Holding Back The Years

Sal and Darren Wood found a period treasure and brought it back to life with a sophisticated monochrome palette.

- Jacky Parker

I ’ve loved interiors since I was a child,’ says interior designer Sal Wood. ‘And then I married Darren, who is a carpenter, so we’ve made a life out of renovating homes. We might live in a house for a year, or five years, but eventually a new place will present itself. I think of our previous homes like old friends.’ Six years ago, after their sons had left home, the Australian couple moved from hot and desert-like Mildura to Geelong, near Melbourne, to be by the sea. They gradually got to know the area and its architectural hotspots, so when an estate agent called them two years later to tell them that a Thirties bungalow was on the market they snapped it up. ‘It’s in a great location and these houses are popular, so we knew we had to move fast,’ says Sal. ‘I did wake up in the night, though, wondering if we’d done the right thing.’

Although clean and comfortable, the house was ‘very beige’, with heavy curtains and carpets and many of its original features either removed or covered up. ‘I think ripping out beautiful old windows because you don’t want to paint them is like shaving someone’s eyebrows off,’ laughs Sal. ‘Luckily the windows were intact, but we had to replace the picture rails, decorative skirting, mouldings, solid timber doors and a fireplace.’