Amber House is a playful reimagination of a Mid North Coast home for a young family seeking a genuine tree-change.

Set amongst the lush landscape of the Nambucca Valley, the project centres around adapting an existing home to better support a slower, more connected way of living. Rather than pursuing scale or excess, the design focuses on warmth, flexibility and the everyday rituals that enrich family life; cooking together, entertaining friends, gardening and opening the home to the outdoors.

Originally a modest, late-1970s timber house with modernist sensibilities (perhaps ‘poor man’s modernism’), the project isn’t a textbook restoration, but a considered response to good bones and a strong original spirit. Through careful planning changes, warmth and playfulness, the tired home has been gently elevated beyond its original state into a relaxed family retreat, one that invites the doors to be thrown open and everyday life to unfold with ease.

When our clients purchased the house it was rich with character: eight original wallpapers, vintage yellow Caroma fixtures, and a joyful, unapologetic use of colour. Some areas beautifully intact, but most tired from decades of family life.

The name Amber House is a quiet play on words, a nod to the use of colour our clients embraced, and to a treasured Liquidambar tree on the site. The home's ongoing renovation is guided by one clear brief: 'no white walls'.

A mustard-hued kitchen nods to its original yellow predecessor and has become the heart of the home - designed for pizza nights, craft projects and long afternoons at the island bench.

The original family bathroom was tired and in dire need of updating. A high level lead-light window restricted views into the sweeping valley. The dream, to brush one’s teeth while watching kangaroos hop by and no more flaking chipboard.

By lowering the window sill and keeping the original opening, the bathroom now drinks in the surrounding greenery. The mirror becomes an extension of the landscape reflecting the rich green hues of the bathroom.

The oversized shower welcomes post‑swim chaos with room to spare. As with the ensuite, a single, beautiful piece of stone resolves the threshold into the shower, concealing the water stop and meeting the fall of the tiles with quiet precision.

The ensuite was the only space the original owners had previously renovated, but the layout never really worked. By redirecting access through the robe, we improved circulation and zoning, creating a space that functions as it should; no more wet feet when using to the loo.

Made for family life, and cold kids racing in after a pool swim the bathroom is now a colourful, hard‑working little space. The shower is generous despite the compact footprint, proving that small can still feel joyful and practical.

Our clients adore their house and we have loved helping them shape it into a home that reflects their values. It is a playful and functional family home. Even with the renovations ongoing the house feels deeply complete, filled with colour, memory, and the messy, joyful rhythms of family life.