My sister Elise has restored her house from the ground up.  Literally.   Her house was on the ground when she bought it.  And it was the wonkiest house I have EVER been in.  You got seasick walking around as the floors were so up and down.

The master bedroom with a second hand blackwood bed and Ikea 100% linen doona, art by Jenny Riddle – theseccondhandcity.com

The fireplace holds a collection of little things including an antique painting

Hat stands and hats in the master bedroom – thesecondhandcity.com

These little birds were painted by Grandma Rae (Nick’s nanna) – thesecondhandcity.com

As soon as they settled Elise and Nick went straight to work.  It was stripped and restumped, rewired and replastered.  The floors were pulled up and re-put-down with ducted heating underneath.

At the start it was a bit of an extended family project (luckily for her she did it before the children arrived – when we all actually HAD spare time).  Still some things took a while.  For example, the asbestos cladding on three walls of the outside toilet (the only toilet) was removed early on and replaced with an elegant green tarp.

It remained this way for TWO YEARS – a joy for the neighbours I am sure (their outdoor entertaining area was about 1 metre from the breezy loo).

The original green bath and basin were incorporated into the new bathroom. Oil painting by local artist Stephen Armstrong – the secondhandcity.com

This lovely tree is by Jackie Case – thesecondhandcity.com

Second hand towel hooks – thesecondhandcity.com

Since then they have had builders in twice to do bits and pieces (hooray for an inside toilet) and have also kept doing lots of things themselves.

It is not a renovated house as such, just restored.  They have basically worked within the original footprint of the house and made the most of what they had.

It is now a great 3 bedroom weatherboard home, full of character, with a lovely, restful native garden.

The rug in the lounge room was purchased on Ebay, the large picture is by artist Suzanne Hutton, the cushions are home made – thesecondhandcity.com

The white extension table comes from Ikea. The chairs were bought on Ebay and came from a lovely old house in Mornington. The artwork is from Papua New Guinea – thesecondhandcity.com

The counter in the kitchen is actually an old timber cupboard with 2 drawers and 2 doors. The kitchen is still a work in progress, thesecondhandcity.com.au

These stools also came from Rosebud – thesecondhandcity.com

Bentwood chair – thesecondhandcity.com

This industrial trolley, bought at Once Upon a Time in Rosebud, holds all the daily dinnerset – thesecondhandcity.com

This meat safe was inherited from friends and hangs from the beam above the kitchen bench – thesecondhandcity.com

This red chair is one of a pair purchased on Ebay, the cushion is home made from a teatowel – thesecondhandcity.com

A clawfoot bath – thesecondhandcity.com

The BBQ sits on a table found out on their street – thesecondhandcity.com

The paving is made from bricks from the property and from the neighbours across the road – thesecondhandcity.com