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  • Home Envy

    An Idyllic 1950s Cottage in Carlisle

    September 29, 2021October 5, 2021

    What would you want if you were about to sell the house you’d called home for the past ten years? The home that you and your partner slowly, fixed up over the years, painting, DIY-ing and landscaping. The house to which you’d brought two babies home from the hospital, and spent hours playing with your

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  • Happier Home

    A House Decorated by Marketplace – and Tips for Thrifting

    January 23, 2020February 7, 2020

    Of all the bad things to come out of Facebook – the creepy harvesting of our online data, a rise in loneliness, infidelities kindled from long-lost acquaintances, the erosion of individual self-worth through unfavourable comparison, to name just a few – there are also a lot of good things. For example, I re-met my now-husband

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  • Home Envy

    An Energy Efficient 1960s Renovation in Bayswater

    June 2, 2019February 7, 2020

    Bayswater is one of my favourite suburbs in Perth. If you don’t know it; think old farmhouses, sleepy streets, old trees, character houses with tons of potential, and little pockets of former farming land that make you feel like you could have stepped back in time. It has so much perfectly unpolished charm, and it

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  • Before & After

    Penshurst – A Sea Captain’s Mansion Saved from Ruin

    May 22, 2019October 16, 2019

    I have a soft spot for Penshurst, the historic house I’m going to share with you today – which was actually one of my very first home tours – in fact I visited it before I’d even clicked ‘publish’ on my first blog post! (Original post here). When I was a teenager, after school my

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  • Stoneville-solar-passive-house-Perth-building-design

    Home Envy

    A Solar Passive ‘Shed-House’ in the Country

    May 7, 2019August 9, 2019

    Rolling country views, a pony, dogs, a beautiful solar passive new build, a lovely family and two pet sheep who are convinced they are people – this wonderful home visit was one of my favourites and I’m so pleased to share it here today with these gorgeous photos by Heather. Nestled in the Perth hills

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  • Home Envy

    A Timeless Federation Bungalow in Coolbinia

    March 22, 2019June 25, 2019

    This beautiful home has just gone on the market with Nadija Begovich and Dan Broad of The Perth Property Co. Buying a house in beautiful Coolbinia was a dream come true for then newly-engaged couple Ash and Lisa Mitchell. Both Ash and Lisa had always loved character homes and when the chance came to buy

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  • Home Envy

    Before the Fire: Paganin House by Iwan Iwanoff

    March 17, 2019August 9, 2019

    I originally published this post on the old format of House Nerd here. Iwanoff fans rejoice.  Iconic Paganin House has been saved! After this famous Iwanoff home in Floreat was gutted days before Christmas 2015 by a house fire, it has now been brought back to life by the careful work of its owners and

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  • Home Renovations

    Le Fanu, Perth’s Most Expensive Renovation, is Now For Sale

    March 14, 2019March 16, 2019

    Le Fanu, Perth’s most expensive home renovation, is up for sale. If you could do with a luxury beach home and have a spare $17 million, this heritage-listed house could be yours! Some of you guys may remember the story I wrote a few years ago on this house. Right by the beach in Cottesloe

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  • Home Envy

    The Hilton Fibro Cottage Renovation

    January 3, 2019January 7, 2019

    I love this house. This is the former home of our friends Tim and Caity Phillips, it’s a cool renovation and a house that I like because it suits its owners down to a tee. You guys may already know Tim’s name from some of my earlier posts; he and his TJP Carpentry team put

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  • Home Envy

    A New Hamptons-Style House in Wembley Downs

    May 19, 2018June 25, 2019

    Having built four houses across a range of looks from coastal to Colonial to contemporary, empty nesters Debra and Steve knew exactly what style they wanted their next home to be. The end result is what they both call their dream house – a beautiful, timeless Hamptons-style home perfect for dinner parties and entertaining. Beginning

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  • Perth-Builder-Oswald-Homes-custom-home-building-Oak-Park-house-nerd-multi-generational (12)

