Home Tour: Chilled Out Vibes at this Beachside Bungalow

Who lives here

Creative duo, Jaynie and Nathan Johnson of Blacklist Studio and their three children.

Location

Cronulla,in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire.

Décorstyle

Easygoing beachside vibes with an artistic edge.

Designgoals

Acomplete renovation of a bungalow, into a family home that is bathed in naturallight.

Favouriteroom

Masterbedroom. It is a sanctuary and incredibly peaceful.

Surrounded by Cronulla’s lush coastallifestyle, creative couple, Jaynie and Nathan Johnson of Blacklist Studio, havecreated a family home where summer vibes linger year-round. It’s a laid-backabode with a playful side, designed for the ever-changing needs of their young familyof five.

Jaynie and Nathan are renowned for creatingbeautiful artwork, stationery and journals in their signature typography style.But when they came across a tired and worn-down house in an amazing location,they turned their hand to home reno – transforming the property into a dreamybungalow with fresh interiors and a sun-kissed deck area.

A home filled with natural textures,beautiful art and chilled out vibes, we couldn’t wait to take a sneakpeek inside. 

THE HOUSE

Bathed in sunlight, the bungalow has anopen-plan living area that overlooks a beautiful backyard. The deck and pool,with a bridge that runs across the top, leads down to a lush garden with anoverarching palm tree.

Jaynie explains how they kept the framework of the house but gave the interiors and garden a complete overhaul; changing the floorplan, walls, floor, ceiling and outdoor area.

“It’s a three-bedroom house which has acouple of living spaces,” says Jaynie. “We put in a new kitchen, redid thebathroom, and added an ensuite. I love gardening, so we did the landscaping andadded a bridge over the pool – basically, we did everything except knock thehouse down.” 

THE STYLE

Using white as a base, Jaynie embraces herlove for natural textures and art. Throughout the home they’ve used recycled timberfloors, and have included rugs, timber furnishings, linen couches, texturedlight fittings and greenery. 

It’s an understated style that balances their colourful artwork. Some they have bought and others they have created themselves, which Jaynie admits they are forever switching around.

“We like to see our home as a constantlyevolving space that tells the stories of our family’s evolution.”

Vintage and reclaimed furniture from China,India and Indonesia feature throughout the home, linen covers the lounge andbeds, and brass and terracotta are beautifully placed around the house. 

DÉCOR GOALS

Jaynie has what she calls a canvas styleapproach, meaning a neutral base and then adding layers to it over time. Acombination of furnishings and pieces they love.  

The Living Area

Lined with bold and abstract Sister CoritaKent artworks, the hallway leads to a sunlit living area. The timber furniture(sourced from Water Tiger in St Peters) and linen covered couches (onlineretailer Major Minor) create a relaxing spot. 

The distressed rug adds texture to the room and plants in terracotta pots blend the indoors with outside. 

“We wanted to keep it light and bright,with personality,” Jaynie explains. “We love having books out, we have kanthasout to add pops of colour, and our artworks change all too regularly.”

The Kitchen

The open-plan kitchen is simple and whitewith large pendant lighting hanging above the benchtops. That, and the roundtimber dining table brings texture to the room.

“We used Corian for the benchtops, as wewanted the sink to be all in one, and I loved the durability of this material. 

“We kept it quite simple and functional, but added the texture in the pendant lights from Les Interiors,” Jaynie says.

The Kids’ Bedrooms

Simple yet colourful, the kids haveinstilled their personalities into the rooms. Wanting to give their daughterWillow a sense of independence and responsibility, Jaynie let her design andstyle her room.

“It’s not the easiest thing for us to do visually, but it is important and empowering for her. She’s awesome though, as she likes to collaborate with us a lot of the time.

“The boys, on the other hand, share. This is a new thing, and we wanted it to be very minimal so toys and books wouldn’t be a distraction at bedtime. Our five-year-old, Dare, has a hilarious obsession with banana stuff, so when I saw the Castle bedlinen, it was a must.

“The artworks in the room are by anincredible artist Digby Webster. They were a gift to Dare on his firstbirthday, as Digby and Dare share the amazing gift of having three copies oftheir 21st chromosome, Down Syndrome.”

The Bathroom

Wanting to create two bathrooms that were asanctuary, Jaynie kept them minimal in design but added texture with greeneryand other timber pieces. The towels, Jaynie says were sourced from SAARDE. 

“We wanted the two bathrooms to relate toeach other and so have the same vanities in different sizes, and tiles andfixtures. 

We make them unique with the accessories, such as the ensuite having a double shower. We also added VJ ceilings to build on the texture of the space,” explains Jaynie.

The Backyard

On summer days, the poolside deck is a much-welcomedsanctuary. The bridge leads onto a large grassy area, which has beenbeautifully landscaped with plenty of space for play and entertaining. 

Jaynie points out the mural, a collaboration with The Jazz Cats, and one of her favourite parts of the home. 

“We needed a solution when we knocked theback of the house out, so we built the deck and bridge. The pool is great forthe kids and their friends in summer, we have fires in the yard and have lotsof space for the children to run and play.”

GET THE LOOK

From left to right: Moon River Beni M’Guild, Tigmi Trading