Houzz Tours
My Houzz: Cozy Country Meets Bohemian Artistic in Australia
Healthy helpings of salvage and rustic art give a pastureland home free-spirited style
Thanks to a mutually beneficial relationship with some friends, Australians Harriet Goodall, Mat Campbell and their two children get to live in a rustic country cottage. In exchange, Campbell manages the surrounding 96 acres of lush Southern Highlands pastureland and livestock for the property’s owners.
With views across rolling green fields to the expansive Tasman Sea, the home is blessed with fresh ocean breezes on hot summer days, plenty of room for the family and a menagerie of free-roaming animals. The interior of their late-1940s home is brimming with a curated collection of inherited, rescued, gathered and DIY furnishings from around the world.
Goodall, an artist, uses the space to display her woven light shades, wall art and creative embellishments, part of the couple’s rustic, free-spirited style.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Harriet Goodall and Mat Campbell; their children, Banjo (age 6) and Clementine (3); and Australian Cattle Dog Badja
Location: Robertson, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia
Size: 1,722 square feet (160 square meters) on 96 acres of land; 3 bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms
With views across rolling green fields to the expansive Tasman Sea, the home is blessed with fresh ocean breezes on hot summer days, plenty of room for the family and a menagerie of free-roaming animals. The interior of their late-1940s home is brimming with a curated collection of inherited, rescued, gathered and DIY furnishings from around the world.
Goodall, an artist, uses the space to display her woven light shades, wall art and creative embellishments, part of the couple’s rustic, free-spirited style.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Harriet Goodall and Mat Campbell; their children, Banjo (age 6) and Clementine (3); and Australian Cattle Dog Badja
Location: Robertson, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia
Size: 1,722 square feet (160 square meters) on 96 acres of land; 3 bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms
AFTER: The couple renovated the kitchen using pieces rescued from a nearby kitchen demolition. This includes all the cabinetry, the fan-forced Miele oven, the range hood, the sink and the faucet. The countertop is laminated wood from Ikea, which the couple integrated into an Ikea Stenstorp island to form a breakfast bar. With plumbing and electrical, the kitchen renovation came to $3,800 Australian (U.S.$3,414).
Pieces of the laminated-wood countertop were mounted to the wall to form floating shelves. A pair of reclaimed wood bar stools from friends at Rabbit Trap Timber was topped with goat hide; the friends received one of Goodall’s woven pendant lights in exchange.
Porter’s chalkboard paint in Licorice provides a dark backdrop to the light cabinetry and wood shelves, while giving the children a place to doodle. After watching a tutorial on YouTube, Goodall installed Australian tiles (a steal at 50 cents each) across the backsplash.
Porter’s chalkboard paint in Licorice provides a dark backdrop to the light cabinetry and wood shelves, while giving the children a place to doodle. After watching a tutorial on YouTube, Goodall installed Australian tiles (a steal at 50 cents each) across the backsplash.
Goodall made the Wasp Nest pendant lights that hang over the table and breakfast bar by recycling cardboard lining from dishwasher packaging. The kitchen blinds are made from charcoal-colored woolen blankets from an army surplus store. The heavy fabric helps to keep the home warm in winter and cool in summer, and is in keeping with the family’s rustic style. The painting is by Australian artist Gail English; it was given to the couple as a wedding gift.
The pine kitchen table belongs to the owners of the property, and is paired with a set of oak chairs with sea grass seats from Goodall’s childhood home.
The pine kitchen table belongs to the owners of the property, and is paired with a set of oak chairs with sea grass seats from Goodall’s childhood home.
This industrial dresser is a salvaged piece from an old workshop, providing makeshift storage for kitchen knickknacks. A collection of ceramic and terra-cotta bowls sits on top, along with a traditional tagine.
A 1960s wicker tub chair in the entry is softened with a sheepskin from the farm. The wall cupboard displays found objects from around the property, including butterflies and fallen birds’ nests. A found sheep horn holds a collection of sun hats and Campbell’s fishing bag.