    Home Envy

    A Stunning Nedlands Home Designed for Three Generations

    April 18, 2018April 18, 2018

    With increasing urban sprawl and an ageing elderly population, there is one kind of home we’re now seeing more of – the multi-generational home. And I have to say they rarely get lovelier than this. This gorgeous home is a new one I recently had the pleasure of visiting. This house is named the Oak

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  • Home Envy

    From 70s Brick Box to Timeless Beach House

    March 31, 2018August 5, 2019

    I love Perth. But in my humble opinion, the rugged NSW coast has to be one of the most beautiful and special parts of Australia. A few years ago my sister-in-law relocated from Sydney to live in a beach house in a small town a couple of hours south of the city (just near Berry,

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  • Home Envy

    An Old Lady Cottage Freshened Up for a Young Family

    February 15, 2018February 16, 2018

    What do you do when you love renovating and building and are itching to do it again… but you love your current location, which is just perfect for your family? Well, it might not happen very often, but these two dedicated renovators sold their much-loved labour of love – and built their next home right

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  • Home Envy

    A Light and Bright Home Renovation in North Fremantle

    October 13, 2017May 4, 2018

    When I am scrolling through Instagram, the photos always guaranteed to stop me in my tracks are ones of renovating. Maybe it’s because I have always been obsessed with a good before and after story – all the bits, from the demo to the drywall to the decking being laid out – but there is

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  • house-renovation-perth-home-renovation-70s-80s-house-DIY-Scarborough-housenerd

    Home Renovations

    A 1980s Renovated Home on a Steep Scarborough Site

    August 25, 2017August 25, 2017

    Amy and Andrew Palmer-Millin stumbled upon their new home by accident. They were house-hunting in seaside Scarborough and were on their way to a different home open when they chanced upon the place that was to become their next home. “We accidentally went to see the house, it wasn’t on our list to view at

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  • Home Envy

    A Federation House Renovation in Mount Lawley

    August 25, 2017August 2, 2019

    What better way to celebrate turning 100 than with a makeover that makes you feel beautiful? If houses could talk, this stunning Federation home in Mount Lawley would certainly agree. Once beautiful back in its heyday, this old Federation home had many charming character details. But over the decades it had fallen into disrepair and

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  • Home Envy

    A DIY Makeover for a Daggy 70s Willetton Home

    August 20, 2017May 8, 2019

    Would you buy a house you hated? Could you make an offer on a home with an interior you didn’t like at all – a home that was actually a particularly ugly example of the era it was built? Home owners Craig and Emma Croxford did – buying a 1970s Willetton house that was so

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  • Frank-House-Iwan-Iwanoff-Menora-House-Nerd-interiors-Meghan-Plowman-1970s

    Home Envy

    The Frank House by Iwan Iwanoff

    August 20, 2017September 25, 2017

    So I’m going to make a bold call here, but I have to call it – I think I’ve found my favourite Iwan Iwanoff house yet. (At least my fave of all the ones I’ve visited so far!) It’s this quietly shy beauty – the Frank House in Menora. The house is owned by Michael and Carmen

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  • Home Envy

    The Nature-Inspired Eco House

    August 19, 2017July 29, 2019

    Well, this is it, guys – hands-down one of the coolest houses I’ve had the honour of featuring on House Nerd! This is Nature Inspired Eco House. Designed for a tiny 200sqm infill block in the city, this two-storey, solar passive new home is eco-friendly and runs on renewable energy (with no air-con). Built from a

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  • Before & After

    Saved From Knockdown: A 1970s Family House Reno

    February 17, 2017April 8, 2020

    When Penny and Mat bought a dark, dated and daggy 1970s home in City Beach, they thought it might be a knockdown job – and their friends presumed they would bulldoze it and build anew, too. But when Penny and Mat decided that instead they were going to renovate and extend to make it a

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  • Home Envy

    Two Apartment House: The Ground Floor Apartment

    July 22, 2016July 29, 2019

    This story was originally published on my old blog format on July 26, 2016. The house I’m sharing with you today is so cool – and ahead of the general Perth design curve. Built on a tiny inner-city infill block just 200sqm in size, it’s a freestanding house that has been designed to comfortably accommodate

