A Semi-Renovated Family Oasis in Sydney

Name: Jane, Peter and their 3-year-old daughter
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
The basics: One year, owned — 147 square meters (1,582 square feet)

Jane and her family live in a Brutalist-style building that they have been renovating and updating to fit their tastes. Fans of clean lines and funky art, the home is calm, curated, and toddler friendly.

Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: I live here with my husband Peter and our three and a half year old daughter, Chloe.

The exterior is a sandy brick, Brutalist-style apartment building — ugly, austere and perfect. It definitely feels like we live in a bunker and are tucked away from the elements!

The apartment had been semi-renovated and poorly kept by the previous owners. I’m happy to say after a year of work and maintenance, the place is almost the way we want it. My goal was to create a calm, peaceful oasis, with stark contrasts and lots of interesting details. We started with a white base everywhere and added black features as anchor points for the eye.

The white walls have also been a perfect base for our ever-growing art collection. Chloe contributes to this with her drawings, plus she also received the start to her own art collection with the Sarina Diakos piece in her bedroom for her third birthday.

If you could magically change something about your home, what would it be? I regret our bathroom tile choice. Wish we had chosen a better quality tile and darker floors to match the kitchen.

We renovated the bathroom before we moved in and I really regret not heavily project managing the process. It’s been an expensive lesson.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? Our beautiful black rattan bar cart from Byron Bay Hanging Chairs. It’s a very social piece within the home!

I’m thrilled to fill our home with grown up pieces again, now that Chloe has left the baby stage behind.

Which fictional character would be most at home in your place? A middle-aged Peggy Olsen from Mad Men

Any advice for creating a home you love? This is our fifth place during nine years of marriage. Throughout this time, we’ve learned to invest in good furniture and keep the interior base simple.

I learned the hard way with our first home that you can’t take expensive wallpaper with you!

Thanks, Jane!

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