Inspiration is Everywhere!

Jun 11

Marcus and I have always been interested in property, architecture and buildings in general. For as long as we’ve been together, we have driven around neighbourhoods looking at houses, selected holiday accommodation based on the architecture and interior stylings of a property, and scoured real estate listings ‘for fun’.

While my addiction to collecting house magazines has evolved into a more cost-effective past time of perusing and pinning ideas on Pinterest, our desire to find inspiration in all of our surroundings has not waned. Whether it has been the majesty of the Grand Central Station terminal in New York or the quirky, original structure that houses Grist Bakery in Kyneton, we take pleasure in the unique design and character of the many and varied spaces we have come across in our travels.

When our ‘magnum opus’ was in the inception phase, we certainly visited display homes and viewed local real estate like most people do to get a feel for what we liked and what we didn’t like….but we didn’t stop there! Over the years, a number of beautiful properties had caught our attention - many as ‘bucket-list’ places to visit! - and we saved them in a folder so, when the time came, we could use them for inspiration in building our own house. Featured below are a few of the properties that inspired us: the Endless Sky ranch in Montana that I have mentioned in a previous post, Bunker Bay Resort in Western Australia, Blanket Bay Lodge in New Zealand and Spicers Peak Lodge in Queensland.

When you lay these properties out side by side, as they are in the gallery below, you can certainly see a theme in what we are drawn to! We like chunky timbers and natural stone. We like a lot of windows to both let in light and frame the views of the surrounding landscape. We like volume in our spaces, predominantly through high ceilings. We like interesting roof lines and exposed timber ceilings…..and we are clearly drawn to luxury resorts - ha!! And when all of this inspiration came together in our own home, the result was a build that we believe captured the vibe of the beautiful properties we had been inspired by - albeit a very scaled down version!

So, if you are seeking inspiration when building your dream home, consider looking beyond local display homes or perusing mainstream house magazines. While these reference points can definitely be great sources of inspiration, don’t be afraid to think outside the box! Do you have a favourite building or interior space that has the look and feel you are trying to create? It could be a restaurant, shop, hotel, winery, reception venue or any building that makes you feel both comfortable and inspired all at once. What features are you drawn to? The building materials or proportions? The interior or exterior? The flooring or lighting*? (yes, we even sourced a chandelier for our home after seeing one we liked in a local retail space!)

While I am not suggesting that you should be aiming to replicate a multi-million dollar luxury resort, there is nothing stopping you being inspired by the elements of a beautiful building or piece of architecture and incorporating these into your own home.

So don’t limit your imagination; pay attention to what you are drawn to and remember, inspiration is everywhere!

Jenny