A non-cohesive villa is transformed into a beautifully styled, Sydney-inspired beach pad for this Dunedin family
Who lives here?
Claire Williams (consultant), Kris Williams (investment adviser), and children Olivia and Tom.
Where is your home? St Clair, Dunedin.
How long have you lived here? Two years.
Claire, what did you change about the original house?
We opened up three non-cohesive rooms to create a large open-plan kitchen/living/dining space. Little did we realise in the beginning that this would essentially involve ripping down the exterior walls and starting again. We also combined a separate loo and bathroom into a single, more functional family bathroom.
We already had a vision of what we wanted to achieve with the space. Coming from Sydney, we were keen to bring some of the elements we’d seen in homes over there to our beach pad in Dunedin – bearing in mind the difference in climate! Steve Mowat, our builder, was excellent at providing guidance and suggested a pitched roof with skylights, which has really made the room. My own ideas were validated with my interior designer, Talia O’Connor from MintSix.
Best renovation tip?
Don’t cut corners. We were faced with decisions along the way where we had to either cut costs or take a leap and we never regretted the decisions where we took the more expensive route.
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During. Little did they realise in the beginning that the renovation would essentially involve ripping down the exterior walls and starting again.

Claire Williams (consultant), Kris Williams (investment adviser), Olivia, 5, and Tom, 2, plus Jake the pug.

Before. Three non-cohesive rooms were opened up to create a large open-plan kitchen/living/dining space.

After. Claire says the kitchen is her favourite room in the house. “I love standing there and being able to see the whole room and see the kids playing outside.”

The kitchen tiles are from The Tile Centre, pendant lights are Muuto from MintSix, bespoke cabinetry by Wood Solutions and bar stools from Cintesi.

Claire says the one of best makeover moments was seeing the kitchen going in as the it spelt the end of dining in the garage!

The dining table is from London and the chairs are from Me & My Trend.

The new space has a concrete floor with underfloor heating which means the family can enjoy it during the Dunedin winter without needing to load up on the sweaters.

The pendant light over the table is from Moi Design

Claire says they saved money on the the concrete benchtop. “It’s very hard-wearing and much cheaper than other materials we looked at.”

Before. A separate loo and bathroom were combined into a single, more functional family bathroom.

After. The bathroom features tiles from the Tile Centre and a bathtub from Oakleys.

The black Danish tapware was a worth-it budget blow-out.

An investment buy was a big leather couch from McKenzie & Willis.

Claire lists her favourite shops as MintSix, Moi Design, Father Rabbit, Indie Home Collective and Citta.

The half-circle Scandi artwork is from MintSix.

The Williams already had some furniture pieces from their travels that needed to be tied into the overall look.

Claire describes their style as a cross between industrial, Scandi and French provincial.

“We absolutely love it. It has made the house a home, which is what we were aiming for,” says Claire.

Tom’s room features a bright rocking horse from Ikea.

The fun gold stripes in Olivia’s room were created with Dulux ‘Stowe White Half’ and Resene ‘Gold Dust’.

In the master bedroom, striped wallpaper from Resene is a feature.
Get the look:
Kitchen/living/dining walls throughout Dulux ‘Stowe White Half’; kitchen tiles from The Tile Centre; pendant lights are Muuto from MintSix; bespoke cabinetry by Wood Solutions; bar stools from Cintesi; dining table from London; chairs from Me & My Trend; reindeer hide from Moi Design; pendant light over table from Moi Design; grey sofa from Sydney; beanbag from Citta; Stendig calendar from MintSix; Scandi artwork (half-circles) from MintSix; wooden chair in corner, Matt Blatt, Australia; grass basket from MintSix; side unit with large mirror from The Bronte Tram, Sydney; leather couch from McKenzie & Willis; coffee table from The Bronte Tram in Sydney. Tom’s room Bed from Trade Me; bedlinen from Country Road; postbox bedside table from Mocka; rocking horse from Ikea. Olivia’s room Gold stripes in Dulux ‘Stowe White Half’ and Resene ‘Gold Dust’; bed from Domayne Furniture, Sydney; bedlinen from Country Road. Master bedroom Wallpaper from Resene; bedlinen from Country Road; black word cushion from Top3 by Design; yellow side table secondhand; light from Lighting Direct. Bathroom Tiles from The Tile Centre; bespoke vanity by Wood Solutions; mirror from Superette; bath from Oakleys.
Words by: Kristina Rapley. Photography by: Emily Hlavac Green.