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Project Overview

By embracing and not fighting the existing architecture, an awkward, faux 1960s Cape Cod-style home in the suburbs becomes a livable family home - with personality, art, bold colour and a nod to vintage.

Project Commissioner

PRIVATE CLIENT

Project Creator

Brett Mickan Interior Design

Team

Brett Mickan - Interior Designer (BMID)
Nick English - Project Manager (BMID)

Project Brief

This home on Sydney's leafy suburban north shore was a 1960's faux Cape Cod style home lacking in defined spaces, style and warmth - all of which were very much desired, and an awkward layout - which was not.

The brief required the layout to be improved, and the largely open-plan spaces feel more defined and livable. The overriding request was for a meeting of styles, with personality, art, and bold colour.

Despite the home not being authentically 1960's, nor located in Cape Cod - we managed to embrace the structure and turn it into a comfortable, sophisticated and original home with soul.

Project Need

We turned heavily to colour to provide spatial context and unity in this home. Tones in the Calacutta marble splashback provided our colour starting point, informing our colour choices throughout, and were used to define the living spaces.

Soft greys were used in the more defined areas of the entrance and kitchen to marry with the marble. Tarnished bronze was selected for the walls of the dining room to make this entirely internal room feel like the warm centre. White was used on all other walls and ceilings to blur the lines between ceiling and walls to help give the illusion of height. By keeping the paint scheme simple we were able to incorporate a strong use of vintage, contemporary & Asian/tribal pieces to imbue the home with the personality the client desired. Black accents were used throughout to marry the colour scheme to the ebony floors.

The family room was previously a room above the garage so the layout was awkward and had an off-centre fireplace & low ceilings. We made the room feel lighter and more defined with a large grey carpet and added moulding to the walls to give architectural interest.

Bold, colourful pattern was injected via window treatments, wallpaper, rugs, and soft furnishings and completed the sophisticated eclectic aesthetic and sense of timelessness.

Design Challenge

We felt that we thoroughly understood the client's brief for this project, and that our vision was well aligned with the client's wishes. The client was very trusting - and more or less gave us carte blanche with the details.

The main design test for us was to overcome the challenge that the existing architecture provided, the lack of relevance that the style had in it's location and the awkward spatial layout.

We feel that we overcame this challenges by learned use of colour theory, and an innate sense of and appreciation for a variety of decorating styles and eras.

Sustainability

BMID subscribe to the notion of ‘Emotionally Durable Design’ as a means of to environmental sustainablity.
We believe that all design elements should be selected with a view to longevity and more – to cherish for a lifetime, as an alternative to ‘disposable’ materiality. Furniture and materials should be selected because they are of a high quality, robust make and enduring style. We try to incorporate authetic vintage furniture into all of our schemes as a means of re-using and re-cycling existing pieces and materials.
Where possible we endeavor to hardness natural light for lighting and heating, as well as repurpose materials and objects that would otherwise we discarded – such as timber flooring and furniture.
Locally made items are sourced where possible, to mitigate the carbon footprint generated by long-distance freight. We also prefer suppliers that endorse sustainable practice in their own manufacturing processes.

Interior Decoration

This award celebrates innovative and creative building interiors, with consideration given to furnishings, finishes, aesthetic presentation and functionality. Please specify furnishings lighting, flooring, colours and fabrics.
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