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- parkerstud­iointerior.com

THE OWNERS

Interior designer Caitlin Parker-brown, who designed the house and shares it with her husband, Tim, a commoditie­s trader, their toddler, Archer, and baby son, August.

THE PROPERTY

An early-20th-century Federation-style semi in Sydney, Australia. The couple extended the original single-storey building and it now has two bedrooms, a bathroom, living room and open-plan kitchen-diner on the ground floor, with an additional bedroom, shower room and study nook on the newly created first floor.

Caitlin Parker-brown and her husband Tim had just moved into their Sydney semi that had taken them seven months to remodel when the world began to lock down two years ago. It was good timing. The WFH directive meant the couple were able to spend more time there than they had anticipate­d, but it also allowed them to appreciate how every detail of Caitlin’s design made the house function so well for their growing family. ‘We just felt so lucky that we were able to spend all the lockdowns in our beautiful new home,’ says Caitlin.

The family’s engine room, unsurprisi­ngly, is the light, bright and – thanks to Caitlin’s exactingly designed custom storage – spacious kitchen-diner. ‘Tim and I both appreciate good food and find joy in cooking, so this part of the house was very important for us,’ she says. ‘It makes me happy to have the space to spread, prepare, cook and serve food.’ One of the room’s key features is its wall of glazed doors. ‘We were limited by the footprint of the house, so having the kitchen and dining area fully open up across the back has been the best asset,’ says Caitlin. It gives the family plenty of opportunit­ies to enjoy the great outdoors – a liking they share with many of their fellow Aussies.

The house, which is situated in Marrickvil­le, a former industrial area now known for its micro-breweries and creative businesses, was a shabby, single-storey, two-bed in need of some serious TLC. Caitlin teamed up with the architects Potter & Wilson to come up with the solution of reconfigur­ing the back-half of the house to create more space. She describes the new look of her home as, ‘cottage made contempora­ry’. She was determined to respect the building’s history while making it work for 21st-century living. ‘We wanted to keep as much of the house’s character as possible by retaining and restoring original features,’ she says, ‘but we were also realistic about needing more space and light, so we knocked down the dilapidate­d rear part and extended out the back, side and put on a second storey.’ Caitlin’s considered, minimalist-leaning design allows the period parts to morph seamlessly into the modern additions.

Her signature use of clean, clear, muted colour is used to great effect throughout the house, from the pretty kitchen units to the peaches and cream guest shower. The exact selection of hues for her own home came about quite unexpected­ly: ‘It was inspired by the exposed brick wall,’ she explains. The couple used bricks saved from the parts of the building that had been knocked down to build the new feature wall and it was the remnants of old paint left on those bricks that prompted Caitlin’s colour choices.

It’s that level of detail that is one of the USPS of Caitlin’s design business. She set up Parker Studio in 2018, a couple of years after the couple had spent a stint living and working in Toronto, Canada. Not one to do things by halves, she also gave birth to her eldest son, Archer, not long after launch. He has since been joined by his little brother, August, born just as Australia opened up again.

While this has meant that profession­ally Caitlin is now embarking on a host of new projects, personally, she’s on the hunt for some new outdoor furniture. ‘We would like to set up a small dining area outside,’ she says. It’s in part to make their favourite space even more welcoming for the friends and family now allowed to join them – and, when over, they may just get lucky by scoring a taste of the couple’s cooking.

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