It took Freya Salter and her husband Richard O’Dea three and a half years to carefully renovate their Woollahra home.
“We started in August 2020 and due to the labour shortage during that time, Richard built a large part of the house himself,” adds Freya, who also undertook the remodelling of the house.
In addition to reconfiguring rooms to improve the home’s privacy, insulation and ventilation, the works extended the house toward the street and added a new third floor at the front.
“The kitchen, dining room and living room were all in one place, about half the size they are now,” says Freya.
The existing layout of the house featured two separate fibre and brick dwellings arranged around a central courtyard, filling the home with the natural light and sense of space that the family loved. But as a designer with her own eponymous firm, Freya wanted to add a personal touch to the interiors, creating a new colour palette that referenced the natural materials she remembered from her time working in southern Italy.
“I love the way the simplicity of the painted brick, limestone and wood come together to create a layered, serene environment,” she says.
They kept the side walls and patio, and enhanced this feature with a new double-height space overlooking the garden. One of the biggest “hurdles” in the renovation was simply getting the glass windows and doors into the property – “it took cranes and manpower to maneuver the large glass panels into place” – but the end result is part of what makes the house so serene.
Large windows provide outdoor views in almost every room, with the upstairs master bedroom now enjoying views of Cooper Park and Double Bay.
Sage green accents and chalky whites play well with the warm woods in the kitchen, and flow in similar colors throughout the rest of the house—except for the rust-colored silk wallpaper in the couple’s bedroom. It’s a slightly more somber space, where deep-colored carpets and thick, luxurious curtains make the room feel like a private sanctuary.
“I love our bedroom,” Freya adds. “It has a beautiful view. We look out onto the trees during the day and the city lights at night.”
