My Houzz: Artists Find Their Dream Home in the Country

Talk about a change of scenery. Creative couple Susan Buret and Faye Sampson — both artists and avid gardeners — moved from inner-city Brisbane, Australia, to the quaint country village of Burrawang, Australia. In return they got the quiet country home, complete with a studio and expansive seasonal garden, they had always dreamed of.

It’s in this house that the couple’s combined creative works finally found their place. Inside, Buret’s vibrant geometric paintings decorate every wall, while Sampson’s many repurposed finds (including many from her job as a surgical nurse), country furniture pieces and eccentric garden sculptures are sprinkled throughout the house and garden.

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Artists Susan Buret and Faye Sampson
Location: Burrawang, Southern Highlands, New South Wales, Australia
Era built: 1980s
Size: 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms

The main living spaces had been painted a vivid emerald green, and that dark color was the first thing to go. The couple opted for a refreshing light palette of Dulux’s Lime White for the living room and kitchen walls, with a warmer hue, Dulux’s Antique White, for the other areas of the house. They also employed a local company to paint the existing glossy and yellowing pine floorboards white. The neutral color scheme provides the perfect backdrop for Buret’s vivacious paintings to come to life.

Keen to embrace their newfound country lifestyle, the couple revere the use of a traditional woodstove as opposed to the original gas heater that was left by previous owners.

Fireplace: Lopi


In addition to their own artworks, Buret and Sampson have over time established an impressive collection of works by numerous well-known Australian and international artists. Many of these pieces have been happily acquired through art swapping — a mutely beneficial arrangement between Buret and many of her peers. Hanging above the crate-turned-wood-box (obtained by Sampson) is a significant artwork by Australian artist Ham Darroch.


A cluster of works by Louise Blyton, Julie Brooke and Jock Clutterbuck sit beside a set of painted deer antlers from the farm where Sampson used to live.


Flowing on from the living area is the room that Buret and Sampson call the winter sitting room, aka the library. The names are due to its two main features: a lovely open fireplace and long expanse of bookshelves on the back wall.

Until recently, a wall of bookshelves divided the room, creating an enclosed entryway at the far end. The couple removed it and relocated the bookshelves to the back wall. The result is an open space that serves both as an elegant entry to the home and a relaxed sitting room for cooler months.


At the entry, a vibrant bowl of green chrysanthemums and hydrangeas freshly picked from the garden sit atop an antique cabinet that belonged to Buret’s mother.

The artwork is an early piece by Buret. In citrus yellow, it serves as the perfect backdrop to the floral display. A Solatube skylight allows a pool of natural light to settle on the table and gives a welcoming, warming glow to the entry.


The couple installed a plush cut-pile carpet to help create a more comfortable and warming atmosphere as soon as you enter the house. The two cozy armchairs were a purchase from Country Home Interiors in nearby Moss Vale, and are perfect for curling up in on a misty winter’s day with a good book.

Buret applied her thrifty nature and creative skill to dress up a simple piece of Ikea furniture here, the ottoman. She made a hook rug out of leftover wool and attached it to the top, creating a textural masterpiece.

The winter sitting room provides a mood division between the more casual living areas of the house and the formal sitting room beyond.


Once again, the couple’s eclectic style is made evident, this time in a more formal setting. Old meets new through the use of simple furnishings and decor. A stately 1930s French lounge suite with its original velvet upholstery sits under an Ingo Maurer pendant light. Here, the couple’s extensive art collection continues to grace the walls, including another of Buret’s paintings, a work by painter Ian Smith and a screen-printed timber sculpture by Julie Krone.

In this formal setting, the couple has injected their quirky, “let’s not take ourselves too seriously” attitude by including a couple of whimsical, almost satirical accessories.

An acrylic Ghost Candelabra purchased from the Museum of Modern Art in New York plays with the traditional, while a Jasper Fearnley pillow with a rabbit illustration is a playful reminder of childhood.


Pendant light: Zettel’z 5, Ingo Maurer


The home strikes a balance between understated eclectic homeyness and a slick and contemporary edge. Buret’s many Persian rugs are scattered throughout the interior, and numerous hand-me-down antique furniture pieces from family and friends sit comfortably against the new, ultrastreamlined modern kitchen. Buret wanted to add a fun pop of color to the kitchen with the bench stools. After endlessly scouting high-end designer furniture lines, she came up with the economic solution of repainting wood stools from Ikea.

Pendant lights: Globe, Beacon Lighting


Buret, an ex-restaurateur, loves to cook, especially when using fresh ingredients from the couple’s abundant vegetable garden. It was vital, then, to plan a new kitchen with good practical sense that was in keeping with their design aesthetic. Simple, clean lines with finger-pull drawers and push-release cupboards provide a practical arrangement with a designer edge.

Formica laminate in Indian Sage was used for all the cupboards, and Quantum Quartz in Galaxy White for the countertops and backsplashes.


