Houzz Tours
Meet My Houzz: The Hughes
Jana and Tim Hughes traded life in the big smoke for a quieter one in Victoria's Macedon Ranges. They haven't looked back since
Jana and Tim Hughes’ home in the hills is a dream realised for the happy newlyweds. They both work from their recently renovated residence, a space designed according to their eclectic tastes. Jana is a wellbeing expert and the founder of Smart and Happy, a company devoted to helping smart women create fulfilling lives. Tim is a semi-retired executive and now dabbles in short story writing. They have customised the house to suit their lifestyle in the country, and even celebrated their wedding in the backyard last year with over 70 of their friends and family members.
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?
We’d been looking in the area for a few months when a friend found our home online and passed it on to us. The minute we walked in we looked at each other and both said at the same time: “This is it. This is the one!” It was the first house we’d seen that we had both agreed on.
We loved the open spaces and the light coming through the big windows into the house. All the living spaces flow on to each other, and the generous windows make the house feel light and spacious. But the best part of all – you could look outside any of the windows and see the beautiful eucalyptus trees and almost no neighbours at all. It’s a little bush paradise, only two minutes’ drive from the freeway, and 40 minutes’ drive to Melbourne’s CBD.
We’d been looking in the area for a few months when a friend found our home online and passed it on to us. The minute we walked in we looked at each other and both said at the same time: “This is it. This is the one!” It was the first house we’d seen that we had both agreed on.
We loved the open spaces and the light coming through the big windows into the house. All the living spaces flow on to each other, and the generous windows make the house feel light and spacious. But the best part of all – you could look outside any of the windows and see the beautiful eucalyptus trees and almost no neighbours at all. It’s a little bush paradise, only two minutes’ drive from the freeway, and 40 minutes’ drive to Melbourne’s CBD.
What’s your favourite room in the house?
Definitely the front living room. Before we renovated it, the walls and ceiling were covered in wood cladding, which made it feel small and dark. It was also poorly lit and insulated, which was a problem in winter. We insulated from the inside using insulated-plasterboard over the wood cladding, and painted the ceiling and walls a vibrant white. The difference has been amazing.
The room feels more modern, incredibly light and much bigger than it did before. The glass balustrades replaced chunky wooden ones, and they now connect the space with the mezzanine. The cathedral ceiling was begging for some hanging pendants, so we had the wall lights removed and added interest to the ceiling with new pendant lighting. Our favourite artwork is displayed in this room, the large landscape painting is by Australian artist Kate Shaw.
Definitely the front living room. Before we renovated it, the walls and ceiling were covered in wood cladding, which made it feel small and dark. It was also poorly lit and insulated, which was a problem in winter. We insulated from the inside using insulated-plasterboard over the wood cladding, and painted the ceiling and walls a vibrant white. The difference has been amazing.
The room feels more modern, incredibly light and much bigger than it did before. The glass balustrades replaced chunky wooden ones, and they now connect the space with the mezzanine. The cathedral ceiling was begging for some hanging pendants, so we had the wall lights removed and added interest to the ceiling with new pendant lighting. Our favourite artwork is displayed in this room, the large landscape painting is by Australian artist Kate Shaw.
What’s your favourite feature of the house?
We would have to say the colourful bathroom wall tiles. Their colours and the play of patterns catch our eye every time. Guests and friends always comment on it too. After seeing beautiful Moorish tiles on a trip to Southern Spain, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to put boring grey or white tiles in the bathroom.
When we found the colourful encaustic tiles at Schots Home Emporium, we decided to make the bathroom tiles a feature in their own right. We first laid out the patchwork pattern on the floor and our tiler replicated this on the walls. The black tapware ($2,000 in total) and marble sinks ($400 each from eBay) were a splurge, but essential in making the bathroom feel exotic.
It used to be a poky bathroom and an unusable, unlit walk-in-wardrobe. We knocked the two rooms together and stripped the bathroom and wall finishes. We had skylights put in, re-organised the bathroom floor plan so we could fit in a double sink and double shower, and built half-walls with planters that screen the bathroom, but still leave it open to the master bedroom.
