The Stuart

Episode One

The home

From workers' cottage to bachelor pad; to young couples' character home; to small family life. This original 1940’s home has no doubt seen many things in its life.

To start with, how long have you been living in the home?

Janik: Almost 12 years now, however closer to 9 years since the alteration/addition’s works being completed.
Renae: I have been there a little less than this! And Indigo arrived in October 2022.

About the family

Janik, Renae & Indigo
x 2 doggos (Prince and Rustee)

Lovers of the good, but simple things in life.

Something of importance to us, and further confirmed with the arrival of our daughter Indigo, is the need for a functional space, with lots of storage and a place for everything, including the influx of toys and baby things that seem to appear from nowhere!

How have you been enjoying living in your home?

Janik: Good, really good (now that I am over the trauma of living on a construction site for the nearly 3 years the build took me). The space is just really well suited to our simple way of living and in fact, encourages us to stay loyal to this. It has precisely what we need and where we need it – no less, no more. I guess you could say this is where the humble, but still beautiful and functional design ethos came from – and was only further encouraged by the first home buyers/builders' budget.

Renae: I agree, the house suits us so well (or maybe we suit the house…). 

I grew up in the hills where homes can be pretty ‘higgly-piggly’, so to live in a home where everything is considered, and has a place, has been more life-changing than I anticipated. I love that right now we have enough, but not too much space. You tend to accumulate a lot of baby items, and this keeps us in check, haha!

What are some of your favourite areas, and why?

Janik: The living space is great. It’s a nice size for us, it’s cosy and comfortable and not an overly precious space (however, we are still on the hunt for an attractive dog and kid-friendly rug). You can really bunker down, kick your shoes off and melt into space.

Renae: We also both love sitting at the kitchen island, and have shared many coffees and meals there together. Now that we have a little one, we will likely utilise thedining area for shared meals, which is equally as beautiful given the outlook of the alfresco. The plants have matured beautifully and all you can see is greenery and sky, so it’s a nice private outlook.

What are some of the unexpected areas of the home?

Janik: The European laundry - more so how we use this as a drop zone/mud room, which makes sense given its proximity to the front door. It houses items such as dog leads, rain jackets, umbrellas, grocery bags, and lunch cooler bags (to name a few), as well as being a place to actually ‘do laundry’. It was never designed to be used this way, but as time has passed it has grown, although at the sacrifice of precious linen space.

Renae: We spend a lot of time out in the garden and on the alfresco. We get beautiful sun in different areas throughout the day, so having the lawn and the lush garden beds out the front, and then the alfresco area out the back, we are pretty spoilt for choice.In springtime, it’s just so nice to sit and bask outside on the warm deck with all the doors open, or to have a picnic lunch next to the bay leaf trees out the front with the baby.

What are some of the favourite moments you experience in the home?

Janik: The morning light that comes into the living spaces is to die for. It’s a pretty epic space to sit within and enjoy a coffee, especially in winter. Slower weekend mornings in this space are really hard to beat. Afternoons on the alfresco are equally as enjoyable and tranquil, as evenings in the dining room. The spaces evolve in the evening and provide a much moodier, but equally relaxing space (especially with the new lighting - thanks Lights, Lights, Lights!).

I would have to say day-to-day living is just really enjoyable and really easy in the home. The home is functional and practical and has everything you need - I mean yes, it is missing a few luxuries/wish list items (skylight over the shower, living room fireplace, walk-in appliance nook, GARAGE), but what has been included has been done well, so you can really effortlessly live within the home.

Renae: I love our bedroom, it’s moody, quiet and the perfect size for us. We have this beautiful street tree outside (though I'm told it’s a pest!), and it changes all year round. I love that it is the first thing I see when I get up in the morning through the bedroom window. In pre-baby days we would often get up early, make a coffee and sit in bed just enjoying the peace that the room provides.

The dogs are always chasing the sun through the house, which I love to watch. They start in the living space on their beds, and then move slowly through the house as the sun shifts and warms the floors.

What are some of the favourite memories made in the home to date?

