With their lease up after three years, co-owners of Wattle & Hide Homewares, Kirsty Umbers and Kylie Roxburgh took the end of the tenancy as an opportunity to expand, move to main street frontage, and collaborate with like-minded individuals.

"We can't be missed at the traffic lights there, we're right at the cross lights, which is a great location," Kirsty said of their new location at 227 Carp Street.

"We have Wattle & Hide Homewares, Darcie Nicol has her florist, Tara Chiu has the Daisy Hill Photography where she'll sell her works, and Kirsten Fisher has Basil & Dawn.

"We can help each other, keep an eye on each other's displays and stock, come together, collaborate together, and see what we can achieve."

Wooden posts were like hands reaching out from the wall to hold an array of beautifully handcrafted hats, alongside reeds that bathed in fragrance, water and alcohol adding scents as diffusers.

Dimpled handmade ceramic mugs sat on shelves watching over customers who explored thirst-quenching ceramic water bottles in a spectrum of hues.

Flowers, like the florist who had dedicated time to create flawless arrangements, burst forth with saturated colours which could only ever stand out from the crowd, and make those who passed by smile.

Florist Darcie Nicol stood within her space within Wattle & Hide Homewares, her left hand holding on to a bouquet as her right adjusted flowers, a palette of textures and hues.

She smiled as she shared the great opportunity the new location would have to her business, describing how the space would grow almost three times in size, a far cry from vet nursing, her previous career.

"I didn't think about doing floristry, I was doing vet stuff and was managing a business and I wanted an out that wasn't just animals, and I just took on a course, and it evolved into a job," Darcie said.

"It was never meant to be a job, but I love it, I wouldn't change it at all."

With the corner store of Carp and Auckland Streets hidden by newspaper pages taped across the windows like a wallpaper, a young girl and her grandmother angled their stance in hopes of seeing through for a glimpse of the hidden mystery inside.

Details were being painted in deep liquorice green, original floors sanded and lacquered to bring back the building's history, as the inside was being transformed.

"The newspaper is also to stop everyone looking at us in there trying to set up.

"Knowing us, we'll carry a table around 10 times before we actually decide where and how it's going to go," Kirsty said with a smile.

"A bit of privacy and a bit of an element of surprise."

The new store was estimated to open after Easter 2024.