FAMILY FOCUSED - A VISIT WITH TARA AND GRAEME

Desiring large open spaces and a backyard to live in all summer, Tara and Graeme designed and built this amazing home with everything they need to grow their young family.

Tara Cowper doesn't know the person knocking on her front door, but she can almost guarantee what they are about to ask. "Hello, I was just walking past and I really admire your house," the stranger smiles sheepishly. "Would you mind if I asked what colour it is?" Bingo. As she has done more times than she can count, Tara thanks them for the compliment and gladly shares the colour. "There are going to be same-coloured houses popping up everywhere!" She laughs.

There's no doubt that this beautiful four-bedroom family home in the southern Sydney suburb of Oatley catches the eye; its deep-rendered hue is brought to life by fresh timber accents on the front retaining wall, an elegant timber double garage and lush green plantings. "The wooden features were my husband's idea," Tara explains. "We have timber windows throughout the house so that natural element extends to the exterior as well." The attractive facade is really only the beginning; inside the house there are open spaces, modern finishes and an outdoor living area that will have you disavowing winter forever.

BACK TO THE START

In 2002, Tara and her husband Graeme bought a block of land in Oatley, the suburb where Graeme grew up and the perfect place to build a life and start a family of thier own. "There was an old house on the block when we bought it," Tara says. We looked at both options - renovating and rebuilding - but the difference in cost between the two was so similar we thought we might as well just go with the full knockdown and start again."

They began renovations in 2004 and 18 months later the build was complete. With a layout designed around the needs of thier young family, the house is now the perfect base camp for the couple and their three children: Riley, six, Logan, four and Darcy who is just one.

LOST IN SPACE

While the upstairs boasts a library, purpose-built storage room, and a study and playroom for the kids - which is actually a fifth bedroom - the main components of the house are located on the ground level. From the entrance a hallway stops off at four bedrooms, the main bathroom, a laundry, and a WC before the rear of the house expands into a truely spacious open-plan kitchen/dining/family room and formal lounge, all set on polished turpentine hardwood floors.

The Cowpers worked with a few decorators while setting up thier home but found the best partnership with Jodie Carter of Jodie Carter Design in Illawong. It was with her guidance that this beautiful space finally came to fruitition.

The kithcen is the epicentre of the bustling household, light and fresh with all-white cabinetery and Caesarstone benchtops. Fitted with top-range appliances such as the stainless steel Jenn-Air french-door fridge and freezer and Smeg oven, the area is stylish and functional, offering lots of workspace and an island bench with barstools which is the family's usual breakfast spot.

For a modern spin on the old family corkboard, Tara selected a sleek metallic noticeboard which sits unobruisvely on the pillar next to the island bench and is safer for young kids as it works with magnets rather than sharp tacks.

The other living spaces evolve progressivley from formal to fun; to the right of the kitchen, the formal lounge boosts the neutraal colour palette with accents of red in teh cushions, wall art and gorgeous ottoman - which doubles as a coffee table and conceals extra storage. A few strides across is the eight-piece dining setting - the perfect spot for family dinners - from which they can easily retreat to the family room, which has big comfy couches and a wall-mounted flat-screen - drawcards for anyone with a full tummy. However, the best feature of this space is actually the exit; timber bi-fold doors disappear and make the passage outdoors very inviting.

OUT AND ABOUT

 From the eight-piece woven table setting once can sit back, relax and look out over the sprawling backyard: the barbecue sizzling up a summer feast; the cool water of the six-by-nine metre pool, kids playing in the custom-built cubby house and the soothing green of an open lawn - all the prerequisites for an amazing summer.

"The garden plans were drawn up by Patio, Jamie Durie's company, then the company that did the actual work was Exterior," Tara says. "Now Ladybird Landscape looks after it."

The star feature of this area is the stone and timber perimeter, although it's a fairly recent addition that came about after a minor disaster. "Along the back wall used to be a big hedge fence," Tara explains, "But it actually got diseased and died completely, so we decided we might as well change it to exactly what we wanted."

Even when the sun goes down, there's nothing better than sitting on the timber deck; the lights around the pool glowing softly, the neighbourhood lulling into quiet and, after a long day of fighting wizards in the cubbyhouse, the kids are fast asleep.

IN YOUR DREAMS

We don't imagine it's too much of a challenge to get the little ones to rest their heads - the kid's bedrooms were also designed by Jodie Carter and are the boy's favourite rooms in the house. "Jodie did Riley's room first and when she showed me some ideas the first thing I picked was that wallpaper. I love it," Tara says.

Drawing on the walls might seem crazy, but that's the entire concept behind this Graham & Brown interactive design - the monochromatic hand-drawn frames are there to be filled with pictures and colours, making a personalised gallery that will be a great momento as the family grows up. Inspired by the idea, when it came to designing Logan's room, Tara asked Jodie to find something similar for him to draw in his room as well. The result is a cool arrangement of coloured squares in Porter's Chalkboard Paint, which gives Logan a blank canvas to decorate over and over again.

STYLISH RETREAT

For Tara and Graeme, the master bedroom offers a welcome haven from the play-world of the kids, At the end of the day, the busy parents can lose themselves in a touch of luxury with beautiful bedding and a one-of-a-kind fleur-de-lis upholstered bedhead. Timber shutters from Luxaflex let the morning light in gently, while the ensuite with oversize shower, sleek tapware by Grohe and clean modern lines, offers a stylish, uncomplicated start to the day.

From the inside to the out, this family home is a triumph, so if you should find yourself in Oatley and a house stops you in your tracks, there's no need to go knocking - it's rendered in Dulux Nile Clay. Go for your life.

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Story by: Jana Roose - Photography by: Ryan Hernandez and Styling by: Kathryn Borglund