Every so often a designer gets the most demanding client of all: themselves. This was our family home — bought in its original tacky 1980s condition and taken through a full three-floor renovation, inside and out, on a tight budget. No client to convince, no brief to interpret. Just a clear vision and the discipline to see it through.

The goal was minimalism  — a clean, considered counterpoint to everything the original house was. Layered decks were added to the front, each one stepping out toward a view of the Deep Cove mountains and water that the original design had barely acknowledged. The exterior was overhauled to match, shedding the dated detailing in favour of something quieter and more resolved.

Inside, the tight budget became a design principle. The result is a minimalist aesthetic that strips the home back to its essentials — a spare, gallery-like interior where the art of how a family actually lives takes centre stage. Nothing competes with it. Nothing needs to.

We raised our kids here. We watched the house become what we always saw it could be. And when the time came to move on, it sold to a young couple planning a family of their own — which felt like exactly the right ending.