PLAY THE BLUES

Awash with ocean-inspired hues, exquisite native materials and curated artworks, this family home unabashedly extols the virtues of embracing colour.

- LINDYL CRABB

Looking around this waterfront abode in Sydney’s Balmoral, you’d swear the beautifully composed colour palette had been lifted straight from its coastal surrounds. But just a few years earlier, when the home’s owners first moved in, this property was experiencing something of an awkward phase akin to adolescence. Built in the 1920s, the house had undergone “a pseudo-Tuscan style” renovation in the early 1990s that included the addition of a second storey and basement. This growth spurt certainly increased the floor area, but the original features were lost in the process and what remained was “fairly confused and characterless”, says interior architect Anna Trefely of Esoteriko, who was engaged by the owners, a family of three, to work her magic on their home and give it a modern makeover.

“At its essence, the brief was to breathe fresh, new life into a tired home,” Anna says of her clients’ vision. Their request “to improve functionality, to make it artful, comfortable and appropriate for a young family”, gave her the freedom to expand on this checklist and address the key design flaws, including a lack of storage, under-utilised areas and interrupted access to natural light. Despite the single-file staircase, heavy window shutters and stingy wardrobe space, Anna saw untapped beauty in the property, not to mention the “jaw-dropping” 180-degree view of harbour beaches. “We were inspired by the surrounding landscape, the deep blue of the ocean and the rich warm hues of the land,” Anna says. “There was potential to explore and emphasise some uniquely Australian materials and sensibilities.”