All in the family

Downsizing to a townhouse to be closer to relatives was a welcome challenge for an interior designer, her husband and teenage children, writes Tamarah Pienaar.

- Tamarah Pienaar

For some people, their first home is their “forever” home, renovated or redecorated only once a decade or so. Other people are free spirits who change their surroundings whenever the mood strikes. Interior designer Bronnie Masefau is in the latter camp. Originally from Brisbane, Bronnie, her husband, AJ, and their children – Isaiah, 21, Nate, 19, and Kayziah, 16 – lived at various addresses in Melbourne over 13 years, ranging from a heritage-listed house to an apartment “a stone’s throw from the National Gallery of Victoria”. Yearning to be closer to family, the Masefaus decided to return to Queensland in 2016.

“Prior to moving to Melbourne, my parents lived with us on a property in Samford Valley [about 40 minutes’ drive from Brisbane],” says Bronnie. “We all have wonderful memories of that time, so when relocating to Brisbane, we were keen to buy a home that could also accommodate Mum and Dad in the future.”

After much searching, a 1980s townhouse came up for sale near Bronnie’s parents – right next door, in fact. It was really too small to accommodate the Masefaus. “We four to five adults physically wouldn’t have fitted in the townhouse when purchased,” Bronnie recalls. But they were undeterred. “We decided to downsize our stuff and upsize our lifestyle,” she says.