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  • Home Envy

    The Woodbridge Weatherboard Renovation

    June 21, 2016June 25, 2018

    This story first appeared on my original House Nerd blog here. It was dilapidated, needed love and had slowly deteriorated to the point that almost none of the doors and windows could be closed properly. But there was something mesmerising about the old weatherboard cottage that drew young couple and serial renovators Nat and Trent

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  • Home Envy

    The Eco-Friendly Small House in Maylands

    April 27, 2016July 29, 2019

    I have been a fan of the houses of WA architect Ben Mountford for a while now. You might remember I did a story a few years ago on the renovation and extension he designed for this old Mt Hawthorn cottage, which won him an architecture award. His homes are cool; yet relaxed and liveable, different; but not

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  • Home Envy

    A 1940s Cottage Renovation in Maylands

    April 3, 2016June 9, 2021

    When first home buyer and building designer Janik Dalecki bought a dumpy little Maylands cottage, his friends thought he had lost the plot. “The house ticked all my boxes and I instantly saw what potential it had,” he says. “But family and friends thought I was crazy and said things like, ‘it’s a bowl-over’!” But Janik,

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  • Before & After

    A 1903 Worker’s Cottage Reno

    March 17, 2015February 17, 2020

    I have always loved the tiny, original workers’ cottages in suburbs like Leederville, Subiaco and Fremantle. But although I look at them from the outside and admire their quaintness and charm, often I think that I could never live in one – I presume that they must almost always be way too small and cramped

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  • Home Envy

    A 1960s Cottage in a Quiet Country Town

    February 27, 2015May 19, 2021

    I felt like I was going back in time a bit when I went to visit this house. In a quiet town about an hour’s drive out of Perth, this 1960s red brick cottage is home to interior designer Hayley Kessner, 31, (known as Hayley Gemma) and her husband Chadd, 38, a builder and construction manager.

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  • Home Envy

    The Pretty Palmyra Weatherboard Cottage

    January 7, 2015May 2, 2021

    I love all the houses I put on House Nerd. But with its unpretentious character details, classic weatherboard build and young owners who DIYed and decorated the whole house on a shoestring budget with lots of secondhand, op shop and side-of-the-road finds, this Palmyra cottage felt extra-special to me the moment I entered. I grew

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  • Home Envy

    A Spooky Old Sea Captain’s Mansion

    October 28, 2014July 4, 2021

    Some people like gardens that are perfectly neat, with not a weed in sight or leaf out of place. But I tend to prefer the messy, crazy, overgrown ones; big and rambling, or small courtyard gardens, I like ones that enshroud their houses in dark jungle-like thickets. To me a crazy overgrown garden is so

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  • Home Envy

    Marimekko House – An Architect’s Home with a Rooftop Garden

    June 2, 2014February 12, 2020

    Architect Ariane Prevost is not what I had been expecting. I’ve gone to chat with her at her famous home, Marimekko House. I’ve been there less than two minutes and already am realising that this is an architect very different to most I know. You can freely accuse me of stereotyping an entire profession here,

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  • Home Envy

    A Small, Coastal-Inspired East Fremantle Home

    September 1, 2013July 6, 2021

    Would you trust your mum or dad to put an offer on a house for you – without seeing it in person yourself? This East Fremantle cottage was bought, sight unseen, by globetrotters Vanessa Fordham and Karl Cramond, the founders and owners of exclusive wedding and events styling and hire company Villa Kula. Since selling their business

