House 15 in TH Brown’s In Residence series
When Emma and Nathan bought their 1978 weatherboard home in Yeronga six or seven years ago, the plan was to knock it down and rebuild.
That never happened.
Instead, the house slowly became theirs, shaped by trees, travel, inherited furniture, reused pieces, two much loved dogs and the people who regularly gather there.
“We’ve also grown to love the house,” Emma says.
The kitchen captures much of that story.
Because the house was originally considered temporary, Emma and Nathan reused cabinetry and appliances from a city apartment, added what they needed and worked with what was already there. Beneath layers of lino, they uncovered the original hardwood floors.
“It’s all mainly second hand.”
That instinct to reuse, keep and choose carefully also shaped Emma’s choice of TH Brown Martelle Bar Stools.
She first spotted the Martelle in a mid century restoration showroom in Sandgate, before knowing anything about TH Brown or the history of the design.
“They always stuck in my mind.”
Then, more simply:
“I need that stool in my life.”
For someone who buys so much vintage and second hand furniture, discovering that the Martelle was still being made was part of the appeal. Emma could choose the timber finish and upholstery to suit the room, eventually selecting Dark Ash with Calypso orange.
“They were always in my mind when we were designing the kitchen.”
Later, she discovered more about TH Brown’s Australian design history.
“The history certainly added an understanding that it was Australian made,” Emma says. “And the design hadn’t changed for such a long time. I thought, ‘That’s really cool.’”
But the stools are not treated as precious pieces of Australian mid century design.
They are part of Friday nights.
Nathan cooks. Music plays. Emma sits at the kitchen bench. When friends or family arrive, someone else takes the stool.
“Because kitchens are kind of the heart of entertaining,” Emma says. “That if you’re in the kitchen, people are with you. They’re not away.”
That same sense of connection runs through the rest of the home. There are chairs inherited from Emma’s grandparents, ceramics and family pieces, a Turkish rug brought home from travel, paintings, vintage finds and Pip and Jack, the dogs she describes as “an integral part of my life.”
A friend once told Emma she loves visiting because the house “feels like me.”
For a house they never intended to keep, that feels like exactly the right place to have arrived.
Explore more from our In Residence series.
Discover Emma's work at Fluere Consulting
Photographer - Louise Roche - The Design Villa
