Simone and Rhys Haag
Homes
27th March, 2013
The amazing Melbourne home of Simone and Rhys Haag! Dining table is 'Table 12' by Hay from Corporate Culture, dining chairs are 'Neve' by Poro from Space, hanging light is a 'Disc pendant' by Toss B from Hub, print is by Ellie Malin from Modern Times, Marigold Rug on the floor by Armadillo & Co. Timber panelling painted in Dulux natural white. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Looking from Kitchen to front door / entry. Smeg fridge, cloak cupboard on right hand side, 60's Swedish rug - Simone's latest and greatest vintage purchase! Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Amazingly, the modular String System shelving from Great Dane Furniture fitted perfectly along one wall in the kitchen, and provides ample storage without adding too much chunk. It houses Simone's random assortment of ceramics, leather radio, bits and pieces. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Today's home is particularly special. I have been hunting it like some kind of stealth stake-out for over a year! When homes are this cute, you have no idea how hard it is to get them. Beautiful homes are always in hot demand - and often the prettiest ones will go to Magazine-land before us lowly bloggers can get our hands on them!
So, with all this in mind, I have to say I am pretty chuffed today to finally share this stunning home in Melbourne's Eastern suburb of Ringwood! It is such a beauty! Affectionately nick named 'The Log Cabin', this lovingly renovated 1970's timber home belongs to Simone Haag and Rhys Haag, who share the space with their larger-than-life rescue dog, Tank (a Great Dane x Irish Wolfhound).
Like some kind of dynamic duo from The Block All Stars, newlyweds Rhys and Simone spent just 3 months turning their kooky 3-bedroom home into Scandi-styled perfection! That has got to be a home renovation record! These guys seriously know how to GET THINGS DONE. It's not too surprising though, given Rhys is a construction manager, whilst Simone works for interior design studio Hecker Guthrie, looking after communications, and heading up the decor and styling department. I'd definitely call that an unfair advantage!
The home was quite dark and run down, and in dire need of an update when Simone and Rhys settled on the property in June 2011. But Simone could see the potential here, and with the expert guidance of her employers Paul Hecker and Hamish Guthrie from revered Melbourne design firm Hecker Guthrie, a clever re-furbishment was planned.
The goal was to lighten the space significantly, and give it a relaxed, Scandinavian feel. The entire house was repainted, inside and out (some rooms needed 5 coats of white!). Both the kitchen and bathroom were gutted and redesigned. New flooring was laid throughout - the main living and dining areas were softened with Austrian Larch flooring from Mafi, whilst bedrooms were finished with cosy wool carpet and additional white timber panelling to match the original walls in the living area. A 'semi ensuite' off the master bedroom was converted into a beautiful robe / dressing room (so clever - it really opens up the room!), and new lighting was installed throughout.
As a city girl whose previous home was a tiny 1 bedroom apartment, it's taken Simone a little while to grow accustomed to this space, and to the evening stillness of the surrounding neighbourhood. She now loves the feeling of calm here, the forest at the end of the street, and the roaring open fire in winter! There's also a real connection with nature, as the home is perched high on an elevated block, looking East towards the Dandenong ranges.
As is probably obvious by the picture-perfect styling here, Simone is an incredible fossicker / finder / hunter / gatherer of all manner of beautiful home accessories and knick knacks - she knows where all the best designer goodness is found, both online and in stores, and can sniff out a collectible vintage ceramic item in any dodgy op shop at 50 paces! She also has her own little blog which would welcome any new visitors today! And of course don't forget to keep abreast of all Hecker Guthrie's AMAZING work on their website! They are total geniuses.
We are so thrilled to share this very special Melbourne home with you today! Thankyou all!
