Exuding a stylish elegance, Danni Morrison is putting her interior design knowledge into practice with the ultimate master project – converting a traditional Colonial-style property into the Hamptons home of her dreams.

The words ‘home sweet home’ are stamped onto the woven coir doormat underneath my feet, as I knock on the double cedar doors. Danni Morrison answers the door to her slice of the Hamptons on the Sunshine Coast and I feel like I’ve stepped into an interiors magazine.

One of my most competent abilities is to picture something in my head completely and implement it.”

While Danni assures me the house is a “work in progress” I see nothing but perfection, right down to the hand-painted navy blue and white striped walls in the billiards room.

When looking for the ideal canvas for their renovation dream-home, Danni and partner Matt assumed they would end up in a brand new home, but fell in love with the architecture of the 18-year-old Colonial-style home tucked away in Tanawha.

“It has so much charm; beautiful 3m-high ceilings, a fireplace, custom skirting, Tasmanian Oak flooring and a hardwood deck,” she says.

“Even though it had a lot of flaws, there was so much beauty in the natural bones.”

The flaws Danni is referring to is in more of an outdated sense, from the mustard yellow kitchen and bathrooms to the custom-made built-in phone desk with an olive green marble top and mustard drawers.

Since moving in, Danni has painted the whole interior of the house and installed a wallpaper feature wall, replaced all light fittings, sanded and white washed the Tasmanian Oak floor before recoating with polyurethane, replaced the entire kitchen and undertaken a DIY renovation on the children’s toilet and guest bathroom.

“One of my most competent abilities is to picture something in my head completely and implement it,” she says.

“Before I came inside, seeing those front gates and the front of the house, it’s a Colonial style but lends itself to Hamptons, so there is lots of grey and white, lots of hydrangeas and conifers out the back.

RENOVATION TIPS AND TRICKS
- First and foremost don’t rush and don’t do anything straight away, it’s really important to wait, especially if it’s a long-term investment or your family home.
- Do justice to the style of the house with a look that is fitting with your home. Don’t take a 100-year-old Queenslander and put a modern two-pack white gloss kitchen in it.
- If you’re doing anything structural or doing serious renovations, select your trades and designers carefully. You have quite a demanding relationship and it’s important you communicate properly and respect one another’s decisions. It’s a very stressful time.
- Stick to your budget, allow for incidentals and compromise on things that aren’t as important. For me, bench tops were our big ticket item, but I compromised with the light fittings.

“Everything is still a work in progress, except for the kitchen, which is all white and greys, Statuario Stone, subway tiles, glass and white wash floors. Everything is light, with blue and white ceramics, which is traditional Hamptons style, I can’t get enough of that.”

Danni’s style is on point, with classic Hamptons theming among the top trending looks in interiors, alongside the earthy and understated elegance of Scandinavian design, and industrial fit outs complete with metal, recycled timber and concrete finishes.

Having grown up in Bangalow and Byron Bay, Danni’s interest in interior design piqued upon moving to Brisbane with her family and living in a Mediterranean-style house at the Gap and then a beautiful 100-year-old Queenslander in New Farm.

One of my most competent abilities is to picture something in my head completely and implement it.”

“I’ve always seen different styles because my mum is stylish in the way of interiors, so I’ve always grown up with that,” she says.

Upon moving to the Sunshine Coast seven years ago, Danni bought her first investment property at Warana, and in September last year, she and Matt moved into their current abode.

Having identified a natural ability, and with a flair for DIY, Danni launched Design by Danni, one half blogging/documenting the progress on her own home project, and one half services-based.

Drawing on years of knowledge and experiene, she is now giving other DIY renovators the confidence to breathe new life into their beloved home.