The quiet luxury of a Canberra red brick cottage

Plain and simple.

Most Canberrans have lived in a red brick cottage at some point. You know the ones | cold winters, draughts under the doors, never quite enough heating. I’ve frozen through a few winters in them myself. I still love them.

They were built with purpose. As Canberra grew, it needed homes that were affordable and practical, and these cottages were the answer. People called them Govies, and later ex-Govies. Their bricks came from the Old Brickworks in Yarralumla, which ties them to the very beginning of the city.

Walk through the inner suburbs and you’ll still find them. Time has softened their plain faces, and gardens have grown in around them. Some have been rendered, some extended, and plenty are gone. The ones that remain have a quiet charm that could only be Canberra.

The arch is a later addition, opening onto a new living space.

Staging a Canberra red cottage: letting the house lead

When we staged this cottage in O’Connor, the brief was simple: let the original features speak. The solid brick. The timber floors. The old windows that hold so much of the home’s history. Our job was to support them, never compete with them.

We worked to the same four principles we bring to every Dimora home. None of them is complicated or costly. Together, they change how people feel the moment they walk in.

Four home staging principles we use in every Dimora home

1. Reduce visual complexity
Buyers should notice the architecture, not the furniture. We keep the styling calm: clear walkways, soft curves, room around each piece, and nothing loud competing for attention. Think of it as the no-makeup makeup look for interiors.

2. Work with a tonal palette
We take our cues from the tones already in the home, then layer in soft, natural colours and matte finishes. Here, the kitchen floorboards were too marked to resurface, so we painted them in Porter’s Olive Grove and the cupboards in Porter’s Popcorn. The room settled straight away.

3. Create symmetry
A balanced room is an easy room to be in. When a space feels evenly weighted, people relax without quite knowing why.

4. Layer warm light
Lamps, soft pools of light, a few sources at different heights. It’s what makes a house feel lived in | and often what turns “that’s nice” into “I could live here”.

If it were ours: the cottage kitchen

We always ask what we’d do if we were the ones buying. Here, I’d keep the kitchen. I’d swap the handles for small painted timber knobs and take out the overhead cupboards, which I’ve never loved. In their place, open shelving stacked with glassware and ceramics in olive, cream and soft earthy tones. West Elm’s stoneware would sit beautifully here.

The Dimora swoon board for this cottage.

Styling and staging by Jade Thomas, Dimora Group.

Is it worth staging a Canberra red cottage before you sell?

We think so. People looking at a red brick cottage are buying its character: the brick, the timber floors, the light through old windows. An empty or cluttered cottage hides all of that. Good staging shows how each room works and lets buyers picture their life there, without covering what makes the house special.

Selling a home in Canberra? Have a look at our home staging services, see more of our work in the gallery, or get in touch to talk about your home.