Looking back into dining room, dining table is 'Table 12' by Hay from Corporate Culture, dining chairs are 'Neve' by Poro from Space, hanging light is a 'Disc pendant' by Toss B from Hub, and Danish Oak cabinet by Borge Mogensen from Angelucci. Austrian larch floor by Mafi. Timber panelling painted in Dulux natural white. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
'I love these Derek Smith ceramics given to me by Paul Hecker - they sum up the entire palette, feel and sensibility of our home' says Simone. Japanese bowls from Luke Furniture, Vase from Twenty21. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Kitchen details. The oven nook was originally where the fridge was - much better arrangement with the beautiful freestanding cooker taking pride of place! Pantry door to the right hand side. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Kitchen details. Salt container from op shop, Trudy Fry vintage ceramic plate from eBay, enamel pot from Cibi. Simone has a knack for finding these hidden treasures...! Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Christine White painting 'Retreat IV', lamp from Space and Tray Top Table by Hay from Corporate Culture. Looking into kitchen - Smeg oven, glazed brick tiles, rug from Armadillo. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Looking into living room from kitchen / dining. Jardan Wilfred sofa, Halcyon lake rug, Cappelini table, Carl Hansen wing chair, Fycus Lyrata plants, Hammock on deck. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Halcyon Lake wool rug, knitted ottoman, Ikea cabinet, Established and Sons Fold Lamp, a selection of glass and brass objects, C.Jere sculpture (on the wall) which Simone found in the USA and shipped home very carefully! Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Normann Copenhagen shelf, Log chair by Atelano, Rhys's Ozzie Wright surfboard, Font Clock by Established and Sons, design books a-plenty! Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Master bedroom, artwork, entitled 'The Fire and the Tree Quill' by Rebekah Stuart, bedside tables are vintage Hans Wegner, Italian linen bed linen and wool rug. Timber wall lining added by Simone and Rhys, wall lights sourced from Germany. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Looking into Master Bedroom from hallway. Timber door handles from Germany. Curtains made by Bloom Bespoke. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Walk in robe, that used to be the 'semi ensuite'. Kate Sylvester stool, leather door handles. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Study. Chair by Hay from Corporate Culture. 'The guitar that never gets played!' says Simone! Jielde lamp. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Guest room. Throw from ACE Hotel Palm Springs, Ikea lamp. Walls painted in Dulux Pipe Clay. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Bathroom detail. Stanley Ruiz mirror, lamp sourced from Germany, collectable ceramics from Royal Copenhagen. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Simone Haag poses (bashfully!) for us! Mark Tuckey egg cup stool, Neve chairs by Poro, pastel coloured kilim cushions, Log chair in back ground, along with Normann Copenhagen shelf. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.
Wow, dream home! I love it. Thanks Lucy!
A beautiful home…. Well worth your year of stalking lol!!
Lucy it looks like you have netted a great catch! Melbourne’s outer-East has some architectually amazing places that are ripe for mid-century lovers. Amazing style, well done Simone and nice to see a fellow String-system devotee! This is the nicest space I’ve seen in a long time.
Hey Lucy – what a beautiful home – do you know what the timber flooring is?
What a find! Yay for Melbourne’s eastern suburbs and the clever people that inhabit them. My favourite house tour so far this year! Thank you Lucy.
Beautiful, calm colour palette. I’m a fan if those ceramics and plants too!
Ridiculously incredible!
Wow, Absolutely Love Simone’s work! I love the bench detail beneath the cupboards where the full height mirror leans! Also love the hues of the grey blues employed throughout – Carried through the tiles in the kitchen to the powder coated steel console… and WHO DOESNT love cladding JUST SO cool that it meets the timber lining….all round Stunning work. Well done Simone.. you can see why Hecker pumps out brilliance every time. Georgia Ezra – http://www.gabbe.com.au, http://www.caja.com.au, http://www.threeheartsoflife.wordpress.com
Love this home too. And anyone who has a good eye for thrifted mid-century ceramics always gets my tick of approval. lol xx
wowsers… i could never be that restrained with my colours!!
a gorgeous home
Incredible. Completely in love. I’m finding lots of “inspiration” (i.e. lusting after many pieces).
Stunning! I love this home!
Just WOW! How beautiful is this one.
Totally swoon-worthy, love, love, love.
stunning!
Beautiful home! Just gorgeous!
Stunning! And a great reminder that a beautiful home doesn’t need to involve a huge renovation or be inner city.
Beautiful pieces all over the house – is that a gas or electric oven???
I just love it…
My favourite home yet! Absolutely beautiful in every way!
Wow. Amazing colour palette – so beautifully done. Feels so calm and peaceful! A truly gorgeous home.
I’d love to know what the fabric used for those bedroom curtains is … exactly what I’ve been searching for!! Lovely home.
Absolutely gorgeous home and beautiful styling by Simone.
This is my favourite house you have featured so far. So perfect!!!
Love it! So simple but truly beautiful.
Beautiful home with a lovely soothing colour palette and natural wood accents
Love the way you stalk for us Lucy!
Beautiful Space – organic and pure….love it against the great artwork!
Little bit Belgian. Little bit Nordic.