Renae: Many mornings spent drinking coffee at the island bench. Making many pancakes, fritters and fun meals in the kitchen.

Painting the nursery and getting it ready for our baby’s arrival.

Seeing Indigo explore the house now that she is crawling and trying to walk (sitting on the floor a lot sure gives you a new perspective on your home).

The time spent planning the garden and then seeing the plants grow into these big lush and healthy plants.

Parties on the back deck (we now have a sparkler ban out the back due to a slight mishap one NYE).

Is there anything you have added to or changed since first moving in?

Janik: Nothing too major. We repainted the house throughout to a warmer white, which is more calming and relaxing. We changed the kitchen splash-back tiling - it was a pretty drastic mood change from the previous pop art tiling, but at this point in our busy lives, we were looking to create more calming and relaxing energy in our home, and the new tiles do that. They are still fun, but a quieter, more calm kind of fun now. When changing the tiles in the kitchen we also took the opportunity to tile the backside of the island and add a piece of cabinetry behind the island. 

We also changed the lighting throughout (one of the most impactful things we did in fact) and removed a large portion of lights - about half the lights overall (a less is more approach).

The gardens have slowly changed over time, not dramatically, but enough to make a substantial difference. The biggest has been introducing a layering of plants with the addition of raised planters in areas, and the addition of a pretty gorgeous Tuckeroo tree. 

The former study (junk room) has become a nursery with the arrival of our daughter, and the spare bedroom has now become a spare bedroom/study/junk room which I try my best to avoid.

The rest of the home though has remained as is.

Renae: I feel I have brought my little bit of style into the home, even as a later entrant! We both have pretty similar tastes, though I am on the brighter side, and Janik is on the moodier side. So we meet in the middle of the two now. When I moved in, it was still in its bachelor pad era, albeit a beautifully tidy, styled and lovingly cared for ‘bach pad’ - it then morphed into a couples retreat, and now serves us well as a family home. Whilst not directly related to the build, we restyled the home with furniture, artwork and lighting that we carefully chose together, and that changed things a lot too. The house is sort of this eclectic, warm and calm place - especially early in the morning and in the evening when we get to make the most of the beautiful lighting.

Is there anything you regret?

Janik: Any regrets aren’t true regrets as they are things that were either not possible at the time (budget etc.) or physically not possible (site constraints). A walk-in appliance nook to keep the kitchen tidier, especially with the baby addition and all the appliances we use daily for her. A full-size laundry (with a dog door) would be a game changer, but at the time there was a pretty tight budget and we were working with a pretty small parcel of land. 

Having the kitchen, living, dining and alfresco level with the backyard would have been lovely to make these spaces feel more grounded and seamlessly connected with the gardens (1m drop currently due to sloping site), but again at the time, we were working to a tight budget and working with existing spaces.

So, from a layout perspective, no nothing I regret doing or not doing within the scope that we were working with at the time.

From an interior (style) perspective, yes, I would do things differently, which I think is reflected in the subtle changes recently made (lighting, tiling etc.). Again though, nothing I regret doing or not doing, not even the kitchen splashback tiling as I did love this… once upon a time, just like the cooler, stark white walls.

Overall, how does the house live up to your expectations? What type of impact did this home make on your family life?

Janik: Really well! Not only when it was first completed, but even today with the addition of a baby in the family, the overall house functions so well as a whole, it has great flow, great connection and zoning, and feels very natural and effortless to live within. It is really just so easy to occupy and live in the space and nothing ever works against you, there is never a moment where you think ‘WHY?’ and there is little to no wasted space.

Is there any item or a specific area that you are thankful for including?

Janik: To be honest there is no single item within the house that blows my mind and I think ‘gosh yes!’. It is more the entire house as an overall, as a package that simply works really well as a whole which we are so thankful and grateful for.

BIG THANKS

Kitchen splashback and island tiling - Marvel Tile and Stone
Lighting - Lights Lights Lights!

The Stuart Before

See all images of The Stuart when it was first completed HERE.