Houzz Tours
At Home With ... Paula Mills From Sweet William
Tell us what you like about artist and blogger Paula's modern bohemian home for your chance to win a $50 gift voucher
The home style of blogger and artist Paula Mills (and long time friend of Houzz) has evolved since our last visit. Her love of handmade treasures and reclaimed finds is still clear from her home’s outfit, as is her love of all things ‘vintage eclectic’, but her style has taken a new turn in the direction of modern Bohemia. We were keen to see exactly what that meant for her country home … and to find out more about her company and blog, Sweet William (lovelysweetwilliam.blogspot.com), while we were at it.
Paula and her sister Shelley Gardner (who lives in New Zealand) started Sweet William in order to unite their creative passions from across the Tasman Sea. Paula’s an illustrator who lives in Melbourne and Shelley sews and relishes in a shared love of the handmade. They both run Sweet William blog where they embrace their joy of all things eclectic.
For the past four years, Paula has aimed to fill her Melbourne home with as much pre-loved goodness as possible. Still living in her rustic weatherboard cottage in Warrandyte, she’s since given the living room, kids’ bedroom and deck an update and has a host of new finds to share. Find out more about Paula and her blog in our interview below.
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 Paula’s chosen prize – a $50 voucher from Earthtribe – has been announced. Well done, Marion Collins!
Paula and her sister Shelley Gardner (who lives in New Zealand) started Sweet William in order to unite their creative passions from across the Tasman Sea. Paula’s an illustrator who lives in Melbourne and Shelley sews and relishes in a shared love of the handmade. They both run Sweet William blog where they embrace their joy of all things eclectic.
For the past four years, Paula has aimed to fill her Melbourne home with as much pre-loved goodness as possible. Still living in her rustic weatherboard cottage in Warrandyte, she’s since given the living room, kids’ bedroom and deck an update and has a host of new finds to share. Find out more about Paula and her blog in our interview below.
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 Paula’s chosen prize – a $50 voucher from Earthtribe – has been announced. Well done, Marion Collins!
Where do you live and who do you live with?
I live with my three daughters (Liberty, 8, Rosie, 10, and Lia, 12), my lawyer husband, Peter, and our Pugalier, Bella.
I live with my three daughters (Liberty, 8, Rosie, 10, and Lia, 12), my lawyer husband, Peter, and our Pugalier, Bella.
What do we need to know about your blog?
The blog is about sharing what is happening with Sweet William (my creative business). It is a great place to share behind the scenes stories and things that are inspiring me and my sister who runs it with me. We started the blog in 2008 and wanted to tell the world about what we were offering – unique illustrations and beautiful handmade items. Blogging is a great place to share without feeling like you are spamming people.
The blog is about sharing what is happening with Sweet William (my creative business). It is a great place to share behind the scenes stories and things that are inspiring me and my sister who runs it with me. We started the blog in 2008 and wanted to tell the world about what we were offering – unique illustrations and beautiful handmade items. Blogging is a great place to share without feeling like you are spamming people.
What are your favourite rooms in the house and why?
My studio – it is where I get to make a mess and be creative. I am mostly in my studio when blogging – I need to be surrounded with pattern, colour and inspiration for my eyeballs.
My studio – it is where I get to make a mess and be creative. I am mostly in my studio when blogging – I need to be surrounded with pattern, colour and inspiration for my eyeballs.
Mills’ studio is a place to house her art, collages and stock for her creative business, Sweet William.
What’s the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
Make myself a strong cup of tea!
Make myself a strong cup of tea!
What’s your proudest DIY achievement?
I whitewashed my floorboards myself and I recently painted our kitchen cabinet pink!
Paula found this 1950s kitchen cupboard at a local charity shop and filled it with her vintage dish collection to complete the look. The cabinet was cream during our last visit.
I whitewashed my floorboards myself and I recently painted our kitchen cabinet pink!
Paula found this 1950s kitchen cupboard at a local charity shop and filled it with her vintage dish collection to complete the look. The cabinet was cream during our last visit.
What’s your signature dish?
I am not a big cook – my husband does all the creative stuff in the kitchen, but I can make a lovely cup of tea!
What do you love to do on Sunday afternoons?
Go for long walks.
I am not a big cook – my husband does all the creative stuff in the kitchen, but I can make a lovely cup of tea!
What do you love to do on Sunday afternoons?
Go for long walks.
How would you describe your decorating style?
Eclectic, modern bohemian, mixed.
To me, great design is …?
