Ever since our managing editor Sally Tabart moved into this home last year, we’ve been so excited to see it evolve!
This 1920s double fronted bungalow in Thornbury was bought by Sally and her partner Jeremy, a primary school teacher, last year. They now live here with their friends, Fushia, who is marketing and partnerships manager at Schwartz Media, and Jack, a carpenter.
How Sally and Jeremy came to own this house is a story unlike most first homeowners, in that it all happened rather quickly! ‘We were both very lucky to have come into some money at a similar time and started to look at houses in a “what if, one day?” kind of way.’ Sally says. ‘I know lots of people love to scroll through houses for sale online but I found the whole thing very stressful and didn’t enjoy it at all!’ Luckily, it was only a few months into the process that they stumbled across their future home.
The back of the house had been renovated just prior to purchasing, resulting in an open-plan kitchen, living and dining space that opens up to a deck and a lovely little garden. ‘The previous owners did a perfect, modest renovation while they were here. I love that it doesn’t look super flashy or new… It has real soul and character,’ says Sally. ‘I would not have done anything differently!’
A few tweaks later, the house now feels like a true reflection of Sally and Jeremy – bright, warm and filled with personality! They’ve updated the carpet, swapped out the heavy drawstring drapes for white linen curtains, and installed a flatpack, built-in wardrobe customised with white glossy handles from Linear Standard. Light fittings in the dining and kitchen areas have also been switched to a pair of mustard Verner Panton Flowerpot pendants, and a 70s-style paper lantern in the living room.
The eclectic vibe of this house can be attributed to Sally and Jeremy’s collection of knick-knacks and art dotted throughout every space. ‘I’m no good at minimalism and really like to have special, personal things everywhere,’ Sally explains. ‘There hasn’t been any rhyme or reason to the way the aesthetic has evolved – it’s just a treasure chest of things that we love and that have meant something to us.’ Sally notes two Heath Wae paintings are amongst her most treasured possessions, having developed a ‘really nice friendship’ with the Byron-based artist since she first wrote about his work on TDF in 2018.
Almost all the furniture here has been sourced over the years from one of Sally and Jeremy’s closest friends and former housemate, Pip Newell, who runs the second-hand furniture selling platform Curated Spaces. One of their most cherished items is the three-tiered Hollywood regency swivel coffee table in the living room, which Pip found on eBay. ‘It was in our old sharehouse when I moved in – I was obsessed with it! She let us keep it when she moved to Queensland. It’s nice to have something that reminds us of that amazing crazy sharehouse we all lived in!’
Visit this home on any given weekend (and sometimes weeknights!) and you’ll likely find the household hosting a dinner party (when allowed!) while playing records from Jeremy’s extensive collection. ‘I hope that our house feels happy, safe and warm,’ says Sally. ‘We love having people over and have tried to make it feel as comforting and cosy as possible – the kind of place you want to drink wine, share meals and have dance parties all night, or hang out playing music, enjoying the light and looking at beautiful things all day. Not a day goes by where we don’t look at each other and say, ‘Can you believe we get to live here?’’
