SMALL WONDER

Natural light and plenty of white are the secrets to transforming a family apartment on Sydney’s northern beaches

Jessie James and her husband Russell found their light-filled Federation apartment in Sydney’s Manly by complete chance – and they couldn’t be happier. The clincher for them was the amount of natural light and the wonderfully oversized rooms, which meant that although the apartment is a little on the compact side at around 90 square metres, it never feels small. Having grown up on the northern beaches, this was always somewhere Jessie and Russell wanted to end up, mainly because “it’s relaxed and without pretence, and also so close to the bush and the ocean”, she explains.

The interior was anything but ideal when they moved in, but the potential was limitless. “It wasn’t absolutely terrible,” admits Jessie. “The kitchen and bathroom had been renovated sometime in the ’90s and just needed some re-working.”

The couple – who have a five-year-old daughter, Isla – chose not to enlist the help of an architect and instead completed the minor renovations themselves with the help of a builder. By far the largest and most time-consuming element of the process was the removal of two internal walls. This opened up the small kitchen and subsequent living room, transforming the entire area into a more communal space for the family.

High on the to-do list was stripping back the fittings and fixtures and returning the apartment to the original elements of the Federation building in a nod to its heritage. This required a redesign of the kitchen and bathroom that included adding joinery, sanding the pine floors to a semi-original state and restoring the natural colours of the timber.

“The little wooden shelves in Isla’s room were once part of my playhouse when I was a little girl” JESSIE JAMES, HOMEOWNER

Jessie, a graphic designer whose ongoing projects include Supply Paper Co and Practise Journal, reveals that her main priorities were to remove anything impractical and consider how her family used the rooms. “I gravitate towards spaces and objects that are pared back,” she says. “In this way, I’d say I’m drawn to a feeling of ease and clarity of space.”

Simplicity is the main design focus throughout, with Jessie selecting a tight group of pieces and always striving for quality. “We don’t own a lot of things, and I try not to be too precious about objects,” she says. “I can let go of most things and am always trading or selling something.”

Items Jessie and Russell hold dear are ones they will always keep and which have formed a part of their history as a family. “Many have been either inherited or found, such as a collection of rocks and minerals from my dad’s travels around Australia, a whistling kettle from my grandmother’s kitchen in Malaysia, and a giant clam shell that was my grandfather’s,” she says.

The avid collector has scored some incredible second-hand gems over the years. They include the main bedroom’s timber bed and the bathroom’s stool, both by Mark Tuckey, plus an oval Italian marble dining table in the sunroom – it’s Jessie’s favourite piece in her home. All were snapped up on Gumtree.

She and Russell have plans to renovate the attic above their first-floor apartment, but aren’t in any hurry. They’re perfectly content with the place just the way it is.

“I gravitate towards spaces and objects that are pared back. I’m drawn to the feeling of ease and clarity of space” JESSIE

SUNROOM Homeowner Jessie uses an antique letter press while seated at a marble table sourced on Gumtree. Daughter Isla follows in her mum’s creative footsteps — she did the framed drawing on the wall when she was two. The custom window seat means storage space is rarely an issue.

LIVING AREA Next to the sunroom and looking out a west-facing bay window, this room features a well-thought- out collection of high design and pre-loved pieces. An Anglepoise Type 75 desk lamp peers over the original fireplace — Jessie and husband Russell repainted it and installed an EcoSmart Fire ethanol fire grate. Inviting Joe sofas from MCM House are joined by two more Gumtree successes — the multi-drawer timber sideboard and a coffee table that is actually a marble slab on concrete blocks. “The seagrass matting was rescued from under my parents’ house,” says Jessie.

KITCHEN Clean, clinical joinery prevents clutter and hides an integrated fridge (behind Jessie). A Smartstone waterfall benchtop gives tonal difference, with a metallic touch in the Astra Walker mixer. ISLA’S ROOM (opposite, top) Another drawing by Isla and a letterpress print add a breath of colour to an array of books and trinkets. LIVING AREA (opposite, below) Jessie has stuck to a simple-but-so- effective base palette of Dulux Vivid White.

Entry Bathroom Laundry Kitchen Dining Living area Sunroom Isla’s room Main bedroom

CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT Joe sofa in Smoke, from $2250, MCM House. Andorra wool/cotton rug, from $990, Armadillo & Co. Anglepoise ‘Type 75’ desk lamp, $350, Cult. McKenna bar stool in White, $49.95, Zanui. Round jute basket, $109, The Dharma Door. Linen double quilt cover in Grey & White Stripe, $305, In Bed. Eggcup timber tables, $650 and $490, Mark Tuckey.

ISLA’S ROOM Whether it’s for rest or play, a woven Hay rug covers all the bases. Joinery sorts Isla’s storage needs, with more available in jute baskets from The Dharma Door. Another of her artworks features on the wall. KITCHEN (opposite) This corner is home to “mostly personal items from my parents’ house, and the mortar and pestle is from my grandmother’s kitchen in Malaysia”, says Jessie.

MAIN BEDROOM Pride of place goes to a Platform oregon timber bed by Mark Tuckey, found by Jessie on Gumtree and dressed with In Bed linen. “We intend to fit salvaged wood shutters on the windows,” she adds, “but haven’t gotten around to it yet.” BATHROOM (opposite) A Mark Tuckey ‘Eggcup’ stool sits against vertically laid subway tiles from Surface Gallery.