Authentic.
Eclectic, modern bohemian, mixed.
To me, great design is …?
Authentic.
What’s your next big project?
Oh, so many – I am designing some tea labels for a client, preparing for design markets, thinking about an extension at home … it’s endless.
Oh, so many – I am designing some tea labels for a client, preparing for design markets, thinking about an extension at home … it’s endless.
The retro-pink vintage dining table and chairs were sourced at an auction in South Africa. The pendants above the dining table were being thrown out at an art school in Melbourne – Paula stopped by just in time!
You will not see [blank] in any house of mine.
Laminate wood.
The next big decorating trend is…?
Back to the ’80s with Memphis graphics.
Laminate wood.
The next big decorating trend is…?
Back to the ’80s with Memphis graphics.
We noticed the living room has had an update since our last visit…
Yes, we painted the one wall a light blue – I mixed the colour myself and painted it one Saturday morning before taking the kids to swimming. I felt like a change!
I do also change furniture around quite a bit; the red couch is in another position, we bought the turquoise velvet couch on eBay and had the two chairs in the living room recovered (they were also a lucky eBay find). Finally, new artwork has been hung on most of the walls.
Yes, we painted the one wall a light blue – I mixed the colour myself and painted it one Saturday morning before taking the kids to swimming. I felt like a change!
I do also change furniture around quite a bit; the red couch is in another position, we bought the turquoise velvet couch on eBay and had the two chairs in the living room recovered (they were also a lucky eBay find). Finally, new artwork has been hung on most of the walls.
A lot of the furniture in the living room has been picked up at auctions, junk shops and eBay. The yellow coffee table was bought on sale from Fenton and Fenton. The large print above the fireplace is by a good friend of Paula’s, Ali MacNabney-Stevens.
In Paula’s bedroom, eclectic finds follow but in a more serene and relaxed sense. Vintage mirrors create a feature behind the bed, hung salon style.
The girls all share the large room downstairs. Liberty and Rosie have matching beds on the one side and Lia has the double bed on the opposite side of the room (next image). The intricately carved bed frames in the children’s room were found at an antique shop in Johannesburg, South Africa. The girls’ prints are from Earthtribe.
Can you share your biggest decorating fail?
I put two wooden danish style chairs out on our deck; I had them covered in some beautiful vintage 1950s fabric. Our puppy was put out on the deck when we first got her and she destroyed the chairs. She jumped up on one and started digging. As the fabric was old, it tore pretty quickly. She got to the foam and went nuts. She must have found it so much fun that she jumped up on the other one and destroyed that too! So we came home to a bit of a mess and no more beautiful vintage chairs after being out for the day.
I put two wooden danish style chairs out on our deck; I had them covered in some beautiful vintage 1950s fabric. Our puppy was put out on the deck when we first got her and she destroyed the chairs. She jumped up on one and started digging. As the fabric was old, it tore pretty quickly. She got to the foam and went nuts. She must have found it so much fun that she jumped up on the other one and destroyed that too! So we came home to a bit of a mess and no more beautiful vintage chairs after being out for the day.
What makes you happiest at home?
Sitting out on our deck overlooking a canopy of trees.
Our home is not big so we use the deck as an extension of our living space. We have an outside heater for winter nights and the deck is covered so we can use it all year round. I wanted to achieve a cosy, relaxed bohemian feel. The rug I picked up from our local market in Warrandyte.
Sitting out on our deck overlooking a canopy of trees.
Our home is not big so we use the deck as an extension of our living space. We have an outside heater for winter nights and the deck is covered so we can use it all year round. I wanted to achieve a cosy, relaxed bohemian feel. The rug I picked up from our local market in Warrandyte.
Visit Paula’s blog and online store at: lovelysweetwilliam.blogspot.com and sweetwilliamprints.com.au
‘At Home With … ‘ is a series designed 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 Paula’s chosen prize – a $50 voucher from Earthtribe – has been announced. Well done, Marion Collins!
We have lived in this house for four years. We moved to Melbourne eight years ago (from South Africa and England before that); we rented for the first few years and then eventually settled on the idea of buying a bit further out in order to enjoy some space and bush. We fell in love with our little cottage when we first saw it up a winding road and in front of a nature reserve.
The house used to be a holiday cottage for families living closer to the city – back when it was built (roughly 60 years ago), Warrandyte (a suburb 25km north east of Melbourne’s CBD) was considered to be out in the country, but today it is just another suburb of Melbourne and my husband commutes to the city for work every day.