Houzz Tours
Meet My Houzz: The Coys
A creative young couple make their stamp on a blonde-brick home in Long Jetty
Creative couple Linda and Dan Coy have spent two years making this blonde-brick rental their home. Linda is one half of the photography duo at Chasing Brightness and owns a vintage clothing store called Dapper Darling’s Vintage. Dan is a tattoo artist and spends his time creating cool designs which he draws on flash sheets or prints up to sell on his website. The duo love the Long Jetty neighbourhood on the NSW Central Coast, and its laid-back lifestyle. Dan surfs and can be regularly found walking to and from the beach, and Linda loves to ride her bike to town.
SHARE YOUR HOME WITH US
We’d love to meet your home. From photos of your perfectly-styled shelfies, to your latest room makeovers, take a snap of your house and post it on Instagram hashtagging #meetmyhouzz and you and your home could be featured in an upcoming story.
SHARE YOUR HOME WITH US
We’d love to meet your home. From photos of your perfectly-styled shelfies, to your latest room makeovers, take a snap of your house and post it on Instagram hashtagging #meetmyhouzz and you and your home could be featured in an upcoming story.
How did you come across your home?
It was a total fluke that we got our little place, as we weren’t even looking at moving house! I was browsing the web, checking out cute local places, our house popped up and I couldn’t resist it. I inspected it the next day and got approved immediately. Later we found out that my second cousins own the property and couldn’t believe the coincidence.
I own a vintage clothing store in Long Jetty and our place is right around the corner. We wanted to live in Long Jetty because there is such a great community vibe here. There are a few core stores and cafes that have been revitalising the area, and working and living here has been such a joy for us. Long Jetty is situated between a lake and a beach so you can walk 10 minutes either east or west and you will hit a body of water.
It was a total fluke that we got our little place, as we weren’t even looking at moving house! I was browsing the web, checking out cute local places, our house popped up and I couldn’t resist it. I inspected it the next day and got approved immediately. Later we found out that my second cousins own the property and couldn’t believe the coincidence.
I own a vintage clothing store in Long Jetty and our place is right around the corner. We wanted to live in Long Jetty because there is such a great community vibe here. There are a few core stores and cafes that have been revitalising the area, and working and living here has been such a joy for us. Long Jetty is situated between a lake and a beach so you can walk 10 minutes either east or west and you will hit a body of water.
What’s your favourite room in the house?
There are two special spaces in our house. The first is our verandah. We have a pallet day bed which sits surrounded by plants. We sit out here, playing guitar, eating dinner and drinking wine. In winter its perfect in the morning, and in summer its nice and cool in the afternoon.
The other space is our office. Dan is a tattoo artist and he uses his side of the three-metre-long desk to draw flash sheets that he uses for tattoo designs, or prints which he sells on his website. My side is used for editing photos, and all my admin work for the shop and my photography business. We both have creative jobs so having a dedicated work space is essential.
There are two special spaces in our house. The first is our verandah. We have a pallet day bed which sits surrounded by plants. We sit out here, playing guitar, eating dinner and drinking wine. In winter its perfect in the morning, and in summer its nice and cool in the afternoon.
The other space is our office. Dan is a tattoo artist and he uses his side of the three-metre-long desk to draw flash sheets that he uses for tattoo designs, or prints which he sells on his website. My side is used for editing photos, and all my admin work for the shop and my photography business. We both have creative jobs so having a dedicated work space is essential.
What is your favourite item in the house?
My favourite vintage find is the macramé plant hanger on the tree in the backyard (it was only $30). It’s huge and so pretty. I also love all of the artworks from friends that we have displayed around the house.
My favourite vintage find is the macramé plant hanger on the tree in the backyard (it was only $30). It’s huge and so pretty. I also love all of the artworks from friends that we have displayed around the house.
How would you describe your decorating style?
I call our decorating style ‘Ikea op-shop’ – we love mixing old and new. Half of our furniture was found on the side of the road or in op-shops, and half we buy from the stylish and affordable retailers, Ikea.
Kmart has certainly stepped up their game in the last year and we are always picking up little bits and pieces for the office, kitchen and bathroom from there. We are both self employed so have limited funds for decorating. That, and the fact that we love trawling op-shops, secondhand markets and garage sales, has led us to our current decorating style.
I call our decorating style ‘Ikea op-shop’ – we love mixing old and new. Half of our furniture was found on the side of the road or in op-shops, and half we buy from the stylish and affordable retailers, Ikea.
