A dreamy urban farmhouse with Three Birds Renovations

If home is where the heart is, this one’s particularly close to ours. It’s Erin’s—from our friends at Three Birds Renovations—very own project, ‘House 16’: otherwise known as her family’s forever home. And it’s easy to see why you’d want to stay here for a while.

Stunning and spacious, with smart use of different doors to flexibly divide spaces while delivering a cohesive overall style, it’s the perfect example of urban farmhouse styling.

Let’s join Erin and get a sense of the transformation.

First thing’s first: the entrance always sets the tone in any style of home. Erin elaborates on her approach for House 16:

“A huge part of the renovation was updating the tired looking brick façade into a modern-day urban farmhouse. The elements we’ve used to achieve this style involve mixing stone, cladding with pops of black, and a gable roof above the entrance.”  

“We also completely revitalised the front entry. We chose these beautiful glass panel doors, the Blonde Oak Entrance Doors and entrance frame with sidelights, (Blonde Oak AWO 40 and AWO SL21). They’re perfect for creating a clean and contemporary look, and they let plenty of natural light through.” 

Crafted from sustainable solid timber with an American White Oak veneer, the Blonde Oak collection is a versatile canvas for painting and staining. In House 16, the entrance doors are painted in Dulux super enamel semi-gloss paint, in the colour ‘Buff It’. The light colour palette, geometric glass panes, and spacious opening created by the entrance doors provide the perfect welcome and defines the aesthetic for the rest of the home.  

When you set such a stunning tone with your entrance, it’s crucial that the rest of the home follows suit. Here’s where consistency and cohesion come to the fore. 

Lana from Three Birds Renovations elaborates: 

“It’s really important that you choose doors that work with your overarching style vision, and ours was to turn this once-dated family home into an urban farmhouse.” 

“In the kitchen and living area, we used the gorgeous Manhattan Collection doors (BHAT 10GC) for the butler’s pantry. It’s a busy area of the home, so we wanted to make a feature of the door and use dark accents to deliver the urban look.” 

While the dark accents of the Manhattan Collection look like steel—providing an industrial feel and contributing to the critical blend of modern and vintage that helps define the urban farmhouse style—they’re crafted from timber. 

While style is key, functionality and features can be just as important. Especially when you’re tight on space or looking to divide up different living areas while maintaining a sense of stylistic continuity.  

Lana explains: 

“For the laundry, we wanted to have the option to close it off but still have a beautiful looking door, because it’s highly visible from the kitchen and the lounge room. So, we chose the Moda Barn Door (PBD2), which adds real character. We also painted it to bring out the crossbar feature and tie it into the colours used in the home.” 

Speaking of tying things in for a consistent feel, all the remaining internal hinged doors are from the Moda Collection (PMOD10). Lana adds: “The design for these is based on the principles of the Shaker style—known for its modest, unadorned beauty and a focus on utility—with horizontal and vertical rails. These really work to deliver and reiterate the farmhouse look.” 

“We also used the Moda quick-slide wardrobe doors in the kids’ rooms.” 

Designing ensuites can be tricky. Of course you want to maximise privacy, while minimising the amount of space you can sometimes have to sacrifice with a hinged door.  

For Erin, a cavity slider was the masterstroke to deliver on both goals. 

When it comes to wet areas like bathrooms and laundries, which usually have tiled walls, Platinum steel cavity frames are engineered to carry the heavy load. Steel also minimises the risk of moisture damage and, when installed correctly, keeps your wall straight and your door sliding perfectly. 

“Planning the design of my ensuite, I knew I wanted to close it off. But I also didn’t want to have a door opening into my walk-in wardrobe or the ensuite itself. So, we chose the platinum steel cavity slider.”

In some situations, the most stylish solution means not being seen. 

“We chose to install the door in a flush jamb configuration so that when the door is open, it’s hidden within the cavity. By incorporating a cavity door ejector, we can retrieve the door from its cavity pocket with a simple push and release button.” 

If you’re keen to add any of these gorgeous looks—or something similar—to your next project, check out our curated list of designs that perfectly match the urban farmhouse style. 

As you go through and find your favourites, be sure to add your selections to My Doors. It’s an easy and effective way to catalogue different designs into collections and have them on hand when it’s time to add them to your project. 

For more from Three Birds Renovations, check out their website for other projects, tips and inspiration.