Inside a colourful heritage home renovation in Ainslie by Studio & You and D3 Projects

Who: Designed by Studio & You, built by D3 Projects

What: A colourful renovation and extension of a red-brick heritage home

Where: Ainslie, ACT

Completed: 2025

Hidden behind the traditional red-brick facade of this heritage Ainslie home, no two rooms speak quite the same language.

In one space, blush-pink mosaic tiles wrap an en suite in soft warmth. In another, mint green cabinetry anchors the kitchen.

Elsewhere, powder-blue walls frame a bedroom, while floral pink wallpaper drenches a secondary living room in colour and pattern.

Yet, this is a home that feels cohesive rather than chaotic; a balancing act achieved through careful layering of colour, traditional detailing and thoughtfully repeated materials.

Embarking on a full renovation and extension of the tired heritage cottage, the owners engaged Canberra designers Studio & You in 2020, when initial consultations had to take place over Zoom.

The project retained the home’s original facade and heritage character while dramatically expanding the footprint. A basement level added a double garage, rumpus room, guest bedroom and laundry, while the main floor was extended with additional living spaces, an external studio, pool and outdoor entertaining area.

“The design brief was to be sympathetic to the heritage nature of the home, but bring it into modern life through detailing and palette,” says Studio & You director Lauren Sharman.

The result is a five-bedroom, three-bathroom family home that feels both nostalgic and unmistakably contemporary.

“We did that through the use of a lot of high-end natural materials,” Sharman says. “So, herringbone timber flooring throughout, feature marble, stone, mosaic tiles in the bathrooms, real terrazzo flooring and brass tapware.

“A lot of those perceived traditional or classic finishes, but the colours and the formats are what modernise them.”

That tension between tradition and modernity plays out in almost every detail. Ornate skirtings and cornices sit alongside minimalist brass tapware. Traditional mullion windows were carried through newer sections of the home, while Shaker-profile joinery was reinterpreted in slimmer, more contemporary proportions.

Chevron timber flooring runs throughout, paired with terrazzo, mosaic tiling and brass fixtures, with wainscoting featuring in the bedrooms. Colour became one of the defining elements of the project, giving every room its own personality.

“It was the kitchen cabinetry colour that the client fell in love with first and everything went from there,” Sharman says.

The palette moves through gradations of pastel tones: soft pinks, muted mint greens and pale blues that shift from room to room while remaining visually connected.

Thankfully, by the time it came to selecting materials and finishes, COVID restrictions had lifted, allowing in-person showroom visits again, which was crucial for a project so heavily driven by colour, tone and materiality.

Mosaic tiles were selected not only for shape and texture, but for achieving exactly the right shades. All tapware is custom brass, while natural stone slabs were individually hand-selected for some of the home’s standout moments.

The living room fireplace is clad in feature marble, while opposite the kitchen, arched shelving niches are lined with heavily veined stone.

“They’re like artworks in themselves, those archways. Even getting the precise placement of the stone to achieve the desired veining was really important,” Sharman says.

“Finding that balance of quality material and perfect colouring once we started to introduce those tones was a bit of a process, and it took some push and pull to get it spot on.”

The home’s success, she says, ultimately came down to trust – between the designer, client, builder and trades – across a five-year process.

“When you walk into the home, it’s soft. It feels homely, but it’s also got impact,” Sharman says.

“There is a genuine ‘wow’ factor, whether it’s the natural light flooding through the skylights or the exceptional quality of the craftsmanship. It all comes together to leave a lasting impression.”