MAGIC TOUCHES

Plans to update a pair of tired rooms evolved into an all-encompassing renovation that has made a world of difference to this harbourside Sydney home.

- Jackie Brygel

The transformative power of colour and texture is evident right from the front door of this creatively reimagined Federation home on Sydney’s Lower North Shore. While the home offers spellbinding views of the city’s famed harbour, there’s much to captivate within its walls too, thanks to interior designer Kate Hardy of Cloth+Stone Designs. “The inspiration was the complex and changing views of the harbour,” she says. “A harmonious palette of blues, nickel, blush pinks and neutrals infuses the spaces to provide a connected and cohesive interior.”

The owners, a couple who share the late-1800s house with their two teenage children and their rambunctious English springer spaniel, Darcy, took little convincing to give the home they loved more impactful decor.

Having bought the two-level house in 2013, the family lived in it for eight years before approaching Kate. “At the time, we were only planning to redo two rooms on the ground floor – the original formal dining and living rooms – which were in dire need of an overhaul,” says the owner. “But actually, the entire house was looking pretty tired. Before long, we had asked Kate to oversee a much more extensive renovation of the entire house.”