Our Contemporary Cottage Transformation By Three Birds Renovations

Situated in Windsor, a historic town north-west of Sydney, House 12 is a cute little cottage that was ripe for a contemporary update.

Our vision for the home was a #contemporarycottage which, for us, meant lots of warmth, natural tones and textures, coupled with practical features like plenty of storage, which every family needs.

We’re huge fans of James Hardie’s diverse range of fibre cement cladding products because we love that it can be used to give the look of timber or the look of render, depending on your vision.

At House 12, lots of cladding, inside and out, was part of our vision to bringlayers and texture to each space, coupled with a dreamy colour palette.

Let’s take a look how we combined Stria™ Cladding, Axon™ Cladding and Hardie™ Deck to help create our vision…

Exterior

For the exterior of the house, we wanted to pay homage to the history of the area and the original cottage whilst making it more contemporary and creating a gorgeous, low-maintenance home for the busy modern family who live here.

We replaced the old timber cladding with brand spanking new James Hardie Stria™ and installed it vertically rather than horizontally to help put the ‘contemporary’ in to Contemporary Cottage. We chose the wider 255mm Stria™ Cladding board width which also helps to create the contemporary look and throws deeper shadow lines for added detail.

Unlike timber, which can warp and have split paint over time, fibre cement lasts longer and the paint will stay looking fresher for many years to come too.

Out the back, we used Axon™ Cladding, another fibre cement product that comes in panels (rather than individual shiplap boards, like Stria™ Cladding) and gives the look of perfectly crafted vertical joint timber. We chose Axon™ Cladding Grained (as opposed to the smooth finish we used internally) for extra texture.

Painted Dulux ‘Pozieres’, a subtle sage green, ­and trimmed with Axent window trims in Dulux ‘White’ Dune, the cottage has a whole new lease on life.

Interior touches

Fibre cement is ideal for areas like kitchens and laundries because it resists moisture and doesn’t rot like timber does. Gotta love a product that practical as well as pretty!

We just can’t get enough of Axon™ Cladding and find a place to use it in all of our homes. In the kitchen at House 12, we lined the walls with Axon™ Cladding Smooth to create interest and texture and replicated this on the interior walls of the shed-cum-bar, all painted Dulux ‘Clay Pipe’ for dreamy, luxe vibes.

For added wow factor we carried the Axon™ Cladding Smooth panels along the bench seating throughout the home as well. Did we mention we can’t get enough of this product?!

Decking

HardieDeck has been a mainstay in many of our renovations for many years now and we’ve used it again at House 12 for the alfresco dining space. We love that it’s low maintenance, won’t splinter little feet and looks fabulous too!

Sealed in a gorgeous warm sandy colour it creates a clean look to connect indoors and outdoors, without risking damage from the elements. Smooth, wide boards with clean lines and new finishing boards (to create a bordered edge – a first for us!) complete the look.

The combination of James Hardie cladding and colour throughout the home helped create the Contemporary Cottage of our homeowners’ dreams.

Download James Hardie Home Renovation Guide here.