We would have to say the colourful bathroom wall tiles. Their colours and the play of patterns catch our eye every time. Guests and friends always comment on it too. After seeing beautiful Moorish tiles on a trip to Southern Spain, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to put boring grey or white tiles in the bathroom.
When we found the colourful encaustic tiles at Schots Home Emporium, we decided to make the bathroom tiles a feature in their own right. We first laid out the patchwork pattern on the floor and our tiler replicated this on the walls. The black tapware ($2,000 in total) and marble sinks ($400 each from eBay) were a splurge, but essential in making the bathroom feel exotic.
It used to be a poky bathroom and an unusable, unlit walk-in-wardrobe. We knocked the two rooms together and stripped the bathroom and wall finishes. We had skylights put in, re-organised the bathroom floor plan so we could fit in a double sink and double shower, and built half-walls with planters that screen the bathroom, but still leave it open to the master bedroom.
How would you describe your decorating style?
We’d definitely call our style eclectic. We have such wide-ranging tastes and interests that committing to one style or era is impossible. The house itself wasn’t particularly committed to a style or a time, so it allowed us plenty of room to experiment. It has evolved organically over the three years we’ve lived here. We wanted to create lots of different spaces within the house that each had their own character.
We intentionally tried to introduce colour, show off our artwork and my growing chair collection (I have a chair fetish, at one point we counted that we could seat 42 people! I especially love the iconic mid-century armchairs).
We are also influenced by the places we’ve lived in or visited on our travels. I love the Turkish-style flat-woven rugs and have brought a few from Macedonia, where they are considered old-fashioned, but to me they represent the connection I still have with my birthplace.
We’d definitely call our style eclectic. We have such wide-ranging tastes and interests that committing to one style or era is impossible. The house itself wasn’t particularly committed to a style or a time, so it allowed us plenty of room to experiment. It has evolved organically over the three years we’ve lived here. We wanted to create lots of different spaces within the house that each had their own character.
We intentionally tried to introduce colour, show off our artwork and my growing chair collection (I have a chair fetish, at one point we counted that we could seat 42 people! I especially love the iconic mid-century armchairs).
We are also influenced by the places we’ve lived in or visited on our travels. I love the Turkish-style flat-woven rugs and have brought a few from Macedonia, where they are considered old-fashioned, but to me they represent the connection I still have with my birthplace.
What’s your hot design tip?
Be brave and mix and match things. You don’t have to choose only one style, or have everything matching to look good. If you surround yourself with beautiful things that you love, I don’t think you can go wrong. If something doesn’t fit where you intended it, then move it around. Houzz is absolutely wonderful to get ideas and inspiration from, even to get some basic design rules that you can use as your base. Search Houzz for similar spaces to yours, and learn from what others have done with those spaces. Nothing beats seeing something in reality to realise if you will like it or not.
You can create a different feel for each space even in open areas. However, make sure you have something that ties the spaces together and helps them flow. An example of this is with our dining room transformation. The dining room is practically in a walkway, so we tried to do something that would make it feel like a room. We put a large buffet and hutch on one side of the dining table, then one afternoon I stencilled a modern pattern on the other wall with a wall stencil purchased on Etsy. We then hung a few artworks up to turn it into an art gallery (which also cleverly hides two cupboard doors on that wall).
Be brave and mix and match things. You don’t have to choose only one style, or have everything matching to look good. If you surround yourself with beautiful things that you love, I don’t think you can go wrong. If something doesn’t fit where you intended it, then move it around. Houzz is absolutely wonderful to get ideas and inspiration from, even to get some basic design rules that you can use as your base. Search Houzz for similar spaces to yours, and learn from what others have done with those spaces. Nothing beats seeing something in reality to realise if you will like it or not.
You can create a different feel for each space even in open areas. However, make sure you have something that ties the spaces together and helps them flow. An example of this is with our dining room transformation. The dining room is practically in a walkway, so we tried to do something that would make it feel like a room. We put a large buffet and hutch on one side of the dining table, then one afternoon I stencilled a modern pattern on the other wall with a wall stencil purchased on Etsy. We then hung a few artworks up to turn it into an art gallery (which also cleverly hides two cupboard doors on that wall).