Clementine sleeps in Goodall’s childhood iron bed, under a sprinkling of gold foil polka dots that Goodall made from Chinese joss paper she found at an Asian grocery store. Clementine’s great-grandmother made the quilts on both beds.
The hand-stitched recycled-fabric kangaroo was a gift from American illustrator Phoebe Wahl. Noah Dubreuil, a film prop maker, made the Darling Clementines box from old fruit box labels. Goodall made the two mobiles.
Wall paint: Mist, Porter’s Paint
The hand-stitched recycled-fabric kangaroo was a gift from American illustrator Phoebe Wahl. Noah Dubreuil, a film prop maker, made the Darling Clementines box from old fruit box labels. Goodall made the two mobiles.
Wall paint: Mist, Porter’s Paint
Goodall painted the colorful banner to help Clementine learn to spell her 10-letter name.
A hand-dyed macramé light shade made by Natalie Miller hangs in Banjo’s bedroom. Curtains fashioned from 1970s farm-yard fabric fit in perfectly with the vibrant decor. Goodall’s aunt, Georgia Goodall, makes a knit blanket for every baby born into the family.
Wall paint: Apple Crunch, Porter’s Paint; bedding: Barnslig Ulven, Ikea
Wall paint: Apple Crunch, Porter’s Paint; bedding: Barnslig Ulven, Ikea
The master bedroom features a mix of textiles given to the couple as gifts or bought on their travels throughout India, South America and Africa. The wool wall hanging above the bed was purchased in an antiques store in their favorite city, Buenos Aires. Goodall’s dried wedding bouquet hangs in the far corner.
Goodall and her mother made the master bedroom curtains from plain white cotton with a backing cloth. The burlap used for the curtain loops was bought from a garden store. The vintage camel saddlecloth is from a trip to India, and the “Love” sign above is from a Sydney garage sale. The letters originally spelled “Roseville Oval,” but over the years have been rearranged in a number of different configurations.
Cabinet: Reviva Centre; painting: Gail English
Cabinet: Reviva Centre; painting: Gail English
Badja the Blue Heeler (Australian Cattle Dog) stands guard at the entryway next to some potted succulents.
The box elder tree in the back garden was just about the only plant in this area when the couple moved in; it provides a great canopy for entertaining.
A family of ducks provides the residents with eggs and fertilizes the vegetable garden.
The family enjoys a Saturday-morning breakfast of locally made croissants slathered with their homemade blackberry jam.
The couple planted all the shrubs around the house, as well as this tree, which commemorates Banjo’s first birthday. The house enjoys ocean views over the surrounding farmland.
Just down the road, in the town of Robertson, is Goodall’s shared artist’s studio. Originally the local hardware store, the space is now a hive of creative activity.
In the front gallery space, a trestle table from Rabbit Trap Timber displays a range of printed materials from upcoming and past exhibitions, while one of Goodall’s creations hangs above. Moroccan rugs adorn the floor of the gallery, which includes works by friends, including Steve “Ozzie” Austin, whose painting is shown here.
A vintage fox-skin rug adorns a corner of the weaving studio; Goodall made the mixed-media pendant light from red dogwood, willow, palm flower stalks, corrugated iron and hemp string.
Goodall’s sculptures mostly combine salvaged farm detritus and collected plant materials, such as the unspun and hand-spun hemp fibers shown on the table. A work in progress, “Bushfire Regeneration,” hangs in the background.
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More: My Houzz: Quirky Charm on Aussie Farmland
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More: My Houzz: Quirky Charm on Aussie Farmland
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The coffee table is made from an old wool press rescued from Coolibah, the property in Young, New South Wales, where Goodall grew up. A wool bale stencil of the same name sits atop bookshelves made from a vegetable rack found at the local dump. The couple added casters and stained decking timber as part of its reinvention.
The floor cushions are made from 100 percent alpaca wool potato sacks that Campbell carried home from a backpacking trip around Peru.