CONVICT COTTAGE
The birthplace of Convict Interiors
Completed: 2023
Interior Design: Convict Interiors
Build: Lewis Carpentry & MJP Projects
Styling: Jono Fleming
Photography: Louise Wellington
Words: Sam Eggleton
Some houses change your life. This one built mine.
Convict Cottage isn’t just where I live, it’s where Convict Interiors was born. A spark I’d sat on for years finally caught fire in the middle of a global pandemic, with too much time and not enough distraction. What began as a personal renovation turned into a full-blown creative leap, and the home that gave me the name, the vision, and the confidence to finally back myself
Originally built in the mid-19th century, the cottage housed wardens of the Darlinghurst Gaol, constructed, fittingly, by convicts. It’s seen many lives since. The most recent? A working sex premises. Yes, really. Like all the best homes, it wears its layers.
Heritage protections meant the bones stayed. No structural changes. But we got clever. I realigned spaces, flipped the colour palette and made every millimetre pull its weight. The space started to make sense again.
A Story in the Walls
Living Small, Thinking Big
You step right off the street into the living room. There’s no grand entry, and that’s the charm. From there, it opens up into the kitchen and spills out to the courtyard. That outdoor connection was critical for me. It’s where I cook on the Weber, light up the courtyard in pink neon, project films on the neighbour’s wall, and host proper parties. I wanted that flow to feel effortless. Inside to out, guest to host.
And of course, always somewhere for Taco, my tuxedo cat (and very handsome housemate), to stretch out in a patch of sun.
Originally, the kitchen was tucked into a narrow pass-through to the bathroom. I’d be off to the side, out of sight, stuck while guests mingled. That wasn’t going to fly. So I flipped it entirely. Took an old built-in storage cupboard, reworked the layout, and tripled the usable space.
Now, the kitchen island anchors the whole home. Oven, microwave, storage, all tucked in. It’s practical, but it reads more like a piece of furniture than a standard kitchen. And best of all, it puts me right in the heart of things whether people are on the sofa or out back in the courtyard, I’m right there with them.
Kitchen: A Chef’s Dream, in 2.4m
Bathroom: Skylit and Subtle
Behind a concealed door off the kitchen is the bathroom. Modest in size but lifted with smart detailing. We brought in skylights to bounce natural light, paired matte surfaces and copper fixtures, and let the architecture breathe a little. Clean, calm, and no fuss.
Upstairs: The Cathedral Loft
The loft bedroom was stage two of the renovation. My quiet showstopper.
By vaulting the ceiling and tapping into previously unused attic space, I created something pretty special. The new bedroom sits under soaring rafters with soft north light flooding in from a Juliet balcony. It feels like a tiny cathedral tucked just off Oxford Street.
Smart, low-profile joinery is built right into the roofline, leaving no dead space. Acoustic insulation and a double underlay beneath the carpet muffle the buzz of the city, wrapping the room in calm. A ceiling fan, gentle airflow, and natural light by day make it the kind of room you never want to leave. It’s hard to believe this space was once just roof cavity, and now it’s one of the best spots in the house.
The Turning Point
Being featured in Never Too Small (2024) and Real Living (2022) was the moment I realised this wasn’t just something I loved doing. It was something I was good at. And more importantly, it was something I wanted to offer to others.
Convict Interiors was born right here. From the convict brick walls to the courtyard parties, every corner of this house has shaped what the brand stands for: clever design, emotional connection, and finding charm in constraint.