What have you learned from renovating?
Firstly, get at least three quotes and ask lots of questions for each job, so that you can get an idea of the real cost and if there are parts you can do yourself. For example, the kitchen was dated but still very usable, so we decided to rejuvenate it with some paint on the walls and kitchen cabinets, and focus our renovation efforts on the loft space and getting rid of the wood cladding as much as possible.
We had quotes from $5,000 to $12,000 for the same plumbing job. We also saved $5,000 by ordering the glass balustrades/ bannisters ourselves from the manufacturer and getting someone to measure up and install it, instead of getting one supplier to do it all.
Personally, I really enjoyed being hands-on with the project and I do think it’s an advantage to maintain strong relationships with the home professionals so that you’re not afraid to say if you’re unhappy with something. It’ll be less costly to pick that up at the start of the job, rather than once it’s completed and you want it changed.
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!
Firstly, get at least three quotes and ask lots of questions for each job, so that you can get an idea of the real cost and if there are parts you can do yourself. For example, the kitchen was dated but still very usable, so we decided to rejuvenate it with some paint on the walls and kitchen cabinets, and focus our renovation efforts on the loft space and getting rid of the wood cladding as much as possible.
We had quotes from $5,000 to $12,000 for the same plumbing job. We also saved $5,000 by ordering the glass balustrades/ bannisters ourselves from the manufacturer and getting someone to measure up and install it, instead of getting one supplier to do it all.
Personally, I really enjoyed being hands-on with the project and I do think it’s an advantage to maintain strong relationships with the home professionals so that you’re not afraid to say if you’re unhappy with something. It’ll be less costly to pick that up at the start of the job, rather than once it’s completed and you want it changed.
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!
The kitchen cabinets were painted with a red oil-based interior paint called ‘Cherry Red’ by White Knight. The couple found the bentwood metal chairs on eBay and contrasted them by painting the kitchen island in ‘Wimbeldon’ by Taubmans.
Upstairs, the once timber-clad mezzanine has been transformed into a colourful and bright master bedroom. The bed is covered with bedlinen from Home Republic and a quilt from Anthropologie. The West Elm rugs were found on eBay, and the bedroom dormer was painted in ‘Paw Paw’ by Dulux.
The daybed dormer was painted in ‘Fresh Orange’ by British Paints. The pendant lights are from Bunnings and tie in with the orange used around the rest of the room.
The home office downstairs was previously used as a play room. The couple have set up a space in which they can both work. A colourful painting by Camilla Dickerson is displayed on the wall, but Jana’s favourite piece in the room is her secondhand leather desk by Coco Republic.
There are two guest bedrooms downstairs. The larger of the two rooms is painted in ‘Waterway Blue’ by Dulux. The wall hanging behind the bed was bought while the couple was on holiday in Thailand. The stools, pendant light, bedside tables and lamps were all found at secondhand markets.
The small guest bedroom is almost completely furnished in secondhand finds including the armchair, bedside tables and lamps. The couple added their own touch of creativity by hanging artwork they painted themselves.
In the second living room, more colour and patterns have been used, echoing the theme of the rest of the house. The two elephants were bought on a trip to Thailand, while the large sofa and leather club chair are from Schots Emporium.
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.
MORE
Meet My Houzz: The Coys
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.
MORE
Meet My Houzz: The Coys
Jana and Tim immediately knew their home was meant for them, when they saw its large open-plan living spaces and the beautiful woodland surrounds. When they moved into the house in 2012, the couple gave their three bedroom, two bathroom home an eclectic update. The aim was to transform the dark, timber-dominated interiors into a fun, colourful and functional living space.
Giving the house a good paint job, and replacing the timber-clad walls with insulated plasterboard, helped light to flow into the house. The couple also ripped up the old carpets and replaced them with travertine tiles, laid in French pattern.
The loft bedroom was one of their biggest design accomplishments. They installed three skylight windows into this space, had a built-in wardrobe installed on one side of the room, and replaced the old traditional bathroom with a modern, open-plan one.
We sat down with Jana to find out more about her home journey