end of many of our projects when they are ready to photograph, we have in a sense, captured a portrait of our clients’ personality and life journey- this is everything to us.

So what is our vision for the home? We have reflected a lot on what we love about the home – it has so much character; warmth; soul; charm; beautiful natural light; greenery and hygge. We want to enhance it’s beauty and carefully balance the old with the new. We vision a welcoming, family home that feels relaxed, inviting and is enduring in its design and materiality. Ultimately, you will see Hygge Design’s values come through – connection, comfort and happiness.
An overarching key decision we have made, is to design within the existing parameters of the building – we want to celebrate what the home offers, tap into its history and not the push boundaries; to respect the existing envelope so to speak. We will also be maintaining original floors, walls, windows and doors where we can, to honour the history of the home. We will also do the renovation in stages, so that we can remain in the home whilst the work is done – an approach I tend to discourage my clients from doing, but anyway 😉

We hope you will join us on our journey as we navigate the design process and renovating our home; balancing functionality and form and trying to keep our bubbling ideas and emotions in tact!

Next week, we will outline the the brief (scope of works) and what we call the 3 pillars of a successful design project.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Carlie and Agi
Hygge Design

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