The Design Files: Inside a lovingly restored Brisbane weatherboard cottage

Who: Photographer and stylist Kara Rosenlund and husband Timothy O.

Where: Brisbane, Queensland.

What: A lovingly restored weatherboard cottage.

A charming timber worker’s cottage in Brisbane’s Nundah has been home to photographer and stylist Kara Rosenlund and her husband Timothy O since 2009.

“We wanted to find a home which hadn’t been renovated or inflated and made into a huge new home, which happens so often in Brisbane,” Rosenlund says. When they finally acquired their dream fixer-upper, the capable pair set to work. With the help of family, the couple undertook all the renovations themselves.

From sanding the floors to adding a new dining room and redoing the bathroom and kitchen, everything here was enthusiastically tackled DIY-style by the pair.

They were very careful to keep the original proportions of the home, and to retain as many original features as they could.

The house is a simple three-bedroom cottage, built about 1900. “Workers’ cottages were designed to be small yet efficient homes, with high ceilings for the hot air and hallways running straight through the house to catch the breezes,” says Rosenlund. “They were a hive of activity in the day, with family members also sleeping on the front verandahs in hotter months.

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“You hear so many stories of people growing up in houses like this in families of 12 or more. Personal space just wasn’t an issue; the home was just a place of shelter.”

With careful respect for the property’s Victorian features, Rosenlund has used her signature neutral palette, layering collected ephemera and rustic details over soft white and grey tones. Collections of vintage breadboards, ceramics and aged kitchen utensils are displayed en masse, to great effect.

“My favourite pieces would probably be the extensive collection of kitchenalia,” she says.

“Having these objects close at hand to use daily reminds me of travels around the country, digging around markets, shops and sheds to find [them].”

Despite its picture-perfect interiors, for the couple, the most pleasing aspect of living in the cottage is its connection to the outdoors. “We leave the windows and doors flung wide open to catch the breezes all year round,” says Rosenlund.

Towards the back of the home, the dining room spills out to a deck via wide bi-fold doors. This outdoor entertaining area is richly furnished, as if it were an indoor room, with a dining table, antique chairs and a kitchen dresser.

“It’s a primitive thing to want to feel a connection to the outdoors, and the Queensland climate really encourages that,” she says.

The Design Files guide to living with things on display

Living with open shelving and diverse objects on display makes for a wonderfully warm, eclectic interior – but it’s not for the faint-hearted. In an open kitchen, objects on display should be carefully considered and artfully displayed to avoid a cluttered look.

• Take Kara Rosenlund’s approach and consider the purpose and sentiment behind each object you intend to display. Does each object mean something to you? Do you actually use it?
• Group by theme to achieve visual order, whether it’s material, texture, colour palette, or purpose.
• Avoid clutter by not having things for things’ sake – especially in functional spaces like a kitchen. Be discerning. Every item within arm’s reach should have a function and a practical purpose.