Houzz Tours
At Home With ... Kirsty Davey of Otis & Otto
Let us know what you think of this timber-clad home for your chance to win a $50 gift voucher
Kirsty Davey and her family were searching for some peace and quiet when they moved into their three-bedroom home in the Victorian suburb of Jan Juc. Davey works on her blog Otis & Otto from here, which she also expanded into an online store in 2014. She has made their cabin-like rental a beautiful space away from the hustle and bustle of a busy city, where she can potter around in their sizeable veggie patch, enjoy the nearby surf and raise her adorable daughter Mali.
To celebrate our favourite Australian and New Zealand bloggers and their homes, we’ll be asking each blogger in this series to choose a giveaway gift. All you have to do to enter is comment on why you love this house. The winner of Kirsty’s chosen prize – a $50 voucher from After Online has been announced. Well done, junipergirl!
To celebrate our favourite Australian and New Zealand bloggers and their homes, we’ll be asking each blogger in this series to choose a giveaway gift. All you have to do to enter is comment on why you love this house. The winner of Kirsty’s chosen prize – a $50 voucher from After Online has been announced. Well done, junipergirl!
How long have you lived in this house, and how did you and your house meet?
In 2009, my husband and I relocated to the small coastal community of Jan Juc, one hour south-west of Melbourne. It was the first home we looked at – a humble and quirky shack, where the previous occupants had respected the integrity of the original dwelling, but also left a hotchpotch of mixed-era add-ons and details. The patina of age and rambling character of the house seemed befitting of our own eclectic style, so we immediately moved in.
Bicycle: Papillionaire
In 2009, my husband and I relocated to the small coastal community of Jan Juc, one hour south-west of Melbourne. It was the first home we looked at – a humble and quirky shack, where the previous occupants had respected the integrity of the original dwelling, but also left a hotchpotch of mixed-era add-ons and details. The patina of age and rambling character of the house seemed befitting of our own eclectic style, so we immediately moved in.
Bicycle: Papillionaire
Any quirky facts about your home?
Our walls and ceilings are a pastiche of different timbers that create a rustic, cabin-like atmosphere. The mix of worn and salvaged materials resonate warmth, texture and a sense of cosy familiarity. Plus, the huge round window in our kitchen adds an unmistakable nautical feel.
What do you love to do on Sunday afternoons?
Plan and consume a delicious feast.
Hanging bowl: K&R Ceramics
Our walls and ceilings are a pastiche of different timbers that create a rustic, cabin-like atmosphere. The mix of worn and salvaged materials resonate warmth, texture and a sense of cosy familiarity. Plus, the huge round window in our kitchen adds an unmistakable nautical feel.
What do you love to do on Sunday afternoons?
Plan and consume a delicious feast.
Hanging bowl: K&R Ceramics
Describe your home in 5 words
Relaxed, nostalgic, light, eclectic and minimal.
You will not see [blank] in any house of mine.
Clean tea towels.
‘Sullivans Cove’ print: Dawn Tan
Relaxed, nostalgic, light, eclectic and minimal.
You will not see [blank] in any house of mine.
Clean tea towels.
‘Sullivans Cove’ print: Dawn Tan
How would you describe your decorating style?
Sentimental.
What’s your signature dish? Buckwheat soba with crispy kale, spring onions and sprouts, drizzled with tamari, sesame and tahini then dotted with freshly grated ginger and gomasio.
Egg holder and vessels: Bridget Bodenham
Sentimental.
What’s your signature dish? Buckwheat soba with crispy kale, spring onions and sprouts, drizzled with tamari, sesame and tahini then dotted with freshly grated ginger and gomasio.
Egg holder and vessels: Bridget Bodenham
What are your favourite rooms in the house and why?
The living area and kitchen. They are both open, light-filled communal spaces where we gather to play, drink tea and build cubby houses.
What makes you happiest at home?
Good company and tasty food with John Coltrane playing in the background.
Fab 28 refrigerator: Smeg
The living area and kitchen. They are both open, light-filled communal spaces where we gather to play, drink tea and build cubby houses.
What makes you happiest at home?
Good company and tasty food with John Coltrane playing in the background.
Fab 28 refrigerator: Smeg
What’s your proudest DIY achievement?
Salvaging and restoring our two lounge chairs from hard rubbish collection. Although I’d tolerated their tatty and extremely shabby aesthetic for almost a decade, it was when Mali began crawling that I committed to the idea of restoration. Their exposed, rusty springs posed an obvious hazard to little people, so we had them professionally re-fitted with coil springs, and re-upholstered in a thick hessian-like fabric. My husband then stripped the arms/ feet and we re-finished the wood with linseed oil and beeswax.
