00:02We love living in this beautiful environment. There's so much native
00:09wildlife about which is really special. The house is in the Currumbin Valley
00:17near the border of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia. It's situated
00:23in the Currumbin eco-village which is an international award-winning sustainable
00:27community. We wanted to create a sustainable and functional but beautiful
00:35home that was full of light and air and a compact footprint but also a machine for
00:41living. We lived in LA before we moved to Currumbin so we definitely took a lot of
00:50inspiration from Californian modernism which also in turn took a lot of
00:54inspiration from seafaring and the functionality of boat cabins. I'm Ashby
01:02and I'm a choreographer and owner of this house. I live here with my husband Jamison
01:07who works in film music and our two-year-old daughter. We designed this
01:13house alongside Sarah Morley at EcoStrux.
01:25The house is 42 square metres but we also have a deck and a courtyard. We bought our
01:32block of land at the end of 2020 and we'd spent some time both thinking about what
01:38to design but then also designing and designing and then we eventually completed the build in 2023.
01:47Our block is really very private bordered on three sides by a nature reserve with a creek down the
01:52bottom of the valley. It feels as though we're deep in the bush
01:57but we're actually only 10 minutes away from the beach and the southern Gold Coast.
02:06Where the house is now was actually a crop of juvenile camphor laurel trees which we did remove
02:11but apart from that we tried to be as sensitive as we could to the natural shape of the block.
02:19The floor plan is based on a simple rectangular shape with minimal separation of rooms. Instead we
02:25have zones which are divided by height and soft visual barriers to create privacy. Each zone has a
02:32specific function and character so that you can experience the house in different ways throughout the day.
02:41We were eager to take advantage of the sloping block to create levels of privacy
02:45and openness whilst also being light on the earth with construction.
02:50At the entrance is a short corridor open on one side to the kitchen below.
02:56To the left is a Tasmanian blackwood bench top made by Peach Furniture and this is where we place
03:02our keys and things when we get in. We also added a coat hook at the entrance for jackets and
03:08bags.
03:11The interior is clad with whitewashed OSB with Tasmanian oak and stainless steel trim. The walls
03:18and floors and ceiling are all the same materials which creates visual continuity.
03:24Our designer Sarah suggested OSB because it's essentially a recycled material which fits with the
03:30ethos of the village. Stepping down into the lower level is our living space which is dominated by a
03:40generous built-in bonquette. We made the bonquette really long and deep so that we could easily stretch
03:46out for naps. There's storage underneath and we had the cushions cut from hospital grade foam.
03:53They're all covered with organic undyed cotton which can easily be removed and washed in the washing machine.
04:01The whole lower level is encased in tall narrow windows which reach up to the high ceiling.
04:07The windows alternate between fixed glass and louvers which we can adjust to create maximum
04:12cross ventilation and keep the house cool. Jamsen also made a handy hook from an aluminium tube to reach
04:18the higher windows for me. The kitchen is all stainless steel and is galley style taking references from a
04:28ship kitchen. We added a wall fan which points down at the kitchen. It's mostly there in case we burn
04:34something since we don't have a range hood but it's also good to have on hot days when there's no
04:39breeze.
04:40But with the louver windows we rarely need it.
04:44The kitchen is quite generous as we wanted it to be functional for long-term daily use.
04:50The bench tops are all custom made but our drawers and all the carcasses are actually IKEA.
04:59We chose to have all drawers in the kitchen rather than cupboards which you find to be so much more
05:04ergonomic because you can't have anything hidden up the back that you forget about for months upon months.
05:13We also have a beautiful blackwood shelf next to the fridge nook for glasses and crockery.
05:20We have a single drawer Fisher and Pichel dishwasher installed under the sink
05:24and a standalone 60 centimetres made cooktop with oven. We decided not to continue the kickboard
05:30under the stove because the space underneath is really handy for storing our heavy cast iron pots.
05:37Having a level of peace and quiet really pays off when you're living in such a small space.
05:44Jamison, his job is all about sound so he's really sensitive to noise. Our Mitsubishi fridge is like
05:52the TARDIS. It runs super quietly and it's fantastic for the space. You can't hear it if you're sitting in
05:57the living room or in the bedroom and same goes for our dishwasher. You can run it even when the
06:03baby's sleeping.
06:06We use a tensioned wire across the window behind the sink for cloths and scrubbers to hang out to dry
06:12which has settled a long-standing argument between Jamison and I on how to best dry a cloth.
06:19The edge of our breakfast bench has been cut to an angle so that when you walk by you don't
06:26hit your hip.
