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Florist Eliza Rogers, owner of This Natural World, and her dog Frida moved to Hobart from Brisbane in 2016, and soon began searching for a permanent home. A standalone house in attractive South Hobart was out of the budget, but this 1970s three-bedroom unit with two outdoor areas was not!
‘It’s quiet and private, surrounded by greenery, and the huge windows help to make it feel bigger than most apartments, so I feel really lucky to have found it,’ says Eliza.
The area was a massive drawcard for Eliza, being close to kunanyi/Mount Wellington and nearby bushy, open space. She explains, ‘There are pockets of wilderness in South Hobart which make it feel way less urban than it is; perfect for me as I do a lot of foraging for my floristry work.’
Aside from adding a deck (built by Loci Landscapes) to the downstairs courtyard, Eliza has made only cosmetic and DIY updates to the home since moving in. Most of the concrete block walls have been rendered, new wool carpet has been installed in the bedrooms, and everything has been painted!
‘I painted the floor with black garage paint as soon as I ripped up the carpet and lino, which has lent a somewhat “industrial” vibe, and actually traps a lot of heat which keeps the house warm in winter,’ says Eliza. (This floor colour also helps to hide the inevitable mess that comes from a florist working from home!)
Salmon pinks and greens also feature throughout, subconsciously inspired by the beautiful country home Eliza’s grandparents built. ‘I like to think of it as our “hereditary colour palette,” she says. The living room wall is the complementary Dulux Banksia Leaf – a lovely earthy olive green that shows off a peachy painting by Eliza’s friend Morgan Allender beautifully.
Keeping within the family theme, much of Eliza’s furniture has been inherited from relatives, surrounded by an ever-evolving arrangement of ceramics, art, plants, tools for hobbies, and tableware. ‘A lot of the heavy, antique brown furniture came from the farmhouse that I grew up in,’ she says. ‘It feels like a bit of an odd fit in the context of the building, but the family history makes it special to me.’
Eliza loves to host guests, so the furniture is always being pushed around to suit the mood, alongside extra folding chairs and trestle tables if required. ‘Sharing my home makes me so happy,’ she says. ‘I like things to feel relaxed and fun, and that anyone is welcome.’
It’s been only a few years since Eliza left Brisbane, but this South Hobart property and its close community is now very much her home. ‘This is kind of woo woo and funny, but I do strongly feel I am living exactly where I’m supposed to be at the moment,’ she says. ‘I feel the most grounded and content that I ever have been living here.’
