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Houzz Tour: Bohemian Rhapsody Meets Beachside Bliss

A creative family's coastal weekender gained a new bohemian spirit with affordable styling and a cosmetic redesign

Julia Fairley
Julia FairleyJanuary 27, 2021
Houzz editorial team. I love design and architecture that is thoughtful, sophisticated and champions an element of the unexpected. Before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts at UNSW and becoming a journalist, I studied interior architecture. For over a decade I have interviewed inspiring creative minds from around the world to write about design in its many different forms. Recently, I have also become an accidental gardener, to everyone's surprise.
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This beach house south of Sydney enjoys an enviable vantage point nestled between the green bushland of the south coast and the blue breakers beyond. It was purchased three years ago by an artistic family who bought it as a weekender for three generations to share and enjoy. With the building in good nick, what it lacked was functionality and creative verve to express the style of its owners. This was the task that fell to Jessi Eve Deakin, who gave the interior a non-structural redesign and styled up a temperate bohemian storm.
Jessi Eve
Photography: The Palm Co

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Three generations of family use this beach house as a weekend getaway
Location: Thirroul, NSW
Size: Four bedrooms and one bathroom on a 550-square-metre block
Architecture: Borst & Co Architecture
Interior design and styling: Jessi Eve Deakin of Jessi Eve
Budget: Approximately $60,000

The project began in early 2018 and was finished by the middle of the same year. The brief? “Comfortable, warm, practical – no white furniture or furnishings!” says Deakin. “It needed colourful, relaxed, bohemian style with vintage and retro charm. The interior had to be light, airy and gently modernised but still in keeping with the original ‘treehouse charm’ of the home.”
Jessi Eve
Teal velvet sofa: West Elm; round coffee table: Icon by Design

Not unexpectedly, Deakin’s first order of business was deciding on a refreshed interior palette with lashings of colour, albeit in measured doses. The bright tones and relaxed mood are patently obvious from the entrance, which opens onto the sun-bathed living areas.

“A teal velvet vintage-style sofa that the whole family fell in love with was the starting point for the interior, and everything else followed from there,” she says.
Jessi Eve
“The rest of the scheme was derived from the existing coloured elements in the home, such as the aqua bathroom tiles; green kitchen tiles; the yellow, blue and red leadlight windows [pictured]; as well as a reflection of the leafy view with ocean glimpses through the oversize windows,” says Deakin.

“We didn’t want to completely whitewash the space and lose all that character.”

Dreaming of a redesign? Find an interior designer or decorator near you on Houzz
Jessi Eve
Tan leather sofa: Freedom; rectangular coffee table: Life Interiors

The original interior offered up a smorgasbord of timbers, which Deakin carefully curated.

“We simplified all the exposed timber and chose to keep just the key features to ensure all the wood wasn’t competing with the rest of the decorating,” she says. “We highlighted the most charming original elements in the home.”

Among these were the exposed timber beams that traverse the raked ceiling, internal timber doors, the floorboards, and the timber window frames that outline a series of leadlight windows (the other window frames were painted white).
Jessi Eve
Deakin also paid particular attention to the home’s window treatments, replacing and adding curtains and blinds throughout for style and privacy. Out went old red and white curtains; in came bright, breezy updates.
Jessi Eve
Walls: Painted in Dulux Natural White

“The walls and trims needed a refresh too, so we repainted the entire interior, leaving just a few of the timber feature elements throughout,” says Deakin.

Although white furnishings and furniture were banned from the brief, white itself was not. In fact, to pull off this tactile and colourful scheme, the space relies on a white backdrop to let the hero elements shine, instead of struggle, for the spotlight.
Jessi Eve
Dining table and chairs: Huset

Deakin completely redecorated and styled each room with new furniture and decor to complete the look. In true bohemian style, she turned her back on perfectly matched furnishings and focused instead of on selecting furniture in complementary tones and materials.

“We went with mismatched dining chairs for a casual, collected feel, and introduced a lot of natural rattan pieces as a nod to the vintage bohemian vibe my clients were after,” says Deakin.
Jessi Eve
Bar stools: The Family Love Tree

Deakin retained the green tiles and timber window frame in the open-plan kitchen, which flows off the living and dining area.

“We added some floating timber shelving to the kitchen to display beautiful ceramics and greenery,” she says. “We kept the new timber and rattan tones light to balance out the deeper-toned floorboards, and brought in lots of colour through rugs, decor and soft furnishings.”
Jessi Eve
Indoor plants play an important role in this interior too, helping enhance the relaxed, holiday vibe. Along with the furnishings and other objets d’art, indoor greenery is a decorative force in its own right.

Cascading plants, architectural leaves and upstanding greenery all add to the calming ambience of the home, not to mention the happy coincidence that they perfectly tie into the green, aqua, yellow and red colour palette.
Jessi Eve
Pictured here is one of the original leadlight windows that helped inform the overall scheme. “These colours became the basis of our palette and we evolved it from there, making sure to maintain a focus on a playful use of colour to inspire this creative family on their weekends and holidays,” says Deakin.

“The owners loved the beautiful feature leadlight windows (as do I!) and really wanted to highlight these by keeping the window frames in the natural timber.”
Jessi Eve
Although the primary focus of this project was style and verve, functionality also exists in spades.

“Every inch of the interior was considered to maximise functionality and ensure comfort for the whole family,” says Deakin.

Here, in a quiet corner of the family room, the designer added a wall-mounted study nook for display and storage as well as a spot for creative pursuits. For visual harmony, the timber and dimensions harmonise with the floating shelves in the kitchen.
Jessi Eve
Basin: Bunnings; vanity: custom-made

Of all the rooms, the combined bathroom/laundry received the biggest facelift. “We updated the bathroom and added window treatments, and then completely decorated and styled the interior with all new furniture and decor to achieve the final result,” says Deakin.

By treating the redesign stylistically and cosmetically – rather than as a fully fledged redesign – Deakin was able to avoid the budget blowouts that can come with altering major services such as plumbing.
Jessi Eve
“The design process with the client was all fairly smooth sailing,” she says. “The main challenges were probably more with coordinating all the renovation elements, such as the bathroom update, painting and general maintenance, in time for deliveries to arrive. There’s always a lot happening within a short time frame; it’s just a part of the process.”
Jessi Eve
Stylistically, not a single space misses a beat in flaunting bohemian flair, though there’s still plenty of breathing room amid the eclectic furnishings.

Browse more beautiful and eclectic bedroom designs for inspiration
Jessi Eve
Deakin lists some of the existing features, rather than solely new ones, among her favourites.

“I personally love the high raked ceilings with the exposed timber beams, combined with the beautiful big windows,” she says. “It truly feels like you’re in a luxury treehouse by the ocean.”
Jessi Eve
Bedhead: The Family Love Tree

Your turn
Which room in this home would you like to curl up in and while the hours away? Tell us your favourite spaces in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the conversation.

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Fancy another peek inside a creative home? Check out this USA Houzz Tour: Two Art-Lovers’ Elegant and Dog-Friendly Home
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