With our vision for these homes to be contemporary, light-filled and spacious, all of these elements come together in the dining, living and outdoor entertaining space.

Our gorgeous Aspen Grey boards from Carpet Court‘s Natures Oak range and full height sheers from DIY Blinds create a soft and timeless palette for the space.

Unable to find a solid timber dining table to the size and design we liked, we found a local furniture maker, J R Bespoke Designs, who built this 8-10 seater dining table for us based on my design.

We are able to fit two, three-seater couches in the space – which we have fitted together to create one extra spacious sofa: perfect for hosting friends and family!

And behind the DIY Blinds sheers are DIY Blinds motorised roller blinds, which makes opening and closing the blinds each day so easy with the click of a button!  

I have a love affair with Coco Republic! I splurged on a velvet blue armchair. I knew I wanted a statement piece for the living room, which added colour, and it does just that – so no regrets here!

We wanted the outdoor entertaining space to act as another room: an extension of the open-plan kitchen, living and dining space, especially with our stackable sliding doors which open up to the space.

We built up the backyard to sit at one level across the timber decking and the grassed area – matching the exact height of the floor inside. This means that you can step out (instead of up or down) when walking through into the outdoor space.

And let’s just say I put my foot down when it came to bricks for this project! I wasn’t having any of the dark bricks that the boys were leaning towards. I wanted to bring some softness in!

After the three of us drove around most suburbs in Melbourne to look at facades and brick choices, my mind hadn’t changed: I was having these bricks from Brickworks: they are from Austral Bricks’ Industrial range in ‘Steel’.

Photography: Dylan James