How Deep Is Your Love (of Reno’s)

Everyone told them it would be a disaster. The house wasn’t even on the market. It was a wreck. It is more than 100-years-old and falling apart. It was inhabited by a long term hoarder and quasi-squatter which meant mould, slanting, draft, dirty carpets, a flooding bathroom, holes in walls and a whole lot of work to be done. Mimi and Sam invited me over to show me how they were about to DIY their dream home.

Words by:
Lisabel Link

Photography by:
Rosa Spring Voss

Mimi meets me with a warm smile wearing one of her homemade dresses and Blundstones. We’re standing at the entrance of her new old Queenslander house on a hill looking across the road to grassy paddocks where horses graze. Her and Sam’s flock of ducks quack and waddle in single file ahead of us as Serge the ginger cat slyly eyes them off. She says, “Yeah they staunch each other a bit, but Serge is a softie.” 

At the moment the house remains in a makeshift state that Sam and Mimi work on when they aren’t working. They moved in in September, and the first thing they did was rip out the bathroom and put it outside – where they spent the next few months bathing under the stars with various pets and visiting native wildlife. The second thing was to start a veggie patch. Mimi says, “Ah please take some!” as I point to a mutinous spring onion the size of a small bush. Generosity and care comes easy.

The sun begins to set behind the clouds and over the paddocks. The house sits perfectly so that the sun enters bedrooms in the morning, and sprawls into the garden and living room in the evening. 

Sam arrives and calls out, “Hey baby! The sun’s about to come out, we’re gonna get a sunset!” 

Despite what everyone said, the house was not a disaster. It had beautiful light, core structural foundations, rich history and now the love of a young couple ready to make it a home.

Sam and Mimi always had eyes for each other growing up in Port Macquarie. Although it was only later that they met both working in Marrickville and quickly fell in love. They moved to the Byron Shire five years ago and have been making spaces feel like home ever since.

Renovating a house with your partner requires Herculean effort to literally build the house you are living in, but also sustain a loving and sexy relationship. Inspired and suspicious, I ask them: How?

Sam tells me, “Well, Mim’s just incredible. I’m learning so much from her.” Mimi studied Applied Fashion Design and Technology at Ultimo TAFE and now owns her own sustainable fashion label, Mimi Holvast. She tells me, “It’s amazing how similar it is to designing patterns and the work I do, but I really couldn’t do it without Sam.” 

Sam is a trained nurse, carpenter and fireman, and there’s an excited energy when he says earnestly, “It’s definitely more fun than stress ful. It can be hard but it has always been our dream and we know how lucky we are ... Also we’re just best mates!” 

They both agree that they make a great team. I can see in the way they talk about each other – there’s an equal blend of creativity and practicality shared between the two. The glue is the adoration and trust for each other’s ideas and skills. 

Restoring an old Queenslander dating back to 1934 is no easy task. But Sam and Mimi are going to do it, pretty much on their own. Although I soon learn that they’re no strangers to restoration, and the house is filled with furniture they’ve restored or designed together, using Mimi’s old material for the curtains and scraps for the inside of cushions. 

They give me a tour of the house and Sam points out things saying, “side of the road,” “side of the road,” “gumtree,” but mostly the pieces they come up with are a combination of mid-century, art-deco and modern. 

But restoration means more to them than just nice vintage furniture. Sam explains it’s a means of respecting the integrity of the building and appreciating the people who lived in it previously. As we walk he points out the splattered paint on the ground, and the different sized planks of wood that make the floor. Sam says, “I want to know who lived here before, I want to know what was happening in their lives when they lived here.”

There’s a sense of purpose in the way the two talk about creating this space. The materials themselves are sacred with most of them being recycled. Mimi points, “See that hardwood, that was in my family home, my parents recently did a reno’ and shipped it up here.” 

Renewal and restoration is central to their aim, as well as creating a home not only for them but for their community. At their house-warming party all of their friends planted trees in the ‘forest strip’ to symbolise the growth and change that was about to happen to the house, but also to themselves. 

Inspired by the architecture firm Studio Mumbai, known for their open plan living, Sam says, “I have always wanted a communal area and a house with an open door policy, when anyone who needs a place to crash can just stay with us.” 

Despite being just on the cusp of 30, there is a very grown-up sense of stability and groundedness in the way Mimi and Sam speak about each other and this new adventure. But I’m curious. “Do you ever have moments when you think: WTF am I doing?” 

Sam replies, “Yeah, all the time! We had a pretty shocking one yesterday. We were literally jacking up the house with a car jack because one of the poles had fallen loose. It was getting dark and we thought, we better do dinner at the pub. But it’s also just so much fun. I generally just look at Mimi and see. If she’s in, I’m in!”