Tina and Matthew’s Tiny Budget Tropical Beach House Makeover

Name: Tina Gonsalves and Matthew Wild
Location: Port Douglas, North Queensland, Australia

We bought this five bedroom house in late May 2012, just a few days after returning from a year long overseas trip. It was a really ugly house, on a wonderfully quiet street, just near to the beach. It had been on the market for a long time, as I guess no one knew what to do with it. My husband and I took up the challenge.

We had a zero budget, so we scoured demolition yards, junk yards, second hand shops and tips. We removed all the aluminium windows, changing all the windows and doors, opening the house up to make the most of the sea breeze. We lined the house with recycled wood from demolitioned ‘Queenslanders’. We wanted it to have the feel of the beach houses we grew up in.

Not sophisticated, just comfortable, bright, light, peaceful and easy. We decided we wanted to explore what we termed a “rococo paradisio’ feel, lots of cane, bamboo, color, pineapples and palm trees.

We found the furniture on swap sites, garage sales and more. We made our own wallpaper, built decks out of wood we found on the street, we up-cycled furniture, re-glazed the windows, painted out the house, redid all the walls and floors, and then we filled it with way too much artwork (both my own, and friends).

After a year of trying to do everything we could ourselves, we were exhausted. We transformed a house that was pretty glum to one that was filled full of character. It’s now a wonderful holiday rental, getting fabulous reviews.

See more photos or stay here yourself: Artists’ Houses.

Thanks, Tina and Matthew!

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