Bright spark This family embraces colour at every turn
GIVING UP THEIR BELOVED TERRACE PROVED THE RIGHT DECISION FOR A COUPLE WHO SNAPPED UP A NEARBY BUNGALOW AND ARE NOW REAPING THE REWARDS IN THE PERFECT FAMILY HOME
Ask architect and homeowner Jodi about her favourite colour and the answer is already on her lips. “Yellow,” she says with certainty. “The only reason I’m so sure of that is because my children ask me every day: ‘Mummy, what’s your favourite colour?’” They also look at it every day: pops of the sunny hue beam out from the interiors of the Federation-meetsCalifornian bungalow in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, where Jodi lives with her husband, Brendan, and their daughters, Kobe, five, and Ella, two. In the girls’ bedrooms, it’s their passion for pink that’s on display, while Jodi and Brendan’s bedroom remains – for now – a serene retreat in shades of white and grey, “the neutral palette” Jodi favours as the perfect canvas to layer bold splashes.
With a chuckle, she shares how Brendan, knowing her lifelong predilection for colour, was initially perplexed by her overarching plan. “When I showed him all the material palette, he said,‘It’s so grey, why are we doing everything so grey? You’re so not a grey person.’ And I was like, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll have colour, just be patient.’” But before getting on to the decorating, the couple had to tackle the first of a two-stage renovation. Ella was only one when they bought the property in August 2017, and the process of selling their beloved former home and buying this one, says Jodi, was “the most stressful thing we’ve ever done”.
The impetus to move came through the realisation their showstopping, industrial-style terrace (which was featured in Home
Beautiful in April 2015) no longer suited their growing family. “We basically grew out of the layout,” says Jodi, of the three-storey house. After a year of house-hunting, they heard about a home nearby, which was ideal since they loved the area. “It’s only one block away, but we get so much more of a sense of calm here,” she explains. “We had to have a lot of reasons to move out of our old house because we loved it so much, but functionality is so important.”
Just over a year after work began, the family is now relishing a home that’s tailored to their lifestyle – it also better supports Jodi working from home, offers scope for expansion and provides a flowing layout for effortless entertaining. “The new house is laid out better for a family’s needs,” sums up Jodi, who designed the renovation. Her “evolving” personal style is stamped all over her home’s interior decoration, too. “Now, it’s about layering of materials and tones and very much about creating layers of texture,” she says.
SUNNY FORECAST
A cool palette of grey and white (with Dulux Lexicon Quarter on all walls) is the foundation for homeowner Jodi to layer vivid colour in the lounge room of her family home. Knowing his wife’s passion for colour, Brendan was dubious about her choice of Nick Scali sofa. “He said, ‘The couch is grey! How are we going to get colour?’” recalls the architect, who gradually introduced colour through artwork and soft furnishings, such as the tasselled Home Republic ‘Alexandria’ cushions in Mustard, from Adairs, and cushions covered in pink and yellow Warwick Fabrics. A couple of turquoise cushions and a rug, from Freedom, echo tones in a resurfaced coffee table from Opus Design Co.
KITCHEN & LIVING AREA
A beam to make the house structurally sound for a future extension was transformed into an ingenious partition that turns heads (top left), as it delineates the sitting area from the kitchen – where a honed Carrara marble fretwork mosaic splashback and Italian grey tumbled limestone floor tiles (both from Tera Nova Tiles) soothe the eye in this high-traffic space (top right). “I love the kitchen,” enthuses owner Jodi. “I’ve never had such a big preparation space and it’s made cooking no longer a chore. I find I don’t think about the clean-up or prep, because it’s so easy to clean.” Two Muuto ‘Ambit’ pendant lights from Living Edge spotlight the central island bench, boasting a ‘Minerva’ honed benchtop by Artedomus and sleek bar stools by Relax House.
EXTERIOR
Jodi went to great lengths to try to restore the front of the home (left). “I couldn’t get photos of the original heritage property, though I researched for ages,” she says of her Federation era meets Californian bungalow-style double-fronted semi. “The one adjacent to ours gave us a bit of a taste of what it would have looked like.” Terrazzo in Pink floor tiles from Tera Nova on the pathway and porch, against the light Dulux Silkwort facade, set the stage for the role colour plays beyond the threshold. “Pink is linked throughout the house,” says Jodi.
architect “THEY ALWAYS SAY AN OR INTERIOR DESIGNER’S HOME believe IS NEVER FINISHED. I DEFINITELY THAT” ~ JODI
DINING ROOM
Incorporating statement pieces that celebrate “our families and our histories” is important to Jodi, pictured below with a recycled-timber dining table – a handmade wedding gift from her brother-in-law, who’s a carpenter. “In the old house, the castors were all part of the industrial look. In this house, it’s been very helpful because we can wheel it out if we have people over,” she explains. Philippe Starck chairs from Top 3 By Design (an anniversary gift from her mum) are right at home beneath a striking graphic – which Jodi “just fell in love with” when she spotted it at an antique store – listing stars of the design world.
KOBE’S ROOM
“She loves pink – her colour obsession!” says mum Jodi of her eldest daughter, Kobe, whose hot-pink netted swing – an Ebay find – complements a lollypink Adairs bedspread and one perfectly-placed corner cupboard from Ikea (the chest of drawers, customised with Anthropologie knobs, is also from Ikea). A ‘River Pebbles’ Temuka woollen carpet from Carpeteria is the ultimate foundation for colour layering, while monochrome peony decals from Canadian online retailer Urban Walls add a very elegant touch. “The great thing [about decals] is they’re removable,” says Jodi. “I’ve actually designed a few bedrooms with them lately. It’s great because you can always change it.”
MAIN BEDROOM
“The intent is that this room (top) will eventually be my office, and we’ll put stairs where the wardrobe is and go up, but in the meantime, we love it as our bedroom, so maybe that won’t happen!” says Jodi with a laugh. The serene quality in the couple’s sleeping quarters is enhanced by a soft grey throw, ‘River Pebbles’ carpet by Temuka and custom Warwick Fabric cushions against a Brosa bedhead that’s a nod to the Art Deco curves she loves. “I wanted the curves to follow those in the archway and the curves in the kitchen,” says Jodi.
DRESSING ROOM
Custom joinery by Rafaelo (also featured throughout the home), again starring Muuto ‘The Dots’ hooks as door and drawer knobs, creates a glamorous beauty nook for Jodi (left), whose mother and grandmother are both known for their innate style. Now it’s Kobe who “dresses herself and is obsessed with wearing colour,” she says. “I think it’s definitely genetic!”
BATHROOM
Magnificent ‘Norwegian Rose’ stone from Artedomus works beautifully against the grey joinery of the bathroom (opposite), while a Home Republic ‘Zephyr’ velour towel from Adairs picks up the rose accents. “I actually wanted to do more of this stone in the house and then I pared it back,” says Jodi, who also chose basins from ACS Bathrooms, mirrors from Design Twins (also pictured left) and Baresque wallpaper – a choice she agrees was left of field. “Everyone thinks I’m mad that I used wallpaper in my bathroom, but it’s very 1960s and it works,” she says, adding it wasn’t her only surprising design decision in the bathroom. “The knobs are Terrazzo handles from Anthropologie, which is random because they sort of don’t fit, but I just love them.”
bold “OUR FORMER HOME WAS VERY AND I FOUND IT INTENSE - I PROMISED MYSELF THIS HOUSE WOULD BE CALM” ~ JODI