Tucked away on a quiet leafy street in Hamilton South is the pretty-as-a-picture family home of Inga and Mike Campbell, their daughter Andy, and dog Harry.
The classic cottage with a white frontage and pristine garden was bought by the Campbells in October 2019.
Inga, who is originally from Newcastle, and Mike moved to Hamilton South from Sydney in 2011. They bought their previous home, just around the corner, in early December 2010.
Originally planning to keep their first house as an investment, they moved up after learning Inga was pregnant and lived there for eight years.
"We haven't looked back," Mike says. "We love Newcastle. It's such an easy city to live in."
With their daughter Andy growing older, they sought a house nearby on a quieter, family-friendly street. A local agent told them about their now-home, and they went to see it straight away. Inga notes while "it needed a lot of work", it had great bones.
"The reason we wanted this house so much was not just because of the house, it was the location and community too," she says.
They love the convenience of Hamilton South and its proximity to family and friends too.
While Inga and Mike had planned to renovate the 1914-built house in April 2020, work was delayed due to COVID. Living in the space ended up helping the couple make more informed decisions about the changes they made. The renovations, undertaken by Mitch from Edge Carpentry, began in November 2020 and were completed in April 2021.
The Campbells stayed with family during the build. However, Mike, who works in marketing, and Inga, who runs Inkling, her design, art, and illustration business, were able to work on-site as they converted half of the garage into a workspace (retaining the other as a shed).
Extensive changes were made to the house. This includes redesigning parts of the layout, such as the placement of the third bedroom (and turning it into a kids' entertainment space), adding an ensuite, installing a European laundry, and renovating the bathroom and kitchen.
They also opened up and brightened the house significantly through the addition of skylights, floor-to-ceiling sliding doors that connect the kitchen/dining area to the backyard, removing the old hall doors, and adding elegant arches and wainscoting.
Inga and Mike overhauled the overgrown front yard on the day they moved in too. Ripping out lots of plants, except the striking big tree in the centre.
"We added an extra step to the veranda to make it bigger, so we can hang out there. Because it gets the northerly sun, that's normally where we eat breakfast and lunch," says Inga.
While, in the backyard, they cleaned up around the pool and had it refurbished, installed a sprawling timber entertaining area alongside it, updated the fence, and added a small garden at the rear.
Inga put her design skills into practice and created a mood board for the whole house and each room. The house's mood board was themed 'Federation farmhouse', with imagery around the qualities of light, cosy, inviting, minimalist, classic, and family.
"The great thing about the mood boards was you make that decision once. Then when you go into the shops to look at your fixtures and fittings - because when you renovate the amount to choose from is overwhelming - it's done. If you look at the mood boards, I'd say the house is pretty spot on," Mike says.
"Inga brought back more of the design of the original house that had been lost."
Dressed in a largely neutral palette, the home is light-filled, breezy, and stylish but still comfortable and reflective of Inga, Mike, and Andy's personalities. Smart storage - particularly in spaces such as the kitchen - helps to keep clutter to a minimum, and complements the home's fresh, minimalist aesthetic.
The family's love of design is reflected in the striking artworks and prints - including some by their artist friend Aaron Kinnane, Inga, and her father John Berthold - throughout the house. Inga also designed two special posters especially for Andy's room based on her love of the TV show Stranger Things and 70s-style flowers.
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