HEY MARYANN, TELL US ABOUT YOU AND YOUR HOME
I love the good things in life; the sun and the sea, foraging, growing and cooking things from my garden, people and conversation. I love living a more creative and sustainable life with a less is more approach! Moving to Thirroul on the South Coast of Sydney 2 years ago with my man Brian and our twin girls Frida and Pearl, has brought these dream goals to life.
Our home is an original coal miners cottage, set in a pocket of remnant bush with a freshwater creek. Our restorations on this place have brought a sense of space and light but are still in keeping with the honest, simple structure. The original cast iron wood stove sits proudly in the kitchen. Our first winter here was spent huddled around it like families have most likely done in this house for more than 100 years! We have warmed many pots of tea and baked scones in the old girl too.
YOU HAVE UNIQUE PIECES THROUGHOUT WITH INCREDIBLE STYLE, CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT HOW YOU PUT EVERYTHING TOGETHER?
It’s a team thing. Brian is always picking things up from the roadside, the markets, Vinnies and Gumtree. Some are beautiful, some are outrageous! I usually get to decide what lives inside and where, and the rest goes into the private collection... (the garage vault!) Brian is super handy and can restore and repair just about anything. I’ll be talking about hanging our bathroom towels from ornate hooks or that we need a vintage record player for a music corner and I think he won’t be paying any attention and then a couple of weeks later he would have found something perfectly unique and be tinkering with it to make it just right.
It feels great to save these pieces from landfill and to create beauty at home for next to nothing. I take inspiration from lots of different sources and have fun collating these treasures and making them work functionally at home.
When we both work full time jobs in Sydney, coming home needs to be simple, playful and super relaxed. For me, the key is to keep it all uncluttered so objects and people can breathe. I can’t resist adding in bits of nature like fallen branches, interesting seed pods or bunches of foliage. It softens the more industrial pieces and adds a bit of drama and scale.