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Nerd Counter Stool
Ridge Vase
Linear Steel Bench
Can you walk me through it?
When you enter the house, you start in the oldest space.
That's still quite traditionally built, so it's still got the
cornices, the lighting roses, and it's all in a palette of
warm off-whites. But as you move through it, you come
to greens—these tastes of the new section. There are two
bedrooms, a bathroom, and my study, which are all in the
old building. Essentially the two buildings are joined to-
gether by a walkway. There’s a large window to one side,
and the tiniest little green courtyard which takes you
down into the new space, all concrete, wood, greens, and
the pink exterior. That's where you get all the texture and
a completely different warmth.
How did you choose Studio Bright to design it?
The site is only 4.27 meters wide, so I spent a long time
looking for an architect who would be excited to do some-
thing innovative with this footprint. We have two kids and
a dog, so we needed enough space for everyone to fit.
The house was so tiny that it required personality, crea-
tivity—not just an open plan with a white box on the back.
Studio Bright had some interesting ideas right off the bat;
the house they first designed for us is not too different
from where we ended up.
Why was the courtyard so important?
Cremorne, the suburb we live in, is a big urban jungle: it's
all warehouses and concrete, office spaces, tiny blocks. We
wanted to make sure that we could always look out onto
the green. It’s like a little oasis out there—it’s very calming.
Where do you spend the most time as a family at home?
I made sure we had as big a kitchen table as we could. I wanted
to be able to do a few things there at once—I’ll read the
paper with a coffee while the kids are drawing. There’s
music going, and if they're lucky someone's made pancakes.
We spend a bit of time around that table. But actually, one
of the things I love the most is when we're all using dif ferent
spaces. The kids might be watching a movie or playing in
the lounge room, while Jonny and I are sitting at the table,
but because of the courtyard, we can see through to where
they are, and vice versa. There's this really nice connection;
everyone's doing something different, but you still feel like
you're all together.
You also have a lot of artwork dotted throughout.
We've got quite a lot of little ceramics, vases, and little
sculptures that I've collected throughout my career. When
I was younger, I used to spend a lot of time photographing
ceramicists and artists and bought a lot of pieces from people
I came across. I also have some nice new things I picked up in
Japan this year. It's an ever-evolving collection. •
“One of the things I love the most is
when we're all using different spaces
… Because of the courtyard, we can
see through to where they are, and
vice versa. There's this really nice
connection; everyone's doing
something different, but you still
feel like you're all together.”
