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Arts Abound
Sunday Style 2/3/2014
We've been living in this apartment for two years, after buying it just before Christmas in 2011. We loved that it was on the top floor of a small block. Plus, it was built in the '30s or '40s, so it has high ceilings, and we're on a quiet street- apart from the odd plane flying overhead. It's close to my studio and Sarah's office, both in Surry Hills, and not far from the beach and the Olsen Irwin gallery in Woollahra, where I show my work. It's right in the middle of it all- and the dog loves Centennial Park. It was a lovely night when we moved in. We had a bottle of red a friend bought us, we picked up takeaway from an Italian restaurant and we sat on our boxes. We haven't made any structural changes, but we did gut the kitchen and bathroom- there was a power point under the shower head! We didn't have a kitchen for nine weeks after we moved in- the novelty of eating out every night definitely wears off. When renovating, we focused on maximising space, so we incorporated the laundry into the bathroom. We knew we'd have a lot of art work to show off, so we went without a coloured feature wall to make it stand out. Except for a couple of key pieces, we change around the works quite often. It makes it feel like a new place again. Sarah's mum, Many Noye, is an interior decorator and both Sarah and I have collected a lot of art and objects from our travels. We both have creative backgrounds, but when Mandy comes down from Brisbane to visit, she'll point out things and move objects around so it looks nicer. She can come and remind us why we liked something in the first place- I know that when I'm in the studio and someone comes in with a fresh eye, it can completely change everything because I'm too close to the work to notice. In terms of decorating, I'm more pared-back and Sarah is more decorative in a French industrial way. We always discuss things at length, but we normally come to the same agreement. If it were all 'cold', it could look a little nothing, same if it were all 'decorative'. We always keep artworks from each of my exhibitions. I dont' want to see them again, but Sarah selects the ones she likes. I think we have similar taste as a whole, but we can go off into tangents- it's not so strict. It's a good mix.