Ringers gets some style.
Beautiful. Very talented.
Stunning! Thanks so much for sharing this Lucy, it has inspired me so much, and made my day! xx
What an amazing eye for colour and texture this couple has. A polished and grown up home, that is welcoming and has truth of character.
So gorgeous. Simple, but so thoughtfully and beautifully styled. Photography is brilliant, too! Thanks for posting this, Lucy. I’ll be using some of these shots for interior inspiration! xx
oh me, oh my, i just LOVE this home!!
Amaaaaazing home Simone & Rhys. So pretty. Thanks for sharing TDF! X
There is life and style in The Burbs!
I am really pleased you are showing some houses from the ‘burbs. There are some absolutely crackers out here (even if you are just looking at it from an architectural POV vs interiors).
This is yummmmmy! Very nicely done! The house looks like it had lovely bones to work with!
Love the great use of the String shelving!
Where did you get your Fycus Lyrata Simone have been trying to hunt one down in Melbourne. Nice view of the Dandenongs that’s where i live. By the way your house is stunning, love it!
A wonderful home beautifully put together . It is a home to admire but will never achieve with four children! I liked that it was a mix of Ikea, valuable and collected pieces.
But…..I have seen it already in a magazine.
Gorgeous. So simple. So beautiful!
I think this is a nice house that has been “renovated” by sticking a whole bunch of expensive, trendy stuff in it. I wish you would feature houses that have character and charme that hasn’t been bought in a stylish, unaffordable store. If I wanted a list of cool products, I’d just buy a magazine.
Love when it all comes together in the burbs!
Wow very impressive. Can I also request the Fycus Lyrata source in Melbs?
Danish / Australia style perfection ….great taste in things, especially the pottery :)
Gorgeous blog too Simone! Pink blog/site backgrounds seem to be the new pale grey :)
This house is INSANELY cool. Love every. single. aspect.
Very special. Where do you get a bathroom sink like that? I’ve been looking everywhere.
The Marigold Rug on the floor by Armadillo & Co is perfect. Love it love it love it. Love all of it!
That’s incredible Lucy, my favourite yet! X
Reminds me of a Danish summer house..Go Ringwood!
What a wonderful plug for the eastern suburbs of Melbourne – only a stone’s through from where I live. A beautiful home and an inspiration to aim for really :)
Amazing, what’s not to love about this place? Great stuff. I live in those Hills that can be seen from Simone’s balcony… there are many treasures up in them there hills Lucy.. The painted panelling and exposed beams are gorgeous. To anyone considering plastering over them, I say paint them first, then decide.
p.s. different Simone from the Dandenongs from comment 38!
This is one of the best features that I’ve seen on this site! Does anyone know what kind of trees those indoor ones are?
All unloved houses needs a make over like this one, I can see a lot of love has gone in to this house, love it, love it, love it “all you need is love”
Thank you for bringing this to us, Lucy!
Thank you sooo much for the visit ! I love it all !
Incredible, so light such beautiful little trinkets and fixtures. Following up on an earlier questions, what floorboards are they?
Amazeballs, and I don’t even say that. This house, the finishings, the mix of materials and texture, the styling, right down to the luxurious curtains is perfect. Fabulous photography as always. Love. Thank you!
Thanks all for your wonderful comments! I am sure Simone will be proud as punch to read them all! As outlined in the story, the floorboards are Austrian Larch flooring from Mafi! http://www.mafi.com.au
Thanks all for your lovely feedback, it makes me so happy to read all your wonderful words!
Thank you so much for sharing this home. My favourite by far! Cannot stop looking at it. And that oil painting is just devine!
Clara…the indoor plants are fiddle leaf figs :)
I’ve just come across the ‘magazine-land’ waiting time with an architect’s home I want to feature. Weird that we came up with the same term for it! I will have to learn to be patient and persistent too.
Beautiful renovation. Any chance of finding out where that bathroom sink was found Lucy? It’s amazing and exactly what I’m after for my new home
As Rhysy & I celebrate with a glass of champas – we can’t help but feel very privileged to have had our home featured on The Design Files and be the recipients of so many warm and encouraging comments on not only ‘The Design Files’, but on facebook, twitter & instagram. Thank you all for affirming what we are slowly realising – and that is that ‘Ringas’ is kind of cool – and that there can be “style in the burbs”. Thank you Modernist Australia for bringing this home to our attention in the first place – as I never would have put the postcode 3134 in realestate.com otherwise.
