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Pride of Place
With their children soon to fly the nest, Karen and Ian decided it was time to look to the future - and build a new home with a contemporary Asian feel. Karen had found their perfect house while Ian was away working. “I rang him and said I’d been shopping and he said, ‘Yeah, what did you buy?’ and I said, ‘oh, just a house’ – as you do!” The new place was in a great location – close to schools, shops and the beach. “So everything sort of fell into place,” says Karen. They sold their home, moved into rented accommodation, then demolished the just-purchased one and began building straightaway. After living in a high-maintenance place, Karen’s wish was to come home at the end of the day, walk in and relax. “We wanted something that was open with no fuss,” she explains. Designed by Karen and Ian and built by a family friend, the house is unusual as it has several levels. As you enter, there are four steps down to the living area and four more down to the bedrooms, while the roof has a combination of both high and dropped ceilings. The house also stands out from the neighbours with its deep chocolate hue. “It’s a Dulux paint called ‘Luck’ which is the shade I can only describe as ‘near black’,” Karen laughs. The interior also has splashes of red inspired by a treasured painting of a tomato in the kitchen. “It’s always been a major feature wherever we’ve lived, so I simply picked accents to match it,” Karen recalls. Now, having built their dream home, the couple has no plans to leave. “We just come home to our own personal resort,” Karen says. Page printed from Home Ideas online:
8th September 2010 |
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