06:27And it was cantilevered so that we could sit under it and have morning coffee when the weather outside
06:33doesn't permit eating out there. But I also use it for food prep and serving.
06:42We don't have any walls dividing the main bedroom from the rest of the living space.
06:46However, because of the split level and the dividing furniture, it really feels quite private.
06:51For extra privacy, we can enclose the sleeping area with our curtains which run along the ceiling
06:57on repurposed stainless steel balustrade wire.
07:01We chose just 100% natural linen because it's still light and breezy allows airflow and light to come through.
07:11We actually were trying to emulate the feeling of a rice paper lantern.
07:17Our dividing furniture mirrors the pattern created by the windows.
07:21It's really multi-functional. It is intended as a beautiful piece of furniture
07:26but doubles as a writing desk and houses steel cabinets for extra storage.
07:35Our wardrobe is actually just a wardrobe nook which we've installed our own drawers and railings to
07:42create a wardrobe space that's just right for us. And we close off the wardrobe with curtains which
07:50actually extend past the wardrobe rather than having a separate door to the bedroom.
07:57The bed is from Melbourne-based designer Object Utility and it has no protruding
08:02corners or legs making it easier to walk around. We have a shelf above the bed for books but
08:08there's also power, ethernet and HDMI connections for a projector. We have a trip ditch by artist
08:15Miriam Montgomery and we have quite a few of her pieces in the house including in our baby's room.
08:22We have two adjustable wall lamps, one in the kitchen and one over the bed.
08:26They were recommended by a designer friend and we just love them. Their aesthetic suits the house
08:30so well and they're really nice to use.
08:35Behind the main sleeping area is our child's room and it was actually something that we added mid-build.
08:44It's been so great to sleep close to the little one at night and it means that she's away from
08:48the
08:48more active kitchen and lounge areas while she's asleep and we're not.
08:54If it's not used as a bedroom the space would also make a really great study or
08:58even extravagant dressing room with additional wardrobe.
09:06The bathroom and laundry is tiled with Japanese ceramic tiles which match the beautiful red
09:11dirt that we have on the block and it looks really amazing against the white OSB and the brushed nickel
09:17tapware.
09:21We have an extra long bathroom bench underneath which we have a full-sized washing machine and dryer
09:27and above the bench we also have tensioned wire again for hanging items to dry.
09:34In the shower we tried to maximize space so we have a simple glass divider
09:41and we have tapware and shelving that doesn't obtrude into your actual showering space.
09:49One of my favorite things in the shower is actually the hinoki wood shower stool which I sit on
09:54when I'm giving Will a little shower bath.
10:00When the bathroom door is open it actually closes off the toilet nook so the toilet's never in your direct
10:06line of sight. We have shelving above the toilet for more storage and we also have a really great artwork
10:13by Lucas Grogan that's one of our favorites as well.
10:18The vanity light was just a simple flat white disc and we weren't really sure how we felt about it
10:26but we
10:27also had this beautiful circle artwork by Joseph Johnson that we'd been given by Jamison's mother Gill.
10:34One day we just sort of thought that this fits here and we put it on the light
10:39and now it's one of our favorite things.
10:44Next to the shower we have a door which leads out to a private courtyard and the clothesline which
10:49is also made from repurposed stainless steel balustrade wire. The clothesline is super long
10:55and facilitates a full set of sheets and laundry for the whole family. We painted some of the pavers
11:01red again just for fun and at the end of our courtyard is a locker for gardening tools and the
11:06rainwater tank.
11:12Leading out from the living space we have these beautiful tall french doors which we mostly
11:18keep open because it's just such beautiful weather here, beautiful environment. The deck is FRP which
11:25is painted the same color as the exterior render and there's a round metal table and four vintage steel
11:31chairs as well as two stainless steel and canvas sling chairs which we had custom made.
11:38Wide steps lead down onto a nice little patch of lawn which Jamison lovingly laid himself for Will to
11:44play around on but we also have a natural rockery with native Australian plants in there. There's also
11:51neighbours with chickens with one chicken particularly that comes and lays eggs under our rosemary every
11:57morning. Oh you're being so careful that's good. When designing a small space I think it was really
12:05valuable to us to decide what was important to us in our everyday life and prioritise functionality in
12:13those spaces. We worked with a mandate of efficiency and not compromise. For me the kitchen is really
12:20like the heart of the home and sleeping those are two really important things. Jamison spent a really
12:27long time asking me questions and listening to all the little things that bugged me about other places
12:35we'd lived and things that I loved and dreamt about and I think we have it. Even in a small
12:42space
12:42we have everything we need. It's even luxurious to me.
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