Tucked into a quiet pocket between Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise, this cottage had seen several renovations since it was first built sometime around the 1960s.

By the time Meghan Horn (owner of The Beauty Embassy) and her husband Chris bought the property, the interiors looked almost like a dated holiday apartment, with glossy orange floorboards, large floor tiles, and grey walls.

While it was in good condition overall, the couple reached out to Currumbin-based design studio Mosh Home for a refresh that felt more sympathetic to the home’s mid-century origins.

The brief asked for the new interiors to be polished yet ‘understated’. Meghan also had a beautiful collection of investment pieces she wanted to weave into the new design — including several Louis Poulsen lights and a Haslev dining table.

‘In terms of references, we kept coming back to The Darling, a classic design hotel in the heart of Copenhagen, which was a favourite of our clients. It’s a beautiful mix of modern Danish furniture, homewares and contemporary art,’ says Libby Brady, director of Mosh Home.

With refurbished floorboards, the kitchen now serves as a soulful hub primed for entertaining, thanks to warm oak joinery, brown tiles, and CDK Carpathian Marble on the sizeable island bench.

This set the tone for the restrained material palette. Fibonacci Freckle terrazzo was selected as a hero feature of the bathrooms and the living room floors, alongside pastel blue tiles to tie in with the pop of colour featured in the baby’s room.

‘They were keen to inject as much of the budget into interior fixtures and fittings as possible, rather than over-capitalising on an extension,’ Libby says.

‘With a baby on the way and this being their first family home, functionality was equally important. They wanted a home they could genuinely grow into.’

A few small changes helped maximise space within the 137-square-metre floor plan, which Libby notes is ‘modest’ by Gold Coast standards.

The fourth bedroom now houses an ensuite and wardrobe for the main bedroom, in addition to transforming an awkward space behind the kitchen into the laundry and guest bedroom.

‘Beyond the layout tweaks, joinery is our jam and was our greatest design tool in this reno,’ Libby adds.

‘Items like the built-in banquette and cabinet in the dining room, the mud room, the desk and under-TV storage in the living room mean storage is not an issue, which makes an enormous difference to day-to-day liveability.’

The finished result is the perfect fit for this young family to enjoy their next stage of life.