NOV 30|5 min read
In an exclusive guest article for Adairs Insider, Three Birds Renovations share their expertise in styling Mick Fanning's coastal property, Rolling Seas.
It’s not every day that a 3 x World Champion surfer asks you to help turn his family home into the ultimate coastal holiday pad. So, when Mick and his fiancée, Bree, contacted us to style their stunning beachfront property at Bilinga on the Gold Coast, we jumped at the chance.
Aptly named ‘Rolling Seas’, the home was built by Mick back in 2014 and features a three-storey main house and self-contained cottage, sleeping up to 20 guests. It features white walls and white-washed floorboards with many reclaimed materials used throughout the property, like mis-matched timber doors, exposed beams, an intricately detailed wrought iron balustrade and recycled bricks.
As you’d imagine, at Three Birds Renovations, renovations are usually our thing so this project was totally different for us because the house was already fabulously renovated. Our brief was simple - to go to town with all the furnishings and styling required to create a beautiful and comfortable stay for guests.
Love this look? Here are 5 ways you can recreate the magic of Rolling Seas at your place:
In-keeping with the style of the house and its coastal setting, our vision was natural cream, clay and rust tones throughout the home to add warmth - in contrast to the cool white walls and floors. We used the same colour palette across the furniture, soft furnishings and linens alike to achieve a cool, calm and coastal feel in every room.
What better way to add contrast and interest to a space than with gorgeous textures? We’re huge fans of raw linen, wool boucle, luxe velvets, natural rattan and jute, all thrown together to create a textural dream.
In the main bedroom at Rolling Seas, we combined cream boucle sofas with a gorgeous plush Iowa Black & Natural tufted cotton rug to soften the white hardwood floors. Sheer linen curtains and a woven basket pendant add to the array of different textures.
We love to create kitchens that you’ll actually want to slave away in. Traditionally they’re a functional space but that doesn’t mean you can’t style your kitchen to make it look good too. Open wall shelving is a simple way to store and display your fancy glasses, jars and vases, like the San Marino vessels we used at Rolling Seas.
Easy Kitchen Styling Tip:
Start with art! We chose these cute artworks to sit on the top shelf and used the colours from them to select the other styling pieces.
Comfy beds and cosy bedding are essential for a good night’s rest after a long day at the beach.
In the main bedroom at Rolling Seas, we chose fresh white Vintage Washed Linen bedding as the base, and then added earthy, rusty accent tones through the cushions and throw.
PSA: if you’re styling a coastal home, sailing boats and anchors are not essential! It’s totally possible to pick some perfect styling pieces to create a coastal home without the traditional nautical look.
At Rolling Seas we chose some more authentic items, like Mick Fanning’s own surfboard (he had a few to spare!) as a fun addition to the games room and added touches of greenery (the windswept kind you’d actually find on the coast) to bring the outside in. The Mojave Plant is a perfect feature piece for any room and it’s as low maintenance as it gets, being faux. It’s so good that we actually used it in two different bedrooms to add a fresh pop of green.