My Houzz: Free Spirits Get Creative in an Australian Beach House

Many of us confine our hobbies to a separate area of the house, such as a sewing room or an artist’s studio. Housemates Austin “Nitsua” Moncrieff and Flavio Biehl of Byron Bay, New South Wales, devote their entire home to good times, and have also turned their hobbies into a way of life. You might recognize Moncrieff from a recent feature on “man spaces” around the world. Here’s the full story.

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Austin “Nitsua” Moncrieff and Flavio Biehl
Location: Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia
Size: Three bedrooms, one bathroom

Graphic designer Moncrieff refers to himself as a “creative extremist” and is the first to admit that, whenever possible, he likes to throw a wrench into the works when designing. With a background in textile design and skateboard production, he now customizes upcycled furniture creations with his trademark retro-inspired style. Moncrieff moved south from Australia’s Gold Coast to Byron Bay five years ago, and since settling in, has had his work featured in local bars, pubs and galleries. Brazilian-born Biehl was already living in Byron Bay when the opportunity to move into the 1940s beach house arose.

Every space in this home is an expression of the pair’s lifestyles and interests — from the walls adorned with Nitsua originals and painted skateboards by local artists to the decks and records in the designated jam room.


“The jam room is like no other,” Moncrieff says. “We keep all of the toys in this room — our skateboards, surfboards, a drum kit, bass, acoustic, decks, bongos … you name it, we have it!”

The orange pendant lampshade in this room is a repurposed cage taken from a pedestal fan.


The home extends a warm and friendly welcome, thanks in part to the painted rainbow and vinyl record flower that frame the front steps to the porch. Moncrieff recycled the rainbow from a work he created for a local hippie festival.


After you enter through the rainbow, a breakfast bar and hammock await, plus an old radiogram (a turntable and radio combined) that Moncrieff also upcycled.

“You can play some records or MP3 through it, and it makes for an epic zone either at night by lamplight or in the morning with the sun blazing,” Moncrieff says.


The vibrant home is known to many locals as Early House — a title that came about from the skateboard company Early Skateboards, which the pair used to co-own. Biehl now operates and runs his own business, Byron Bay Skateboard School, which evolved from his love for the sport.

Creative embellishments appear all over this fun veranda space, with appropriate artworks up the walls and trademark Nitsua markings on the collection of secondhand bar stools.


Early House is in the very center of the laid-back Byron Bay township and is walking distance to the beach, local shops, restaurants and other hot spots that attract around 1.7 million visitors to the area annually.

Biehl fell in love with the bay and its unhurried pace as a visitor in 2005. The plan was to return home to Brazil, but Byron Bay captured his heart during the last leg of his travels. “I’ve heard very similar stories from many other locals that I’ve met here over the years. It’s one of those places that just makes you want to stay,” Biehl says.


When Biehl and Moncrieff moved into the house, it was a blank canvas. Moncrieff has long been an avid collector of old furniture and unique objects, and so he has filled the walls with his collection of artworks. Over the years, he has gradually added more items, such as the skateboard racks and some unique light fixtures and installations.

There is a strong ’70s influence in each room, reflecting Moncrieff’s love for a retro-inspired color palette. Having previously worked in the fashion industry as a textile designer, Moncrieff recalls always being drawn to the colors, shapes and patterns synonymous with that era: “I was always busting out retro styles in my textile designs. The same appeal that your grandma’s curtains might have.”


A favorite addition to the living room for Moncrieff is Mr. Roboto, another Nitsua creation, pictured.

“I don’t think I could ever sell him. He’s like an old 1950s clock-radio that stepped into the future with a cyclops eye, cloud mustachio and surfboard fins for arms. He’s a real character with many stories to share,” Moncrieff says.


This love for ’70s style is seen again in the patterned fabrics of Moncrieff’s vintage shirt collection, which hangs in his makeshift closet, beneath an elevated bed.

“As much as I love the communal spaces in the home, my loft-style bedroom is really my favorite part of the nest. It’s my escape,” he says.


Another striking feature of the jam room is a large original portrait by Brisbane street artist Guido van Helten.


A mosaic of skateboarding stickers and a 1980s radio and cassette player on the fridge bring street style to the otherwise rustic kitchen.





Time literally stands still for this found retro clock without batteries, which features the painted words Kill Time.


There is also a spacious guest room for friends and family who frequently visit. Located off the side of the house and accessed via the kitchen, this space was originally part of the veranda and, at some point, was closed in to create the additional room.

Moncrieff has fitted it out with more recycled creations. The bed base and side table are made from wooden crates. Bamboo from under the house provides a place for guests to hang clothes; old pieces of furniture have been sprayed with Nitsua designs.


Warm browns, cool aquas and bursts of bright orange are consistent throughout the home and work exceptionally well in this bedroom nook.

A Nitsua artwork has been painted directly on the wall above the bed, which is decorated with Nitsua throw pillows.


The lamp is a secondhand retro find, and the table on which it sits is a thrift shop piece adorned with a sprayed stencil design by Moncrieff.


No corner of this home could be called boring. Even the bathroom showcases upcycled creations.


An old dryer drum has found new life as a fire pit. The backyard is used a lot for entertaining, and Moncrieff says the fire pit gets a good workout during the winter.


A large dining table sits on the back veranda overlooking the backyard and colorful exterior wall of the garage.


The exterior wall of the garage has multiple layers of images, stencils and paste-ups. The main portrait is of Iggy Pop and is by Nitsua, while the tags and other layers are from friends and artists. Up until two years ago, the duo hosted art exhibitions and events in the home, and this wall was called Marvel Street Gallery. Artists would paint directly on the wall at the events. Moncrieff says he plans to paint it black again so the designs can be started over.


One of the benefits of collecting, recycling and upcycling is that furnishing and styling the home can be done at a minimal cost. “I could never go out on a mission and find such rad stuff in one go. I enjoy stumbling across unexpected treasures,” Moncrieff says.


The double garage at the back of the property provides a studio and workshop for Moncrieff. “This is where I spend most of my days building, painting and just all round getting ‘Nitsua’ on it,” he says.





The other side of the garage is set up as both a home office and a showroom for Moncrieff’s designs and custom creations.





For almost all of the spaces in this unique Byron Bay home, nighttime is when they really come to life. From the LED lighting strips Moncreiff has placed inside the wooden sunglasses of his garage-door self-portrait, to the soft light of vintage lamps placed in and around the house, this edgy home truly is an artistic playground for the young at heart.

My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.

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