Kmart has certainly stepped up their game in the last year and we are always picking up little bits and pieces for the office, kitchen and bathroom from there. We are both self employed so have limited funds for decorating. That, and the fact that we love trawling op-shops, secondhand markets and garage sales, has led us to our current decorating style.
We hate following trends and try to stick to picking up pieces that we love. Art also plays an important role in our decorating, and we have tons of artworks by our friends on our walls and crammed onto shelves all around the house.
I like white for most things but really love our olive vintage couch, and the mint green cane chair on our balcony, which was picked up off the side of the road and hand painted. Most of our pots, vases and knickknacks were found in op-shops, or are things we have had since we were kids. We also both enjoy the fact that all of these old objects carry a story and feelings from years gone by. Not to mention that it’s so much better for the environment.
I like white for most things but really love our olive vintage couch, and the mint green cane chair on our balcony, which was picked up off the side of the road and hand painted. Most of our pots, vases and knickknacks were found in op-shops, or are things we have had since we were kids. We also both enjoy the fact that all of these old objects carry a story and feelings from years gone by. Not to mention that it’s so much better for the environment.
What’s your hot design tip?
For us, decorating is all about finding unique items that reflect our personality and that is affordable!
For us, decorating is all about finding unique items that reflect our personality and that is affordable!
What have you learned from decorating your home?
I’ve learned that it’s about making the house easy to live in and to make it easy to access the things we want to use. For example, we love listening to records, so our record player is always plugged in and ready to go.
Scroll through the rest of this home’s gallery, and share your own home by using #meetmyhouzz and your abode might be featured in our next story!
I’ve learned that it’s about making the house easy to live in and to make it easy to access the things we want to use. For example, we love listening to records, so our record player is always plugged in and ready to go.
Scroll through the rest of this home’s gallery, and share your own home by using #meetmyhouzz and your abode might be featured in our next story!
From the front hall, you enter straight through to the living room. The bookshelves are from Ikea, and the magazine rack was found at a local op-shop.
In the entryway sits a clever shoe storage compartment from a secondhand shop called Websters Vintage, which is on the same street as Linda’s store.
In the living room, the bookshelves host a variety of collected books and artwork. This piece is by Taylor Conacher and the vase was a $1 purchase from the op-shop.
More shelves in the living room provide another opportunity to decorate. The artwork is by Scott Walker, the jade block belonged to Linda’s grandmother, and everything else was collected from op-shops or from the couple’s travels.
The coffee table is decorated with favourite magazines and a stack of tarot cards.
Linda says the duo enjoy sharing a desk in their living area, as they are able to bounce ideas off each other. It is three metres long and is divided by a filing cabinet, which she says is more than enough room for the two of them.
The flash sheets on the wall are by some of Dan’s friends and various artists who he has met at conventions. The desk lamp is from Ikea.
In the kitchen, the wall clock was a gift to the couple from a friend who works at The Sound Exchange record store. He made it from one of Linda’s favourite Black Sabbath records.
Linda keeps her cookbook collection handy next to the stovetop, with cute pineapple bookends from Long Road Home.
In the couple’s bedroom, a soft colour palette has been used with, of course, some artwork on display by Brendan Walsh. The bed frame and hat stand are from Ikea, and the chair is a vintage piece from a secondhand store.
Linda used to play roller derby and still enjoys street skating. She keeps her roller skates, which she bought from a friend, at the end of the bed as a touch of fun decor.
On display in the bedroom, a friend of Linda’s framed a collection of her favourite tarot card, ‘The Hermit’. The crochet mat that the pieces sit on is from TMOD.
Outside, the garden bed is decorated with a cute vintage mushroom light which, sadly, no longer works, but Linda still loves it. Two others are hiding within the garden as well.
In the back garden sits the laundry. Linda says that Long Jetty houses often have these at the back, as a detached room of the house.
On the balcony, a small collection of succulents add a touch of greenery to the hard surface space.
Meet My Houzz is an ongoing series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes in Australia and New Zealand, and interview the people who inhabit them. If you would like to submit your own home for a tour, simply take a photograph and post it on instagram hashtagging #meetmyhouzz.
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Meet My Houzz: The Hughes
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Meet My Houzz: The Hughes
As the couple rent their home, they did not see the value in renovating it. However, they have transformed it into an open and eclectic space with mix-and-match furniture and out-of-the-box decor, which they sourced both from secondhand stores and economic retailers.
We spoke to Linda to find out more about her home.