Three Birds Bold Renovation

Three Birds make a Bold Front

Three Birds Renovations fly ahead of the trends, transforming a dated 60s cottage into stunning modern home with bold, eye-catching façade.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Bonnie Hindmarsh, Lana Taylor and Erin Cayless of Three Birds Renovations immediately saw potential in this once outdated, suburban eyesore located in Sydney's Hills District, transforming it into a spectacular contemporary home, boasting a striking façade and trendy, light and bright interiors.

"With little character or charm, the 60s cottage had no endearing features and absolutely zero street appeal," explains Lana. "With outdated colours and lacking dimension, the façade was by far the biggest challenge of the property."

Not just lacking colour and design appeal out front, the house was also on the smaller side, getting lost on a street of modern homes with beautifully landscaped front gardens. Wanting the property to stand out, a dramatic shade of charcoal grey was chosen for the exterior, accented with classic glass French doors, and the Pièce De Résistance, bold black and white stripe Luxaflex® Canopy Awnings.

Introducing character, dimension and French flair to the exterior, Three Birds Creative Director, Bonnie, describes the awnings as the key to the overall look of the façade. "The scallop edging and the black and white stripe of the Luxaflex® Canopy Awnings are the thing that has impressed me the most with this renovation and has transformed the front and added to the street appeal," she says.

Living room and dining area

Once through the new double entry doors, the plush living room and dining area is a sea of neutral tones and soft textures. "You can't be dramatic all the time, and we wanted to ease people into the space as you enter, so we've gone for a neutral palette" says Lana.

Keeping the line-of-view from being interrupted and ensuring privacy from the street, white Luxaflex® Veri Shades® were chosen for the living room windows. A contemporary take on a classic window covering, Luxaflex® Veri Shades combines the versatility of a vertical blind with the elegant appeal of a soft window furnishing. Featuring the premium Luxaflex® EDGE Vertical track system and soft sheer fabric, Veri Shades provides the perfect balance of style, durability and child safety features and was a perfect solution for this gorgeous family home.

Flowing on from the living room is the dining area, where the eye is immediately drawn to the picture window above the built-in bench seating, flooding the space with natural light and a sneak-peek of the outside area.

To the left of the dining area is what is best described by the Three Birds ladies as a 'hidden private oasis'. Fitted with Luxaflex® Bi-Fold PolySatin® Shutters, the interior shutters hide an additional room, cleverly transformed into a bar area that, when open, connects the room with the rest of the house and the alfresco outdoor area.

"We wanted this room to be multi-purpose, and the one thing we did to ensure that was to install internal Luxaflex® shutters," explains Bonnie. "So you'll be able to open the shutters and the space will be able to become part of the dining area and the outdoor area all at once."

Stylish and versatile, the internal Luxaflex® PolySatin Shutters are a great room divider, easily opened for view-through or closed for complete privacy.

"Connecting spaces is so important in any home," says Lana. "If you want to close the bar area off, you easily can with the gorgeous shutters. Who needs a fourth bedroom when you can have a bar?"

Kitchen and sitting room

The original kitchen sat at the back of the house, and has been completely moved into the extension. Opting for a large glass wall beside the kitchen, accompanied by glass French doors, the kitchen and sitting area have Luxaflex® Veri Shades installed to control the sunlight.

"We wanted to create a café style seating area rather than a dining area and, with the natural light of the large glass wall, the light it brings in is divine," says Erin.

While the kitchen features bold bursts of colour with the soft green island bench and black statement cabinet, the rest of the colours in the space were kept fresh and crisp making the Luxaflex® Veri Shades in white the ideal choice. Complementing the white interior walls, the individually curved fabric vanes of the shades feature an alternating light filtering and room darkening fabric panel that can be simply rotated for sheer light control or total privacy.

The shades further complement the entertaining factor of the overall house design, as well as the wall of French doors in the kitchen / sitting area. "The whole house is built around entertaining!" says Lana. Ideal for indoor-outdoor living, the shades allow guests to easily walk through the individual fabric vanes whether they are opened or closed and provide a smooth flow out to the deck.

Master suite and ensuite

"We wanted to create a parent's retreat in an average sized home," says Bonnie. With the original house not having a master suite, it was important to include a private escape that felt spacious yet cosy.

Featuring an ensuite, walk-in-wardrobe and private outdoor deck, the master suite includes additions that not only look glamourous but are also practical. The private deck is fully enclosed to encourage privacy and hide the neighbouring red brick wall. Painted a dark charcoal shade to match the exterior of the house, the grey tones are echoed in the slate Luxaflex® Veri Shades which cover the French doors of the master suite. The bold choice in colour, paired with the soft fabric finish of the shades works perfectly with the retro, 'old school glamour' style of the room. Additionally, the Three Birds ladies love how easy it is to walk through these blinds, even when closed, allowing for easy access to the private deck.

Continuing the boudoir feel into the ensuite bathroom, white and pink tiles are complemented by glamourous gold tapware. And while the space appears feminine, the black sink, vanity and mirror balance the look and add a touch of masculinity.

Flooding the ensuite with natural light is the floor-to-ceiling glass window, offering views of the private deck. "The window is such a beautiful design feature and lets in so much light," says Bonnie. "Ensuring privacy, we installed a motorised Luxaflex® awning. As you can see, you can't see inside the bathroom at all – it's complete privacy".

More than a privacy screen, the motorised Luxaflex® Evo Cable Awning can be opened and closed with the touch of a button. The darker colour of 'Mombasa' was chosen for the awning to match the darker tones of the outdoor deck, the stylish straight drop awning also provides sun and UV protection and will help to block out the unwanted heat coming through the glass in summer.

Nursery

Soft and sweet, the nursery offers the perfect balance of practicality and trend. Styled around a camel art print, beige tones were pulled from the artwork and echoed around the room from the wall colour to the Luxaflex® Duette® window shades. "Anyone with a baby knows it's really important to control the light in a nursery," says Lana.

The Duette fabric in blockout opacity provides complete room darkening and zero view-through when closed, creating the ideal environment for a baby to sleep – even for naps during the day. The pleated fabric design of these shades also means they can be stacked tightly up into the head rail to allow light through when open, and the 'Top-Down/Bottom-Up' style also provides complete versatility, allowing the shades to be open from the top, from the bottom or anywhere in between. "It's the perfect balance of light and privacy, and well insulated from heat and noise," says Lana.

Main bathroom

Placing the bathroom in the extension of the house allowed for a much larger main bathroom with high ceilings, "the space we were left for the bathroom was reasonably long, but quite skinny which lends itself to doing a wet space bathroom," explains Operations Director, Erin.

A stylish herringbone pattern of tiles was created in a mix of white and green. Perfectly complementing the bold floor-to-ceiling tile pattern, Luxaflex® PolySatin Shutters in white introduce simple elegance into the main bathroom.

Ideal for wet areas such as bathrooms and laundries, the PolySatin Shutters are resistant to moisture and will not blister, peel, flake, corrode or fade.
For further information, visit www.luxaflex.com.au