1880's Renovation- Room #1

Carrington House is a little old house on Carrington Street in the Hunter region.

What first attracted me to this property was not just the obvious need for it to be rescued, but the property felt like it was hurting. It felt like it had a story to tell, and no one to help tell it. And once I visited it once, regardless of how graphic and disturbing the property was, I couldn’t not have it as mine. So this reno is all about, step-by-step, showing you everything I do, room by room, to transform this 1880s stone cottage that has been butchered and cut up over decades, and completely neglected, into a modern country, comforting, classic, cozy cottage for me to work in.

Carrington House Room #1 After Demolition

And today I am pumped to be able to share with you room one at Carrington House. I could go on forever about all of the things that were wrong with this room. There was rotted waling plates, destroyed bearers and joists, unstable floors, damaged multiply lined walls, no character, water smells, mould, dropping ceiling. Oh gosh. The list goes on and on and on. Let alone, not being weathertight, waterproof, insect-proof, or even secure. If you want to see that journey, that renovation journey, you can absolutely follow every single piece of it over at NaomiFindlay.com/carringtonhouseroomone There are behind the scenes videos of every single step in that journey.

My inspiration for room one was a strong, feminine, classic feel.

You’ll notice, even though the walls are adorned with the most audacious floral wallpaper, it is in a very deep navy blue which gives it such strength. I’ve ensured that space medicine is integrated as the light and outdoors is brought inside with amazing French doors and side lights. These doors are then made super practical for the Australian environment with French security doors layered internally, menaing not flies, privacy and security.

And to add that next level of detail, I’ve instated broad trims, bulky cornices, picture rails, chair rails and custom wainscoting, it is like jewellery on the walls. Al the trims, rails and architraves are from Intrim, they are real timber and the builders were thrilled with how they were to work with which is always a plus, happy builders means a happy site.

I totally get that so many people love spray painting everything white nowadays, but for me colour can be so therapeutic and so nurturing when it’s used correctly. So I used this wallpaper as my jumping off point for all of the colours in the room. From the wallpaper, I pulled the deep blue for the door and the playful softening blue for the wainscoting, as well as a crisp but warm white on the rest of the walls and the ceiling. Bristol Paints are the exclusive paint supplier for the Carrington House project and you can see all the colours and products I used as FREE download.

CLICK HERE for FREE INSTANT DOWNLOAD

So the floor that was here, it was in disrepair but never fear, I have renewed and recycled that and taken it to another project, certainly not in the skip bin. Given this may become my office, I needed to make sure that the floor was really hardy and so I’ve actually gone for a wide plank on the floor. Wider boards from Gerflor were often used in years gone by and were certainly what was underneath this existing floor, here I have chosen to go on with a very, very hard-wearing, very wide, vinyl plank, which is laid with a heavy adhesive. This means it’s waterproof, it’s dust proof, it’s scratch-proof, you name it, I can do pretty much anything to these floors and they will tolerate it.

Vinyl Plank floors from Gerflor are the perfect match for me.

Although there are some very traditional elements to this room, there are certainly some next level modern applications installed. The most clever of those being the Alspec, Invisi-Gard french security doors on the internal face of the room, to ensure that I gained maximum air flow and light, maximum privacy, security and protection from the bugs through the traditional french door openings.

Amazing screening of the Hume Door French doors with Invisi-Gard French Doors

My biggest challenge in this space, by far, was the subfloor. It was nonexistent and probably the repairing of the existing gyprock. It was my choice to keep the gyprock on the walls and not strip it. But in doing that, it was a really tough job for the gyprockers to repair the walls.

My favourite part of this room…..ummmm…. you know what, it does vary day by day as I sit in the space. However, the door from the Hume Doors Hampton range is still a winner. The finish on the door and the colour of the door blows my mind.

I hope you enjoy seeing the transformation, and if you would love any of the specs or products that you’ve seen me use in this space, or you’d love to watch the entire project unfold, make sure you head over to watch it all HERE