We invite you to join us for the latest instalment of our Interior Insights series as we explore the refined interiors of an Orange County cottage, home to designer Mindy Gayer.
From the kitchen to the primary and guest bathrooms, each room in Mindy’s renovated home is full of effortless charm and presents the intentional living aesthetic that her design studio is celebrated for.
Mindy Gayer on...
Her interior decor...
‘I love a timeless and playful aesthetic for interiors - simplistic, yet filled thoughtfully with collected pieces throughout the home.’
Inspiration...
‘I draw inspiration from the best of California living to create designs that are both beautiful and livable. The magic behind every project lies in the hundreds of thoughtful details that ensure each home truly reflects a client’s lifestyle and aesthetic.’
favourite spaces...
‘The kitchen was a labour of love for us to design and truly took on a life of its own as we repurposed spaces and built out the kitchen layout to form something that made the most sense for us as a family; it’s now a unique, warm space that we love and is truly the hub of our home.’
Interior Insights: The Kitchen
Mindy’s neutral cottage kitchen balances tradition with contemporary influence to form a space that feels welcoming and sophisticated throughout. The designer shares, ‘It took a little time for us to figure out what felt most natural for the redesign. In the end, it came to life as a charming nod to the English country-inspired kitchen we’d hoped to have in our home.’
Features our Bakes and Cotswold collections, both in our satin antique satin lacquered finish.
Bench seating is one of our favourite features for family kitchens and we love the organic styling of this L-shaped corner seat Mindy has created. A relaxed design element, this style of seating is an intelligent choice for additional storage.
Features our Cotswold collection in our satin antique satin lacquered finish.
Opting to mix two of our more traditional-inspired hardware collections, Mindy pairs Bakes and Cotswold pieces in her refined country kitchen to dress the joinery. Mindy says, ‘To me, cabinetry hardware is a beautiful layer not to be overlooked in the overall design process. In our home, I wanted the warmth of various brass finishes and loved getting to incorporate these to really bring our cabinetry to life.'
Features our Bakes and Cotswold collections, both in our satin antique satin lacquered finish.
Interior Insights: The Guest Bathroom
A powder vanity with character steals the spotlight in the guest bathroom. Mindy notes, ‘The design started with the wallpaper and grew from there. It’s a pattern we’ve always loved, and it epitomises the cottage charm we were going for throughout the home.’
Emulate the look with burnished brass accents like the scalloped mirror, single sconce wall light and hardware to give definition to rooms with a more neutral aesthetic.
Features our Queslett collection in our burnished brass finish.
Interior Insights: The Primary Bathroom
An ode to Mindy’s love of Carrara marble, a custom-reeded cabinet topped with the luxurious material sets the tone for Mindy’s tranquil primary bathroom.
Features our Bakes and Carlton collections, both in our burnished brass finish.
On her decision to use Carrara marble, Mindy reveals, 'It's such a timeless material, and we use it in so many of our projects.’ She continues, ‘We opted to have a long vanity with a single sink as this layout allowed for the windows to flank either side of the sink and mirror and they let in so much beautiful natural light.'
Features our Bakes and Carlton collections, both in our burnished brass finish.
Functional accessories enhance the simplistic styling of the bathroom. Like Mindy, neatly hang linens in the bathroom with elegant robe hooks that match your cabinet hardware.
Features our Carlton collection in our burnished brass finish.
Interior Insights: The Nursery Bathroom
A block of olive green at the vanity brings a little mood to this sophisticated nursery bathroom. Mindy shares, ‘For the nursery bathroom vanity, we wanted a more traditional feel that felt really in keeping with the cottage aesthetic of the rest of the home.’
To get the look, experiment with subtle pattern play and opt for wallpaper and tiles in similar tones to keep the space balanced.
Features our Queslett collection in our American bronze lacquered finish.
Mindy's renovation tips
Features our Bakes and Queslett collections, both in our chocolate bronze lacquered finish.
- ‘At the onset of any renovation project, it’s best to make a comprehensive list of everything you’d like to tackle, and then prioritise that list. All remodels inevitably have unforeseen challenges popping up, which usually results in additional costs and more time and so I think it’s best to buffer your schedule with a few extra months beyond what you’re anticipating.’
- ‘It helps to have a healthy reserve of resources to dip into as your project progresses and additional items may need to be added, or you find you want to further customise things here and there. All of the little design details make a big difference and make a home feel so much more special when you’re able to plan for those ahead of time.’
- ‘I’ve found renovation projects are most successful when you lean into the natural form of the home or spend the time to completely reimagine the architecture and bring both the exterior and interior in alignment with one another; both must speak to the other, and when they do, it’s so beautiful to see what can come to be.’
