An open secret At home with lifestyle entrepreneur Shelley Simpson - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Interiors An open secret At home with lifestyle entrepreneur Shelley Simpson By You Magazine - February 17, 2019 Huge glass sliding doors, double-height ceilings, concrete floors… Not your average Victorian terrace! Lifestyle entrepreneur Shelley Simpson reveals how she transformed a dilapidated townhouse into this bright, airy family home. Shelley Simpson, founder and managing director of interiors brand Mud Australia (mudaustralia.com), her husband James Kirton, the company’s executive director, their children Violette, 22, and Spencer, 18, and Paris, the family’s cavoodle, live in the Sydney suburb of Newtown. Their 1860s four-storey terrace house has three bedrooms and a studio. Shelley in front of a vintage poster of Jacques Tati’s Mon Oncle, one of James’s favourite films. Image: Petrina Tinslay For Shelley, founder of interiors brand Mud Australia – much loved by the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Nigella Lawson for its vibrantly hued, hard-wearing porcelain tableware and home accessories – her move into a new home was an opportunity to create from scratch a multitasking space for relaxing and entertaining. ‘We love to cook for family and friends, so it was really important that there was a great casual-feeling, warm and welcoming flow between all areas of the house,’ says Shelley. Violette and Paris by the kitchen’s sliding doors, which have a view of the garden and local church. Image: Petrina Tinslay To this end, she and her husband James thought nothing of sacrificing part of the first floor to build a double-height, open-plan kitchen and dining area (‘it’s where we spend so much of our time’), nor losing a room to create a master bedroom upstairs which stretches across its full 25-foot width, complete with capacious bathtub and walk-in wardrobe. The stainless-steel kitchen unit is by Bulthaup (bulthaup.com). The overhead ventilation and storage – painted in aluminium – was designed by architects DesignOffice (designoffice.com.au), referencing US artist Donald Judd’s three-dimensional works. All cabinets and storage areas are made from American ash, with a Corian work surface. Image: Petrina Tinslay The house is a long way from how it looked when Shelley and James bought it in 2014. ‘It was untouched since the 1970s,’ she remembers, ‘it was cold and damp, with walls painted in high-gloss burgundy, raw floorboards and a pocket-handkerchief kitchen.’ The renovation took 18 months but it allowed the couple to customise every little detail to complement their needs. Each floor was remodelled, the attic converted into Spencer’s bedroom and a studio in the garden built for aspiring artist Violette. The ‘Martini’ room is the perfect spot for enjoying an aperitif and playing music. The two 6910 armchairs and T111 coffee table were designed in the 1960s by Horst Brüning for Kill International (pamono.co.uk). Image: Petrina Tinslay For consistency, the same American ash has been used for joinery throughout the house – ‘it feels contemporary and fresh,’ says Shelley. So, too, does the way she’s lined door architraves with steel and created marble thresholds between each room. The exposed brick and polished concrete floors of the kitchen and dining space add a modernist touch. The generously proportioned entrance hall creates a warm welcome. The table is from barberosgerby.com. Image: Petrina Tinslay The furniture, lovingly collected over many years, is a combination of classic designs and comfort: for example, Shelley describes the BDDW sofa (bddw.com) in the front living room as James’s ‘midlife crisis’ piece – eye-wateringly expensive, she admits, but worth every penny. The master bedroom’s grey-blue walls, painted in Dulux’s Endless Dusk, provide a serene backdrop to a painting by renowned Australian artist Paul Worstead. For a similar vintage rug, try frenchconnection.com. Image: Petrina Tinselly While Shelley is known for creating colourful hand-finished plates, bowls and mugs in bright shades, at home she favours dusky greys and creams for a more muted mood. ‘Here, I want colour to enhance – not dominate – my life,’ she explains. ‘The more time I spend here the more I never want to leave.’ Report by Fiona McCarthy RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Aldi s pumpkin-shaped casserole dish is all we want for Halloween 7 of the best money-saving kitchen gadgets to invest in this winter Aldi has restocked miniature velvet chairs and sofas for your dog DON' T MISS Fiona Bruce Sometimes I struggle not to cry November 14, 2021 17 beautiful 2021 diaries to help you to look forward to December 4, 2020 Why women leave men for women What’ s fuelling the rise of April 28, 2019 Hollywood veteran Laura Linney on plastic surgery friendship and her stellar July 3, 2017 You can shop the khaki jumpsuit from Holly Willoughby’ s new M& S July 17, 2019 The secrets and lies behind this happy family photo April 11, 2021 It’ s cocktail hour Olly Smith’ s cocktail recipes and Eleanor Maidment s canapé November 14, 2021 BBC One has revealed its Christmas TV schedule and there’ s lots December 2, 2020 YOU Beauty Box August Reviews August 1, 2017 Rome has been named the cheapest major city to visit in August 7, 2019 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. 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