Photography: Jonathan Cohen, Styling: Jamee Deaves
With her grandmother’s kimono on her bedroom wall, her grandfather’s bookshelves and a sunny artwork that reminded her of home when she lived in the Big Apple, this terrace in Sydney’s Inner West has a special resonance for its owner, Jenny. Reflecting her job in theatre, it’s imbued with her bubbly personality – and, yes, a little drama, too.
She bought the home in 2004. “I loved the harbour views and light streaming in,” she says. An ’80s renovation had produced a bright rear extension and a third level in the attic space, but also a few oddities. “A stained-glass window in the bathroom opened to the main bedroom and there was a raised sandstone garden bed in the kitchen under a skylight,” she says.
Who lives here?
Jenny, who works in theatre, and her cat, Smeagol.
Favourite things?
Jenny: “My travertine kitchen bench. I love the wave patterns – they’re a neutral in colour, but not in feeling. I love my lighting fixtures – every lighting fixture was chosen to be a theatrical element in that room.”
Where do you spend your time?
“I meal prep on the weekend, so I’ll spend hours in the kitchen with the TV on making food for the week ahead, so it is great to have a big island and tons of bench space. When relaxing, I’ll curl up with Smeagol and read a book.”
From 2011, she moved to New York for a decade. On her return, the terrace looked tired and its granite benches and black bathrooms dated. Its quirks had begun to jar. Another bugbear of the 1980s extension was that the kitchen and main bedroom were not level with the original floors. But least welcome of all the issues was rising damp. Jenny called in architect and interior designer Brooke Aitken of Brooke Aitken Design to help.
In her brief to Brooke and colleague Vivian Ma in 2021, as well as ironing out those quirks Jenny wanted a main bedroom retreat, by turning the main bathroom into a luxurious ensuite. An ensuite and walk-in robe in the second bedroom would become a guest bathroom. The study and attic had to double as guest rooms. “It was really important that I had very comfortable fold-out couches in my study and the attic,” says Jenny. And she specified pops of funky colour throughout.
Generous walls ensure gallery space for Jenny’s artworks. “The family collects art and it’s an integral part of their lives,” says Brooke. “This was an unwritten part of the brief. We have given her an extensive canvas for her art.” Pops of red, Jenny’s favourite colour, are like dabs of paint on that canvas. “We used wild colours in the living room rug, the dining room pendant, the swivel armchair, the courtyard and the powder room,” says Brooke.
“It feels so homely,” says Vivian. “Jenny is surrounded by her much-loved objects and pops of colour.
Kitchen
“It was really important that the home felt welcoming.” Jenny, homeowner.
Dining
Despite being a terrace with no windows along the sides, there is plenty of light flooding into this home owned by Jenny who works in theatre – thanks in part to skylights that allow light to stream down from above. The light’s progress is helped even further by a cutout in the nib wall beside the living and dining area.
Main bedroom and ensuite
WE LOVE…funky wallpaper
Don’t always play it safe if you want decor that sings, as the walls in the main bedroom prove. “The builders weren’t sure about that custom swirly wallpaper from Maak Home and said, ‘Are you sure this is going to work?’” confesses Brooke. But neither she nor Jenny were deterred. “Yes, it was incredibly risky, but it works.”
Instead of being a shared bathroom, this ensuite is now Jenny’s personal space, due to a tweaking of the floor plan.
Study/guest bedroom
The ‘Fire Dreaming’ artwork, by Alison Anderson Nampitjinpa Nelson creates an aura of cosy warmth in the study. A ‘Polly’ desk from Workshopped and Kett ‘Karm’ chair from Cosh
Living sit under a stylish ‘Nelson Saucer Crisscross Bubble’ pendant from Living Edge. The Rill + Stone ‘Summer Blue’ rug, Arte ‘Gioco’ textured wallpaper from Unique Fabrics and ‘Contour Piece’ metal
sculpture from Ferm Living complement the original fireplace. Doors in Dulux Murray Red.
Source book
Architecture & interior design Brooke Aitken Design, brookeaitkendesign.com.au
Builder Sydney Renovation Specialists, 0420 312 141
Joinery Styline Kitchens, stylinekitchens.com.au
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