West End - the parks, cafes and how that's influenced the design of our house

The inner city suburb of West End is well known for it's beautiful parks, multitude of cafes and restaurants and it's quirky, eclectic personality. That's why I love it and I want to inject some of these qualities into the interior design of our cottage.

It was never my intention to make our worker's cottage into a showcase home with a shiny, sleek and modern interior. Or one that says "look at me - but don't touch." In fact, it's quite the opposite. This is going to be a working house -  one that I am sure is going to be manhandled to the nth degree. The design is more to do with function and how it's occupants (ie us) live their day-to-day lives. As we are a family of six this is even more critical to get absolutely right. Being a mother of four young boys, any design feature that will make my life easier will be employed in the design of this house.

The design has changed now to include an eat-in kitchen, and I'm imagining it to take on a cafe-style vibe. Think chalkboard, stainless steel benchtops and appliances, lots of open shelving (for easy access to glasses and crockery) and a back-of-house section (scullery) to contain all the mess. Oh, and I shouldn't forget to mention a spot for our very much loved and often used coffee machine.

La Scala Butterfly Coffee Machine

My initial idea of using black cabinetry has now changed back to white, using cut-out handles - I'll deal with the pests!

English Tapware 

I'm seriously contemplating a S/S bench top with integrated double sinks. "What about the scratches?" I hear to say. Well it doesn't seem to bother world class chefs, so I figure I can handle it too.

Photo courtesy of O+V

Still installing these subway tiles however - love them!

I also plan to use the colour green in the interior design which is a nod to all the lovely parks along the riverfront which are dotted with gigantic jacaranda and fig trees - plus it happens to be my favourite colour.  It's the reason why I bought this painting many years ago:

I'm off to meet with the architects tomorrow to discus all these changes, including the amendments to the floorplan.

Oh - I almost forgot to mention. We are still proceeding with the renovation; our other options didn't come together for one reason or another, but I'm glad to be focussing on just one house now. I'm so ready to get this project started.