FLOW ON

This freshly updated beach house addresses and caresses the curves of the NSW Central Coast.

- Sarah Pickette

A giant hug: that’s what the owners of this beach house on the NSW Central Coast wanted it to feel like. “When you have a demanding, stressful job, it makes sense that you would seek out a place that acts as an antidote, a place where you can unwind,” says Lynne Bradley, the Sydney interior designer in charge of delivering this hug-made-tangible for a family of six. “The curve of the building evokes an embrace, so taking this approach to its interiors worked beautifully.”

Built-in 1983, the four-bedroom home is positioned in an incomparable spot that offers sweeping views out to sea and across to a headland. When the family bought it last year, the property was in need of a serious style update. Lynne knew immediately that one of her key goals on this project was better anchoring the house to its location. “Every time I visited the house, the water would look a different colour,” she says. “I didn’t consciously bring the colours of the beach inside; I think perhaps they just seeped in. The silvery-green foliage of the nearby national park, the many blues of the sea, the colours of the sand and the frequent stormy skies – these beautiful natural features informed my palette without me ever making a deliberate decision to use ‘beachy’ colours.”