Australian_House_&_Garden_2017_02

(C. Jardin) #1

F


unny how things happen... When interior designer Megan
Brown met Julie and Dan, they were considering selling.
The couple and their children Jessica, 15, Cooper, 14, and
Samantha, 12, had been living overseas for some time
and, upon returning to Australia in 2012, gave their 1920s
semi (which they had been renting out) a high-spec renovation.
Outwardly, everything was perfect: an enviable seaside plot on
Sydney’s Northern Beaches, a great layout, beautiful finishes.
Yet something was amiss.
“The renovation was everything we had asked for,” says Julie.
“The house looked amazing andwas wonderfully functional,
butitjustdidn’tfeelright.Wewantedahomethatthewhole
family would feel good in, one that reflected the location and
our personalities.”
Megan was intrigued. “Julie and Dan’s desire to sell didn’t add
up until you crossed the threshold,” she says. “The home was
furnished with a disjointed collection of furniture – mostly
purely functional, temporary compromises peppered with
a few interesting original pieces and valuable antiques. It felt
transient and unsettled.”
Looking around, Megan noted Julie
and Dan’s interest in contemporary
art, the array of gorgeous antiques
collected on their travels and a
magnificent Persian rug, subtly

flecked with dusty pink and pale blue tones. It was a great base
on which to build a beautiful interior scheme they’d all love.
The beachside location begged for a “light crispness, alongside
a tactile earthiness”, says Megan, with texture rather than strong
colour employed to add depth and meaning.
While the architectural boundaries had been set by the
renovation, Megan was able to lift the mood by tweaking some
of the main elements. Replacing large expanses of heavy-looking
joinery with a lighter veneer, for example, visually unified the
zones within the open-plan kitchen/dining/living area, making
it feel more spacious. Layers of organic materials ground the
scheme: the fine aged timber of the antiques, lighter wood in
contemporary stools and bedside tables, handwoven baskets,
jute rugs. Pink, blue and caramel accents, picked from the Persian
rug, are threaded throughout.
Between the structural renovation of 2012 and this recent
style makeover, Julie and Dan have a home that is fabulous
and functional. “The project is a success not just because of the
beautiful things or the connection to the location, but because
we have created a place where the
whole family can feel entirely – and
wonderfully – at home,” says Megan.>
Penman Brown Interior Design,
Manly, NSW; 0414 278 220 or
penmanbrown.com.

‘Wewantedahomethatthe
whole family would feel good in,
onethatreflectedthelocation
and our personalities.’Julie Paint colours are reproduced as accurately as printing processes allow.

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108 | AUSTRALIAN HOUSE & GARDEN

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