Get the look Queensland Beach Shack

Front Porch Properties Rachael Turner is a QBCC licensed builder who turned to Intrim Mouldings to deliver the large amount of quality timber moulding detailing required for this statement home. Read on to see what she has to say about her latest Coastal Hamptons build – Burleigh Beach Shack.

We absolutely loved working on our client’s beach shack in Burleigh Heads, Queensland. One of the great things about this home was that it was not huge on square metres but it certainly packed a punch when it came to coziness and charm.  Just one block back from the beach, it was important that we encapsulated a range of coastal elements within this holiday home to make it feel like a sea change, a total escape from the daily Brisbane life of our homeowners.

To really brighten up the space, and remove all signs of the 70s & 80s, the kitchen and bathrooms were entirely replaced, creating a blank canvas for us to work with.  For this particular project, we were working with an interior designer for all the finishes, so it was lovely to be involved with another team throughout the process.

Upon entering, your eye is immediately drawn to the gorgeous coffered ceiling.  Here we wanted a very relaxed and paired back look to help tie into that coastal vibe and we are so happy with how this turned out as it really brings in that casual beach charm that we were after.

We utilised Intrim’s longest VJ Board Pro sheeting as the main section of the ceiling (VJ100/5.4 x 12mm MDF) and formed a grid layout on top using a simple 135mm batten (Intrim’s DAR/135 x 18mm FJ Pine).  To finish the grid off nicely, we simply placed a pine inlay moulding from Intrim (IN33/19 x 10mm FJ Pine) on the outer edges of the batten.  We think this ceiling is probably our favourite detail in the house.

It was also important for us to bring in as much natural light as possible. The existing windows were in a workable condition but we needed additional door access and ventilation, we achieved this by incorporating a set of beautiful new French doors to the main living space as well as some wonderful louvred windows to both the living and dining space to allow for cross ventilation and to pick up on sea breezes.  We always like to trim out all our windows and doors with architraves, it’s a small detail but it really elevates the look and feel of any home.  For this project we used Intrim’s SK392 and finished it all off with a fresh coat of white paint, this literally made all the yellowed and old window frames instantly come back to life.

Overall, the paint really played an essential role in freshening up the space, a great example of this is in the main living space, here you will see we used a crisp white for all of the lower wall panelling, and on the upper wall panels we used a beautiful coastal sandy tone, this really shows off the simplicity of the wall panelling and skirting.  To achieve this detail, we used SK366 135mm skirting profile throughout the house, and for the batten detailing, we used a standard 66mm x 12mm pine batten (WB01/66 x 12mm FJ Pine).  If you are struggling to make a selection, Intrim has so many great profiles to choose from and their in-house team is always great to get advice from and point you in the right direction.

We had a few areas where we needed to incorporate the relaxed coastal vibe but we also needed to save on costs.  First up was revamping the existing wooden floorboards, we gave them a good sand back and a fresh coat on top to seal them and they came up warm and revived. The wood flooring is really lovely for a beach house too as it’s so easy to sweep clean with sandy feet in and out all-day.

The biggest change of all is probably the kitchen.  Here we replaced the dated kitchen with part flat pack and part custom cabinetry to try and save on costs.  The hero of the kitchen is the gorgeous blue/green island.  Here we took simple flat pack panels and teamed them with an oak timber bench top & internal oak shelving to create the island itself.  We then dressed it up by adding some gorgeous criss-cross detail to the front and side by using some of our leftover ceiling battens & skirting boards. By using natural wood, a pop of colour and the criss-cross detail, this has created such a beautiful coastal feature and a real gathering spot for the homeowners.