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Out of the boxLess is more for a Melbourne family, who found the perfect

retreat from their city lives in a tiny house on the top of a hill.By Kirst y McKenzie, photography Ken Brass

these pages: The tiny weekender is perched in the rolling Gippsland green

hills. Sophie and her pooch, Matilda, enjoy look walks in the bush.

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By her own reckoning, Katie Riddell has been an interior decorator since childhood. She constantly rearranged furniture and has clear recollections of her nine-year-old self disliking the wallpaper in her bedroom so much that she peeled it off.

In her real professional life, however, Katie worked as a lawyer for 20 years before finally listening to her inner voice and embarking on an interior design course two nights a week at TAFE college. “It took a while to transition because you need a lot of confidence to make such a radical career change,” she says. “I always worked on the creative side of law, in fashion, retail and property, and I don’t for a minute regret it. It enabled me to become financially secure and it also taught me good organisational skills and attention to detail, which are vital when it comes to running your own business. But the reality is a lawyer tells people what they have to do, whereas with interiors, there are no rules and it’s much more fulfilling helping people achieve their dreams. And my clients say thanks more often now.”

Katie has a full schedule with nine-year-old daughter Sophie to care for, numerous decorating projects on the go at any given time and a program of workshops to help people develop their own decorating style. Nonetheless, she relished the opportunity to do her own thing when she and her executive coach husband, Hamish, bought a weekender in Victoria’s south Gippsland.

“Initially we went looking for a beach house,” she says. “But eventually we realised that wasn’t going to offer us the retreat from the busyness of city life that we were seeking. So we widened our search and pretty much found the perfect place at Foster North.”

The pint-sized building is perched on top of the rolling hills of the region’s dairying country.

“We wanted a simple place that would be easy to maintain and easy to lock up and leave,” Katie explains. “We didn’t want a big space because that’s not very environmentally considerate as

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you have to heat it. So when we saw this little box of a house, we knew instantly that it was right. It’s tiny, just four metres by 14, but what it lacks in space, it makes up for in views. The windows on the eastern side are floor to ceiling, which creates the feeling of living outdoors. We can see majestic wind farms to the east and south and, depending on the weather, we can see the tops of Wilsons Prom and glimpses of the water at Corner Inlet. When the weather is good, we take long walks with Matilda, our multicultural rescue dog who is part Kelpie, part Golden Retriever, part Labrador and part Chow Chow. Sophie has made friends with the kids down the road and they enjoy spending time together. If the weather is not so good, we hunker down and do painting and craft, read and watch movies. Because of the small space, we have to keep it pretty tidy, but it also teaches you that you can live simply without too much stuff.”

The weekender has a creative history as it was built as a project by local TAFE building students and moved to the site by an artist, who used it as his studio. Katie continues the tradition, with artworks including a dog sculpture by local Meeniyan artist Helen McInnes and a painting in the bedroom by Queensland

these pages: The tiny house started life as a project for TAFE college building students and

moved to the site as an artist’s studio before Katie applied her decorating flair.

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artist Leene Aavik. There are also rusty sheep silhouettes guarding the grounds.

The open-plan living, dining and kitchen space with Sophie’s fold-out sofa bed in one corner takes up the bulk of the building, while the bedroom and bathroom are tucked behind a dividing wall. “The building was in pretty good shape, so all we needed to do was paint and polish,” Katie says. “I went with a mix of high and low furnishings, nothing too precious, because this is a holiday house after all. The dining table was custom-made from recycled timber, but I also used cabinetry from IKEA. It’s easy to give shop-floor pieces a bit of a facelift. For instance, I upcycled the wardrobe, by replacing the handles with leather straps.”

When it came to the colour scheme, Katie looked to the landscape. “It’s always changing,” she says. “The sky goes from clear blue to a grey haze, then white clouds move across. The colours of the trees and hills are also fluid, from greens to blues and greys. I’m pretty happy that we’ve been able to use those colours to create a restful environment.”

When they do want some action, there’s lots to explore on the Prom and good swimming, at Squeaky and Norman Beaches. The region is emerging as a foodie destination, with several wineries, a cidery, brewery and cheese factory all nearby. But most of the time, Katie says they are happy to enjoy the solitude, breathe the fresh air and maybe share a relaxed get-together with neighbours.

“They say good things come in small packages,” Katie says. “It really is true of our little box house.” ac

this page: Dairying and mixed farming in the region mean the area is emerging as a foodie destination with wineries, a

brewery, cidery and cheese factory all open to visitors.