Nearly three years ago, Miller, her partner Daniel Hartin and their labradoodle Max moved into their two-bedroom one-bathroom home a few months before they officially became the owners. Since then, they've made some big changes.

"It was probably more Daniel who had the vision of what this could be," Miller says. "When I came to see it, it was quite dark, but Daniel talked me into it. Also the location is great. We were originally looking at houses in Mayfield, but it's only the two of us. We don't need a three-bedroom house."

When they first moved in the house was a pale lemon and blue colour. The kitchen was bare with no cupboards. Miller remembers terracotta tiles and dingy red brick paving in the back courtyard.

They moved in and started making as many changes as they could, despite their busy lives.

Miller is an audience engagement officer at Greater Bank. Hartin is a sustainability officer at Lake Macquarie City Council. On the weekend he works at a cellar door.

Now they've repainted everything, redone the kitchen, created an indoor/outdoor room in the back garden and redone the floors in the lounge room. Hartin built the deck out the back, the outdoor walls and cupboards in the kitchen.

"One of my friends worked for Valley Kitchen and she helped us with the layout. We went and sourced our suppliers ourselves," Miller says.

When they moved in they didn't have a huge amount of furniture; just a bed.

"That was fun getting a king-sized mattress up the staircase," Miller jokes. "It's never coming down again."

Artwork in the house includes pieces from her father's old art gallery on Darby Street, John Miller Galleries.

In her bedroom she has art by her great great aunty, Dorrit Black, one of Australia's most distinguished female artists. She also has art by another aunty, Claire Souter. Another work Miller made herself.

After the renovations what was the bare kitchen became their favourite room in the house. A talented former colleague named Elliot Shakespeare took the striking cow photos framed in her kitchen.

"I love the 45-centimetre dishwasher in our tiny kitchen. When we redid the kitchen I was adamant about a dishwasher. It takes us a couple days to fill. It's perfect for two people," Miller says.

They've only just finished the middle room. The entire house is cement with brick underneath, so they chipped away at it to display the interesting brickwork around the fireplace. They stopped before they did it all, enjoying the half-finished look.

They added tiles around the base of the new combustion fireplace they recently had put in. The efficient fireplace also helped heat the house better, and Hartin also did a lot of work to improve the insulation.

The pair try to live an eco-friendly life. She's a keen gardener, thanks to her parents' influence (they often bring her plants).

"We both used to work at the Green Building Council of Australia in Sydney. We have a worm farm in the shed. We try to be as good as we can," Miller says.

"Daniel's done a lot; his specialty is building sustainability."

They love how everything is so accessible, and they're big on cycling and walking between Hamilton and the city. Pinos, Baked Uprising and The Boatshed are local favourites. The Greater is on Beaumont Street, a short walk or cycle away.

They couldn't be more proud or pleased after all the effort they've put in. From wine to worm farms, Wickham living is up and coming.