Rapt IN COLOUR

LAYERS OF PATTERNS AND TEXTURES SOFTLY EMBRACE VISITORS OF THIS SOUTHERN TABLELANDS GUESTHOUSE

- BRITTANY SMITH

Tucked in among layers of rolling hills in the Southern Tablelands of NSW sits Moorabinda Guest House. Built in 1954, the cottage looks out onto quintessential Australian vistas of gumtrees and sun-drenched paddocks but, while the position is enviable, the interiors needed some love. That’s when Penny Sheehan, senior designer at Anna Spiro Design, stepped in. After her fiancé Simon bought the parcel of land and original homestead from his parents, they decided to renovate in the hopes of creating a guest house.

“It was charming and had these beautiful old features, these lovely decorative cornices and scalloping that you don’t really see in modern builds,” says Penny. “But it was so run down. We could kind of envision the whole place in a way, bringing the character and the glory back to that little cottage.” So with that goal in mind, Penny got started.