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    housenerd

    We read this book again tonight – one that our k We read this book again tonight – one that our kids talk about a lot. Dee Kawai Tang @kawa_heart_studio wrote @the_love_is_book after she tragically lost her firstborn daughter Kawa Leaf when she was three. Dee’s husband Desmond Sweeney is the artist behind @8footwalls. While painting helped him with his grief, Dee wrote and illustrated Love Is to help herself heal; to rediscover and remind herself of the tiny things that bring love to life ✨ Designed as a kids book (but secretly for adults) the book is written in simple verse with happy illustrations. It is an easy-to-read curation of some of the sweetest pleasures in life; how the tiny experiences and fleeting moments in life are the things to be cherished most 💛
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I still remember standing in her sunny back garden studio, Dee telling me she was going to make a book in honour of Kawa. She told me she could envision every detail, right down to how the book would look and feel, like a worn antique book you'd stumble across in a secondhand shop, and I just knew she would make it happen. An amazing kickstarter later, and her book is a reality. When it turned up at our doorstep, I almost cried. It actually arrived at the perfect time, as our kids had just had their own first experience with loss. They were so sad and the book (and the big discussions it provoked about angels) really helped them. 

I admire Dee and Desmond so much. I can honestly say that Dee is one of the most beautiful and strong people I know. Despite having gone through the most heartbreaking loss a person could, she is still warm, still makes everyone laugh. To meet her is to love her, and her warmth and love for life comes through in her book. She is brilliant and it’s an honour to have her book in our home 💛😊
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#loveis #deetang #housenerd #booksforkidsandadults #loveisbook #kidsbooks #realbooks #loss #childloss #theloveisbook
    WIN 🌧️❄️✨ Curl up this winter with the WIN 🌧️❄️✨ Curl up this winter with the softest, snuggliest, ethically crafted throw from @baobabcollective. Launched this year to the Australian and New Zealand markets, this range offers a beautiful collection of blankets and throws that are sustainably sourced and ethically made at South Africa’s oldest textile manufacturer, Aranda Mills. The pieces range from traditional to graphic and contemporary, with something to suit all tastes - it was hard to narrow it down to my two favourites! 🖤 Pictured are the Tartan throw in Navy (RRP $89) and the Lyric throw in Coffee/Cobblestone ($79). What I love is how soft they are, but also versatile - I've always liked having pieces I can easily style all over the home, and these would also suit our bedroom or the kids rooms. They'd look great at the foot of a bed for an extra layer for winter! 🛌❄️☕🧤
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To enter: 
- Follow @baobabcollective.
- Tag a friend to enter the draw - 2 friends, 2 entries, 5 friends, 5 entries and so on.
- Tell me which of these two throws you'd like to win, the Tartan in Navy or the Lyric in Coffee 💙☕
Good luck!
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Winner drawn 8pm 28/07/22. Promo not endorsed, sponsored, administered by or associated with IG. There is a complete release of IG by each entrant. Open worldwide.
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#gifted #brandedcontent #housenerd #housenerdhome #baobabcollective #sustainablehomewares #sustainablehomewares #sustainablysourced #throws #competition #wablog #contest #giveawayau #australianblog #perthhomes #tartan #tartanthrow #winterinperth
    Woah my Stories blew up today when I started talki Woah my Stories blew up today when I started talking about kids birthday parties and our present drawer! For about a year or so now, I've kept a drawer of gifts in this old dresser (and wrapping paper and gift bags nearby in another). Now that the kids are in kindy and school they get invites to SO many parties - and I swear June and May have been particularly hectic! 🥳🎉😅 At one point, Mr Nerd and I were like, "Maybe we can just ask them to pick the parties they most want to go to?" 🤔 but apparently that is not how kids operate 😅 
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I had my reservations about starting a present drawer again (you can read my odd reason why in Stories 😆) but now having one seriously saves me SO much time - and money, because buying for multiple parties a weekend can sure add up! Do you have a present drawer? I'm really enjoying the conversation - how you guys budget and organise for birthday parties, and also what you think is an appropriate and sensible spend for kids gifts! 💰 I'll put the Stories and responses in my 'Adulting' tab of my Highlights 😉

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Also if Nala looks proud, it's because she thrifted this dresser with me a few years ago, we found it on the side of the road going for a walk. We cheap like that✌🏽😎 🐶
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#housenerd #housenerdhome #presentdrawer #presentideas #kidsparties #giftcupboard #parenthacks #organisedhome #makelifeorganized #perthparents #perthblog #smallroomideas #kidspresents #frugalliving #budgetideas #howwehome
    I fell in love with a house this week. Went to wri I fell in love with a house this week. Went to write some copy on this little warehouse-style home in North Fremantle for @sarah.bourke_real.estate and didn't want to leave! Look at it! 😍