Salvaging and restoring our two lounge chairs from hard rubbish collection. Although I’d tolerated their tatty and extremely shabby aesthetic for almost a decade, it was when Mali began crawling that I committed to the idea of restoration. Their exposed, rusty springs posed an obvious hazard to little people, so we had them professionally re-fitted with coil springs, and re-upholstered in a thick hessian-like fabric. My husband then stripped the arms/ feet and we re-finished the wood with linseed oil and beeswax.
To me, great design is…
Uncomplicated and timeless.
What’s your next big project?
Expanding my retail business, collaborating and representing more artisans to grow the Otis & Otto collection. I’m also collating ideas and inspiration to build our own home – ideally in a bush setting, using repurposed materials and shipping containers.
Indigenous artwork: Don Pwerle; Tara Shackell ceramic flare-top vase: Mr Kitly; wooden flower vessel: Stampel
Uncomplicated and timeless.
What’s your next big project?
Expanding my retail business, collaborating and representing more artisans to grow the Otis & Otto collection. I’m also collating ideas and inspiration to build our own home – ideally in a bush setting, using repurposed materials and shipping containers.
Indigenous artwork: Don Pwerle; Tara Shackell ceramic flare-top vase: Mr Kitly; wooden flower vessel: Stampel
Can you share your biggest decorating fail with us?
Amassing too much stuff! I used to be a bowerbird of sorts, collecting many different things (vintage crockery, fabrics, furniture etc) until eventually our house became swamped by a surfeit of disorganised, kitsch clutter! I’m trying to live more economically and sentimentally now.
Amassing too much stuff! I used to be a bowerbird of sorts, collecting many different things (vintage crockery, fabrics, furniture etc) until eventually our house became swamped by a surfeit of disorganised, kitsch clutter! I’m trying to live more economically and sentimentally now.
Where do you love to write and what could you not write without?
In my office nook upstairs, surrounded by light and natural phenomena. The desk was a quick and inexpensive DIY project, slapped together using a slab of pine and trestle legs from Ikea. I initially loathed the wacky native-flora-themed carpet but it’s quirky, kaleidoscopic complexion has slowly grown on me.
Wooden jewellery hanger: Stampel
In my office nook upstairs, surrounded by light and natural phenomena. The desk was a quick and inexpensive DIY project, slapped together using a slab of pine and trestle legs from Ikea. I initially loathed the wacky native-flora-themed carpet but it’s quirky, kaleidoscopic complexion has slowly grown on me.
Wooden jewellery hanger: Stampel
The next big decorating trend is…
Living with less, and more economically. Consider and respond to the integrity and honesty of a dwelling by repurposing and embracing it’s original features and flaws.
Visit Kirsty’s blog at otisandotto.blogspot.com.au
To celebrate our favourite Australian bloggers and their homes, we’ll be asking each blogger in this series to choose a giveaway gift. All you have to do to enter is comment on why you love this house. The winner of Kirsty’s chosen prize – a $50 voucher from After Online has been announced. Well done, junipergirl!
If you’d like to submit your blog for this series, follow the instructions found here. For full terms and conditions, click here.
MORE
At Home With … Kristie Castagna From Elements at Home
At Home With … Eva Burgess From Build House Home Blog
At Home With … Julia Atkinson From Studio Home
Living with less, and more economically. Consider and respond to the integrity and honesty of a dwelling by repurposing and embracing it’s original features and flaws.
Visit Kirsty’s blog at otisandotto.blogspot.com.au
To celebrate our favourite Australian bloggers and their homes, we’ll be asking each blogger in this series to choose a giveaway gift. All you have to do to enter is comment on why you love this house. The winner of Kirsty’s chosen prize – a $50 voucher from After Online has been announced. Well done, junipergirl!
If you’d like to submit your blog for this series, follow the instructions found here. For full terms and conditions, click here.
MORE
At Home With … Kristie Castagna From Elements at Home
At Home With … Eva Burgess From Build House Home Blog
At Home With … Julia Atkinson From Studio Home
Who lives here: Kirsty Davey, her husband Simon Taylor and their 4-year-old daughter Mali
Location: Jan Juc, Victoria
Size: 3 bedrooms, 1 office, 1 bathroom, 1 shed/man cave
What made you start blogging?
The Otis & Otto blog began as an impromptu pin-board – a central place for me to collate and share content/inspiration and develop my online voice. On the advice of friends and readers, I decided to expand the blog by opening a small online retail/gallery space in 2014. The Otis & Otto store aims to support artisans and makers who champion objects through slow handmade processes.