Love ya Lucy x
The surf board is a must! :)
A simply stunning and stylish abode. Utterly inspiring, the Haag’s!
Great to see a home from the outer Eastern suburbs of Melbourne featured. There is plenty of interior eye candy in the burbs outside a 15km (or whatever!) radius of Melbourne city centre!
I like the house. But I do miss a picture with Tank on it!
Could you please tell me Where are the kitchen and bathroom tiles from?
sensational house & furniture! i love the exposed ceiling joists. stunning.
This is a very special blog. Effective, clean and nice educational blogs. I will be coming here back in a bit, thanks for the great blog.
What a beautiful place! Le sigh.
It would be really nice if Simone answered some of the questions that viewers of her lovely house have asked. i.e. where the ficus plants were purchased?
Wow, love this house! Beautifully furnished!
I would really like to know who the artist is of the artwork in the first photos.
Thanks!
Hi there,
The artist of the work in the first photo is Ellie Malin (from Modern Times).
You can buy Fycus Lyrata from The Glass Haus in Melbourne. Mine were sourced especially by a wholesale supplier as my husband is in the trade.
x
Sorry! And the tiles… Square bathroom tiles were from Buckley’s Ceramics in Glen Iris, Melbourne. The Kitchen tiles were actually a glazed brick facing from Daniel Robertson in Richmond, Melbourne. x
Beautifly balanced house. Congratulation!
I must have that bathroom sink! If you could let me know where you got it that would be amazing.
Thanks!
This home is so calm, beautiful and tranquil. It was lovely to see my art work hung there in the bedroom. I felt honored !
Rebekah Stuart
This home is picture perfect! Can you please share where the geometric print in the kitchen is from? Thank you.
Lovely home! Can anyone tell me where to find the shaggy sheepskin/throw on the log chair. Thanks
Hi Ruby, the Mongolian Goats hair is part of the Log chair – so to get the shag you have to buy the chair! Sadly the bathroom sink is a special find from Germany. x
Love love love everything about the whole house.
I love this! I pinned the living room to my Indoor Spaces pinboard. That chair is gorgeous.
Does any one know who supplies the carpet in the Bedrooms ? Such a lovely natural look and feel to it.
I would love to know the name and supplier if the carpet too. Lovely home! Thanks
Love the print by Ellie Malin in the first photo – stunning! x
Thank YOU Simone for flying the MA flag. We exist right now in FB from only, but feel free to join the gang everyone! We still have listings most weeks. Viva la Mid-Century Modernist Australian homes!
Thanks again for all of the comments! Try Whitecliff Imports for the carpet. x
im sooooo in love with your house, iv’e always had a soft spot for midcentury architecture. could u please tell me where i can order/purchase those delish door handles?
Nicole
Hi Nicole,
I got them from Thomas Hoof in Germany! Be warned, there is a bit of mucking around to get them to work as they are too heavy for a standard latch. Xx
Absolutely beautiful.
Do you mind me asking where the kitchen cupboards are from?
Can anyone give me the contact details for Bloom Bespoke who created the master bedroom curtains?
Wow Simone. You have done this most amazing job. Your home is very special. I adore Christine White piece (and everything else). B x
Glad to read a bit of positive for the Blues, it’s all been a bit gloomy in different colors. Thanks for this lovely post.
Again the Ikea cabinet pops up – can’t go wrong! Such an adorable home.
Wow, I’m in love with the bed linen> Can you give me some details please???
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Simone, I love your white wall, can you please tell me what kind of white paint you used for your house? Thanks.
Love those design tables from HAY Design you showed on one of the pictures. They are so easy to mix & match.
http://www.mikkili.com/home-accessories/catalog/hay-design-shop/tray-table-side-table-hay-design.html
ahhhhh… SO much beautiful timber!!! Very well executed and balanced. I love the subtle tones and calming feel! feels like a mix between contemporary and classic somehow.
Just beautiful. I am trying to decide on carpet in my master bedroom. I wonder if you could tell me what brand the carpet is in the bedroom please? Those beautiful linen curtains are inspiring me too :)
This home is so light and inviting. We regularly refer to it for inspiration :)
The light fixtures gives a brighter ambiance to all renovations.
I love how the interior looks like. It is very neat and clean
I like all the design and the arrangement of the houses and their respective kitchen and their living room.
keep coming back to this page, the designs are timeless, they look just as good today as the first time i saw them several years ago.