To the back of the kitchen, a walk-through pantry leads to the laundry, a layout that Buret relishes in its everyday convenience for housework multitasking.


Buret is a self-confessed addict when it comes to collecting unique china pieces. In fact, she has now “had to give up for the sheer lack of space,” she says. Her eclectic sensibilities are evident in her collection — a mix of classic antique pieces and more contemporary handcrafted gems that sit side by side. These pieces include many items from one of her favorite go-to ceramic suppliers, Mud Australia.

The painting in the laundry is by local artist Pamela Voysey.


A view looking down the corridor shows a glimpse of the guest bedroom at the far end. The couple took inspiration from the previous owners’ color scheme in this room, acknowledging the former bright yellow shade but muting it by choosing the palest shade of lemon.


In the main bedroom, a mix of antique furniture from Buret’s mother and subdued white, text-based paintings have found their place.

The cool, calming atmosphere of the room is complemented by the white feathered Icarus pendant light hanging above. Purchased from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, it has a delicate, ethereal form that makes it one of the couple’s treasured items.


The bed is dressed in an ornate patterned quilt from Zara Homewares, which the couple bought while on vacation in Barcelona. Its soft palette is brought to life by a collection of brightly colored throw pillows gathered over time.

Above the bed hangs another geometric study by Buret, in red and white. The lamp was purchased from one of the couple’s favorite local stores, Made By Others, in Moss Vale.


Moving outside, we see that a wide covered veranda on the northern side of the house is comfortably furnished and decorated, creating a link between the interior of the home and the sprawling garden beyond.

Designated dining and lounging areas have been created on the porch, allowing the couple to treat the area as an outdoor room for all occasions.

Sampson — a surgical nurse by profession — has made many of her unique sculptures and furniture pieces from recycled surgical instruments. The Feel No Pain Chandelier hanging over the outdoor dining table is one such piece and has been fittingly named, due to its construction of used local anesthetic bottles tied together with champagne bottle wires. Farther down the veranda, more of Sampson’s salvaged finds — two old wagon wheels — have been upcycled as wood storage.


The lounging area of the porch has been made comfortable with an outdoor lounge from Cotswold Furniture. On top lies an assortment of pillows, some made by Buret from a collection of her mother’s old Australian souvenir tea towels; the others came from a local interior designer who recycles old coffee sacks to make rustic scatter cushions.

Coffee sack cushions: Exeter General Store


The far end of the porch has been glazed to protect it from the elements. Here, an old cane rocking chair makes for the perfect spot to sit and enjoy the view of the back garden.


When purchasing the home, the couple considered the garden’s features to be just as important as the attributes of the house itself. In fact, they chose the Southern Highlands for the cool climate, ideal for an English-style garden. They loved the established trees and camellias, but the highly formal style of the original garden was a little too manicured for their liking. The arched hedges, relics from the garden’s former life, are no longer clipped to perfection but have been left to soften and grow in a more natural way.

White clematis climbs the fence, while dogwood stands proud to the right of the cypress arches.


The arches act as a visual tunnel through to one of Sampson’s striking sculptures — a huge sphere made from driftwood.

A bay tree stands on the left, in front of the cypress arches and box hedge beyond.


The couple have converted what was a huge expanse of lawn into a rambling informal English garden. They achieved this through extensive plantings and by dividing the garden into intimate spaces with raised garden beds, a vegetable garden and a chicken coop.


The couple grow marigolds and chicory in the veggie garden, as well as borage, basil and other edibles, such as beans, leeks and chives.


A seasonal vegetable garden provides the couple with fresh produce throughout the year.

On the right is a Manchurian pear tree.


In keeping with the couple’s rustic style, recycled wood and corrugated iron were used for the framework of the chicken coop, which they constructed with the help of some volunteers recruited from the local Burrawang Pub one Saturday evening. Catmint, Russian sage and African daisy grow in front of the coop.


Another of Sampson’s upcycled surgical creations sits at the far end of the garden. This striking wheel sculpture has ingeniously been made from a collection of single-use forceps.

White crepe myrtle creeps over the wheel from the left, and large dogwood stands behind. In front of the wheel is blue fescue grass.


The couple set aside an area of the back garden for Buret’s art studio. They employed the services of The Shed Company in Mittagong to supply and build the studio, which is a modified shed from the company’s standard range. The couple chose black window frames more of a designer look and raised the pitch of the roof in keeping with the architectural lines of the house.

Smokebush is to the left, and French lavender spills out of pots. The climbing rose is ‘Nahema’ (the rose from which Guerlain made its perfume of the same name).


For Buret, working from her home studio in the country has had a huge effect on her work. In her own words, “The space and colors of my surroundings definitely feed into my art’s practice.”

In a practical sense, living away from the main city centers means the Internet has become her leading method of communication. Rather than this being a hindrance, Buret has found that it has in fact opened her to more opportunities abroad with a larger global arts community.

Buret is pictured here in her studio.

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