Gemma and Matt Seears, also known as @builderseearsy_and_me, are long-time Hume Doors fans. They recently finish their third personal build, complete with 15 internal Hume doors! Hubby Matt is a builder, and wife Gemma is passionate about design. She explained “for us, building is just what we do.”

Family life

After Matt became a licensed builder, the team started their own construction business. Before that, Matt had been a carpenter for seven years, so at just 36 has almost 18 years’ experience in the trade. His years in the industry make him a pro builder, while Gemma takes care of planning and styling. But as Gemma explains, it can be very hard work.

 “95 per cent of our build happens after hours, so virtually every afternoon and every weekend, since Matt is flat out during the week building and renovating clients homes,” Gemma said.

“Building your own home is a little like childbirth – it’s a long, drawn out, (and sometimes painful) experience but so very rewarding in the end. Once it’s over, you forget how horrendous it actually was. So you go back and do it all over again (and again in our case).”

But Matt and Gemma weren’t alone as they built their dream home this year. The three Seears children – Tom, Harry, and Willa – have been there every step of the way.

“We’re busy virtually every spare moment with building commitments, so things like housework, bookwork, homework and family time sometimes suffer – but the kids have all been awesome, even helping out sometimes,” Gemma explained. “But mostly they’re just super excited to move into their new house and have their own rooms again.”

Hume Doors and the Seears

Having spent years in the trade, Matt has been a long-time supporter of our brand.

“I’ve always used Hume Doors, for as long as I can remember,” Matt said.

Having used them on most (if not on all) of their clients jobs, Hume was the obvious choice for all three of the Seears’ personal builds too.

“We honestly love Hume Doors because of the great range. Not only in terms of style and design, but also budgets. Hume suits every customer we have, whether they want to spend $60 on an internal door or $200! And whether they want a modern look or something traditional,” the pair explained. “So when it came time to pick the internal doors for our house, I didn’t even question where we would be buying them from – it was truly Hume all the way!”

In just this build, the Seears used Hume throughout the house; 11 internal doors, the main bedroom door, and another three more for the mud room.

Picking the right doors

Gemma said they were aiming for a modern/industrial farmhouse look for this house.

“We picked from the Accent range for our standard internal doors – there’s 11 of them, so we wanted the theme to stay consistent. The simple designs available in the Accent products allowed us to do this. Having loved this range so much, we went back again for the mud room doors. We have three Accent doors leading into this area,” Gemma explained.

 To keep with the country chic theme, Matt and Gemma picked the Frontier Barn Door for the master bedroom.

They selected it in custom dimensions, 2150 x 1000, and found the wider size made the barn door a real focus. Hung on the 2050 Frontier Barn Door Track System, and the couple inspired by the bold dark colour of the track.

“We added a black door handle, and even painted the door black for that modern/industrial feel. I also wanted something a bit different from the traditional white, and the darker colour really made it pop!” Gemma said.

Hume Doors in action

The couple are proud to report that all of their Hume products all performed beautifully.

“They were all delivered and packaged very well. None of the doors were warped, bowed or damaged – a standard we usually experience with Hume. All great quality,” said Gemma.

“A stand-out for me is the barn door. Not only does it look exactly how I imagined, but it functions and slides just as well. The guide on the bottom and the rubber stoppers are fantastic. It glides so smoothly, makes no noise, has no rattles and there’s no banging or swinging on the track! Its schmick as.”

 Gemma also gave special mention to the barn door track.

“It was super easy to fit and I think that most DIYers would be able to give it a red hot crack!”

“We always have, and will always, use and 100 per cent recommend Hume. I think especially for a builder, the best recommendation we can give for any product is using it ourselves, and we do!”

Living in a small town in Cowra, NSW, the couple did the majority of their ordering from their local Bunnings – one of our many distributors.

“Their service is always great and we usually receive our orders within a week or two. We purchased all our doors through Bunnings, Cowra and thank them for their wonderful service!”

The end result

“I may be biased, but I truly believe the result is spectacular. I walk into the house every day and fall in love with it all over again. Knowing that we have built it ourselves is oh-so-satisfying,” Gemma said.

“I like that it also showcases Matt’s talents as a builder. It’s been super cool because he (within reason of course) has given me free reign over the planning and designing side of things. I designed the floor plan layout of the house, and Matt drew all the plans by hand, so we have literally done everything from scratch ourselves and we are pretty damn proud!”

“We love sharing our choices, experience, products, and do’s and dont’s with anyone keen on listening. Building, especially owner building, is a huge job and I feel like if we could make the experience easier and more enjoyable for others then we absolutely will!” Gemma concluded.

To check out their progress, you can find the Seears on Facebook or Instagram. And if you too are posting your builds or renovations online, don’t forget to tag us @humedoors!

To learn more about the products used in the build, or to talk about beginning your own construction project, get in touch today!

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