With more colour and character than the average home, this harmoniously decorated space proves rental properties don’t have to restrict your interior-design ambitions. With a little bit of imagination, a natural eye for details and some old-fashioned hard work, Alana Langan has turned a lacklustre rental into a bright and beautiful home for her family that bursts with personality.
Alana admits she has fallen into the trap of barely unpacking after moving into some rental houses in the past.
For many, she agrees, decorating seems all too hard for a temporary abode.
“But then a year goes by and you could have had beautiful pictures up and made it feel like a home.”
Together with fiance Stuart Templeman, a sales consultant, and Louis, their two-year-old son, Alana found their cottage-style home in Mentone and liked how it reminded them of the houses in the UK, where Stuart is from and where they both lived and worked until a few years ago.
Not typical of rentals, Alana says, the house had lots of storage but they wanted to do something about the yellow and burgundy wall colours throughout.
They quickly set about painting everything white.
Alana, whose background is in public relations, is an interior stylist who also owns online shop Hunt & Bow.
The career change came with her pregnancy, which gave her the time to focus on her passion for interiors, especially vintage pieces.
Like her home, Hunt & Bow is an eclectic mix of new and old pieces and she has a particular fondness for Australian designers.
Alana says her love of vintage goes back to her childhood and she remembers going op-shopping and hunting through markets with her parents.
“My first piece was a Queen Anne side table that I decoupaged with photos of my friends and painted black when I was 12,” she recalls.
She also says she loves the character that vintage pieces can add to a space, not to mention the fact they are much more “one-of-a-kind” than newer pieces.
There is also the thrill of the hunt. Alana has the ability to spot that unloved vintage piece in markets and shops and make it work in a home.
From cane chairs to loungeroom sofas, she has recycled castaways for a fraction of the price it would cost for something new.
Except for a few pieces (she couldn’t find a vintage version of her television stand), most of her furniture is second-hand.
With son Louis on the scene now and another child on the way, Alana doesn’t get to indulge as much as she would like to in the hunt for vintage pieces but says the key to success is about perseverance.
“I think it does involve a bit of luck, but you also need to go (to markets and op-shops) regularly,” she suggests.
“You also need to be able to see the potential in old pieces.”
Do you have any sentimental pieces?
The framed Cat Power concert poster in our hallway. It’s from a gig I went to in London on September 17, 2005. After the gig I met up with Stuart for our first real date. As they say, the rest is history!
Your best tip for someone who wants to make a rental property feel like their own space?
Paint as soon as you move in (with landlord’s permission). White works great as a base and gives the place a fresh feeling from the start of your tenancy. You can easily bring colours in with your furniture and accessories.
What do you like to do to unwind?
I love to meditate. It’s the only way I can completely switch off. Favourite time of the day?
I’m a real morning person. I love throwing the curtains open and getting started for the day.
If you could live anywhere else in the world where would it be? Tokyo. I studied Japanese for six years during high school and though I’m a bit rusty nowadays, it’s still one of my favourite places to visit. Being there is such a sensory overload; there’s so much tradition and history clashing with modern-day culture and technology.
Your next interiors purchase?
At the moment, I’m keeping an eye out for a mid-century dressing table for our bedroom. I know it might take a while to find the right one, but the hunt is part of the fun!