Dreamers and doers are twin forces — highly effective alone however unstoppable collectively. Sarah Godden and Mike Trappett are such a duo.
Sarah, founding father of on-line classic furnishings retailer Gentle Focus Home, is the visionary, whereas Mike, a music instructor, makes it occur.
But every possesses a contact of the opposite’s energy, making their partnership all of the extra formidable.
‘Mike is so wonderful — mainly one of the best “sure man” on this planet,’ says Sarah. ‘He’s endlessly enthusiastic and solution-focused, and we work rather well collectively.’
The couple have remodeled their open, former warehouse residence into a really distinctive household residence — solely DIY.
‘We had a really tight finances and time constraints, and excessive expectations of what we may obtain aesthetically — the right storm!’ says Sarah.
The previous artwork director initially got here throughout the residence, which is a part of the Eighteen Eighties Acme Shirt Manufacturing unit, in mid-2024, dismissing it within the second attributable to its ‘horrible pictures’.
However, when their earlier lease resulted in early 2025, they revisited the itemizing. This time, the huge open house, patched brick partitions, 4.5-metre timber ceilings, uncovered beams, and steel manufacturing unit home windows drew Sarah in.
‘It had all the time been our dream to show a warehouse house right into a loft-style residence to reside and work in,’ explains Sarah. ‘It felt like the appropriate time and a tremendous alternative.’
They leased the house and set about turning it right into a household residence.
‘I handled the entire thing like a shoot manufacturing: plenty of planning, mock-ups, Google Docs and really strict timelines,’ she says.
Their first mission was to make the house (beforehand utilized by an artwork remedy institute) habitable in simply six weeks.
They eliminated workplace partitions and plasterboard cladding across the rest room; ripped up the carpet and flooring; and — after a lot deliberation and quantity crunching the worth of polished concrete (out of their finances) — determined to pour a self-levelling concrete flooring, and paint it.
As soon as that they had transformed the dual cubicle bathrooms right into a separate rest room and bathe, they moved into the house, utilizing a small kitchenette, separated from the remainder of the house by clothes racks, as their cooking space.
Impressed by a home they’d visited a number of years prior in St Andrews Seashore that was clad solely in Twinwall polycarbonate roofing, Sarah and Mike customary inside ‘partitions’ for the bed room and loo pods in an identical model.
‘We wished to make use of semi-translucent supplies to let the sunshine in,’ explains Sarah. ‘The dream would’ve been glass bricks, however it was past our finances… As an alternative we selected clear polycarbonate, however left the protecting movie on one aspect for privateness.’
The resourceful duo additionally repurposed the timber framing from workplace partitions to create their new bed room and loo ‘pods’, solely needing to purchase one new size of framing timber to finish the undertaking.
‘Mike even reused the screws and nails!’ says Sarah.
A stainless-steel bench was additionally out of finances. But, you’ll discover they’ve one anyway. To not be thwarted by this imaginative and prescient for the home, the couple had a customized sheet of stainless-steel reduce to dimension with two bends (transported behind a GoGet van), which Mike glued to the island bench made with Ikea cupboards.
‘It’s most likely our favorite factor we did, although I used to be so pressured by means of the entire course of,’ says Sarah. ‘I cried when it labored out, it was such a reduction and so thrilling.’
The full price for the kitchen, together with the oven, cooktop and sink (all discovered on Fb Market), tiles, lighting, tapware, instruments and supplies got here in underneath $8000.
Mike’s more and more skilled hand additionally noticed him give furnishings design a go, creating the plywood eating desk and Donald Judd-inspired chairs.
The curved wall lamp within the dwelling house is one other DIY undertaking — constituted of metal conduit from Bunnings and completed with a classic glass shade sourced by Sarah, whereas the kitchen scones are constituted of scallop shells from the fishmonger.
‘They had been impressed by one thing I’d seen in a restaurant in Copenhagen and had all the time wished to recreate,’ says Sarah. ‘They’re so quirky and provides off probably the most stunning gentle.’
Actually, the completed residence wouldn’t look misplaced in Scandinavia, with its minimalist really feel, rigorously thought-about accent items, and loft-like warehouse setting.
‘It was an actual pleasure to deal with what was initially right here and construct from there, to honour it,’ says Sarah. ‘I just like the inventive boundaries that come from working as a lot as we will with what already exists, to not point out it’s extra sustainable and hopefully extra timeless.’
Full of Sarah’s classic finds and Mike’s customized furnishings and lighting, the house feels distinctive, heat and welcoming, regardless of its industrial roots.
‘The choice making was the toughest half,’ Sarah displays. ‘It was a continuing stability between finances, timing, design decisions, liveability, and availability of supplies. Professionals learn about these items in fact, we needed to be taught as we went alongside.’
We all know each aisle of Bunnings Collingwood too nicely!’
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