Simple Switch-Ups Create a Cosy, Comforting Home
See how our interior design team has transformed a display home with a few smart furniture, wallpaper and décor changes – and pick up ideas for your own home makeover!
When you’ve got a great base to work with – gorgeous flooring, a striking kitchen, beautiful bathrooms, and light-filled interiors, it’s easy to update the look of your home to suit the latest trends.
Our talented interior design team, led by Jessica Hodges, Carlisle’s Interior Design Manager, recently did just that with one of our T-Range display homes at Jubilee Estate in Wyndham Vale. And the beautiful results will give you all the inspiration you need for your own home refresh.
A few carefully considered changes to the busiest parts of the home, including the kitchen, living and meals area, have brought this interior right up to date, with swathes of soft grey, simple, timber furniture and black accents.
An open & inviting heart of the home
Focusing on those key areas of the home that families use most frequently – the kitchen, main living and meals area, theatre room, and master suite – Hodges gave this tired interior a cosy, modern refresh with clean-lined furniture, subtle pattern on the walls, and layers of texture and warmth.
“Working with a base of a beautiful, polished porcelain tiled floor and oyster grey kitchen cabinetry, we added softness and warmth in the open-plan living/kitchen/meals area with layers of soft grey in the upholstery, rugs and window furniture, pops of sleek black in the furniture and artwork, and a few accents of olive green and mustard in the scatter cushions,” says Hodges.
“We’ve chosen furniture with pared-back lines and simple shapes to keep the overall effect quite contemporary, while adding in plenty of texture and heavy, knitted fabrics to make the home feel tactile and inviting,” she says.
Oversized, modern artworks, scatter cushions in nature-drawn tones of soft grey, olive green and mustard, and decor pieces in a mix of interesting shapes give the interior a cosy yet contemporary feel.
An open-plan area that’s all about connection
To make the kitchen and meals area feel more relaxed and welcoming, Hodges replaced the glass dining table with a modern-rustic table in warm oak, and swapped the decorative, smoked-glass pendants over the island for simple, black styles that echo the colour of the tiled splashback.
Hodges replaced a low-slung, pale-grey L-shaped sofa with black legs with a higher-profile sofa on timber legs, creating a sense of connection with the newly upgraded meals area. A medley of new scatter cushions on the sofa in black, white and charcoal add a modern punch, while speaking to the deep tones in the kitchen cabinetry and splashback.
Meanwhile, a small rug under the sofa was swapped for a larger rug in richer tones of grey to make the living area more clearly defined, while adding a sense of luxury.
A cosy theatre room
Hodges brought depth and cosiness to the theatre room by swapping out a cream sofa for a chunky, deep-seated style in rich grey, and replacing small-size artworks with a pair of bold, oversized pieces in charcoal and rust. A textural throw and some new, patterned scatter cushions in mustard and various shades of grey add depth and dimension to the family friendly space.
Soft, earthy tones and sumptuous textures on the bed, a pair of striking, modern pendants over the bedsides, and a beautiful, patterned wallpaper have transformed the master bedroom into an inviting sanctuary.
Layers of texture in the master suite
A few carefully considered changes in the master suite was all it took to remake the space into a warm retreat with an on-trend feel.
The plain wall behind the bed is transformed into a beautiful feature with a softly patterned taupe and white wallpaper, set off with a simple, charcoal-upholstered bedhead. To enhance the sense of warmth and simplicity, decorative pendants beside the bed have been swapped for a pair of simple, rounded styles, and the crisp, black bedside tables have been replaced with robust, timber styles.
To finish off the cosy, layered look, Hodges piled the bed high with bedding in different textures – faux fur, linen and cotton.
After these smart design tweaks, the end result is a home that feels warm, sophisticated and effortlessly inviting – all without costing the earth.
Come and see our beautifully refreshed Portland 25 display home at Jubilee Estate in Wyndham Vale. Or make an afternoon of it and visit a few of our displays in Melbourne’s west – get details on where to find us here.