Many moons ago, before my head grew cluttered with trends and overwhelmed by the noise of Pinterest and Instagram, this is exactly the kind of house I envisioned I would have one day: small and cosy with a loft bedroom, lots of reclaimed timber and recycled materials, exposed brick and soul. I LOVE IT 🖤 It was designed by now-retired architect Tom Roberts, built in 1984 and it has aged so gracefully - to me that material palette is still just as timeless today. It  has dual zoning - the front room could be used either as an office OR bedroom. Bonus points for the cute potter's studio in the garden. (And the Stop the Toad sticker 🐸)

If my hunch is correct it will go under offer in roughly two minutes, so go buy it quick haha. Once you're settled in, I'll come over with a bottle of red. 

🏠 11A Jewell Parade, North Fremantle
2 bed 1 bath
Open 10am Sat 18/06
🏘️ @sarah.bourke_real.estate
📷 @rmvision_photography
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#housenerd #housenerdhome #perthproperty #northfremantle #perthhome #warehousestyle #makememove #openhouse #industrialhome #realestateperth #exposedbrick #reclaimedtimber #perthcopywriter #WAblog #houseblog #interiorsblog #copywriterperth #architectureperth
    Who knew a cute adult nightlight was the home item Who knew a cute adult nightlight was the home item I never knew I needed? 😊💡 @beaconlighting sent me a lovely little thank you recently. This is their Odette LED Portable light (in Olive) and I love it - the stylish shape, the colour, the way it dresses up the MCM drawers I found on the kerb, and the practicality. A while ago, in an attempt to decrease how much time I spend mindlessly scrolling (a lot 😅) I started keeping my phone OFF my bedside at night, so I wouldn't scroll before sleep and upon waking up. But of course this means missing out on one of the best things about a smart phone - a torch at the ready 🔦 Now I tap the spot on this little touch lamp and carry it around - perfect for checking on the kids when they're asleep, reading a book without keeping Mr Nerd up, or getting up to write a reminder to yourself for that urgent task that *only* comes into your brain as you're about to fall asleep (I know a lot of mums in particular will relate 😅) Will link in Stories!
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#housenerdhome #gifted #housenerd #beaconlighting #bedside #thrifted #perthblog #interiorsblog #handyhomethings #usefuldecor #nightlight #odettelight #ilovelamp #interiordecor #vintage #vergefinds #smallbedroomstyling #australianhomes #realhouses #reallifehomes
    If the perfect piece of furniture doesn't exist... If the perfect piece of furniture doesn't exist... DIY your own! ✨ I've always wanted to add a drawing/Lego desk to Miss Nerd's room. But typical of lots of 70s houses like ours, her room is little - 2.7m x 2.7m (about 7.3ft) - and those of you with small spaces will understand, every inch counts! 😅 No desk I found would fit or was exactly what I wanted (swipe for the before, a hand-me-down make-do). So I roped in my clever sister @simoneanderson to help the kids and I make one. I know my strengths and weaknesses, and Simone is much handier than me and less likely to chop off a digit 🤘🏽😎
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We used two pieces of wood from @bunnings affixed together, added brackets to the walls, and Miss Nerd helped me paint it with some paint leftover from a @duluxaus collab (Dulux Edvard) 💙 
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The kids loved their little upgrade. It's a tight fit, but it makes the room more practical.
And gives just enough cosy space for them both; for Little Nerd to produce his wholesome stories, and for Miss Nerd to produce many creepy drawings to come 👹🕷️💀😶
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#housenerd #housenerdhome #DIY #DIYhome #kidsroom #smallspaces #smallkidsroom #childrensdecor #deskdiy #DIYblog #girlsroom #princessroom #smallspacesolutions #perthblog #australianblog #pocketofmyhome #
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