In the Blue Mountains, winter mornings begin under a blanket of frost. Snow, too, is not unusual. But that doesn’t stop artist Lesley Kinney heading out to her garden to paint.
That’s because she has a cosy, light-filled and cedar-clad Melwood Workshed as her creative studio.
“In winter, on a sunny day, it is warm enough to paint if the doors are closed as the doors act like a solarium.”
Katoomba cold
It was 2018 when Lesley made the decision to invest in her artistic pursuits.
“I decided I needed a space away from family life that could be dedicated to my art, a place away from household interruptions and somewhere I could reflect in peace,” she tells us.
Friends had recently installed a Greenspan building in their backyard, she recalls. “They showed me, and I just thought, ‘this is what I need’.”
But there was one important consideration.
Lesley lives in Katoomba, in the upper Blue Mountains of New South Wales. It’s beautiful. But it’s also cold. In winter, temperatures often fall below zero, frost is common, and some mornings residents awaken to a covering of snow.
So, while for many artists light is everything, for Lesley, the warmth it also provides mattered just as much.
Perhaps that’s no surprise. Born and raised in Alice Springs, Lesley’s work is inspired by the colours and light of the Australian desert.
“It’s a chapter of accidents how I ended up in Katoomba!” she laughs.
Today she paints those sun-drenched landscapes from one of Australia’s coldest regions, making the need for warmth as much about inspiration as it is about comfort.
Mountains character
Alongside warmth, though, appearance mattered too.
“I’m an artist, so what it looked like was important,” Lesley explains.
Lesley’s home is a classic Blue Mountains heritage property – a Federation-style weatherboard cottage complete with the archetypal bullnose verandah and a picket fence.
“That’s why I wanted to go with a Melwood,” she says. “I love the designs, especially these heritage-looking cabanas.”
Initially, she was drawn to the Melwood Porch 20, but her location called for a rethink.
“As I’m in a cold climate, I wanted all the space to be inside,” Lesley explains. The Melwood Workshed 3263 was the answer – the same lines, size and heritage styling, but without the outdoor porch, ensuring every metre was usable indoor space.
As an artist, it was the details of the design that made the difference – the angle of the pitched roof, the proportions, the character that matched that of her home. But it was the freedom and flexibility to add the personal touches that would make this space not only belong beautifully in her backyard but be truly hers.
“I upgraded a lot with this,” Lesley explains. “I wanted the cedar. And I wanted lots of doors so I could have a lot of light come through.”
Desert warmth
Because to an artist, light matters. And in the Blue Mountains, light also means warmth.
By carefully positioning the glazing, Lesley was able to capture the low winter sun as it moves across the sky. Full-glass double doors with fixed sidelights across the front of the studio, together with double 10-lite doors in the gable end, allow sunlight to penetrate deep into the building throughout the day.
The result is passive solar heating that transforms the studio during winter. For someone who grew up under the desert sun, this warmth is a welcome escape from a winter’s day in Katoomba.
“In winter, on a sunny day, it is warm enough to paint if the doors are closed as the doors act like a solarium,” Lesley confirms.
And her cladding choice wasn’t just an aesthetic upgrade. Beyond complementing the character of her Blue Mountains weatherboard cottage, Western Red Cedar is naturally insulating, helping to regulate internal temperatures through cold Blue Mountains winters as well as warm summer days.
Cottage garden cosy
Today, the Melwood is settled comfortably in Lesley’s lush cottage garden. The cladding has been painted a soft blue in honour of both the location and her home. The timber doors have been painted white in contrast, and rustic wooden steps provide access to the front and side doors.
Like many creatives, Lesley’s priorities lay more in using the space than perfecting its interior. Although she originally planned to line the walls, she discovered she didn’t, in fact, need to. The foil sarking, pre-fitted to the wall panels, reflects both light and warmth back into the room, helping create a bright, comfortable environment.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever line it… It reflects the light, so it’s beneficial,” she tells us. “And I’m more interested in actually getting on with my art.”
And so, eight years later, the studio remains unlined, paint spattering the ply floor, canvases displayed on the walls, while others wait on easels for their next layer of paint. All signs of a well-loved, well-used and well-performing creative space. And just as she wanted it to be, it’s cosy, warm and filled with light.
“It’s fabulous. I love it,” Lesley confirms.
Home and heart
Warm, bright and wonderfully quiet, Lesley’s cosy Melwood gives her somewhere to shut out distractions and lose herself in her work.
“It’s a place to be creative,” she says. “It’s away from the house. No one can phone me. I’m away from the internet.”
From this peaceful studio in the Blue Mountains, she continues to paint the Australian landscapes that first captured her imagination as a girl growing up in Alice Springs. So, while outside, frost may settle across the lawn and snow may occasionally fall, inside, the winter sun fills the room with warmth… and the colours of the desert can take shape on canvas.
| Design | Melwood Workshed 3263 |
| Size | 3.2m x 6.3m |
| Add-ons | – |
| Cladding | Western Red Cedar Weatherboard |
| Doors | Timber-framed full-glass double doors with sidelights Timber 10-lite double doors |
| Windows | – |
| Roofing | Surfmist Colorbond® |
All measurements are approximate.
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