How did you deal with color?
Shrub: Our bedroom has a wonderful caramel color. It is very calming and reminds me of the beach. Almost every room has a look at the trees; Only the guest room not. So we also wanted to reproduce the feeling there and we painted it green. I have always painted an entire room – the ceiling, doors, control plates, everything. If you close the door now, it feels like you are sleeping in a forest. We chose a wallpaper for the guest toilet, which consists of real sea grass.
When they turned to the experts
Did you have help with the construction of the house?
shrub: I drawn the floor plan on an iPad, and then a friend who is a civil engineer helped us.
Cairnes: One of the most time -consuming things was definitely the stairs! We must have had five or six meetings about it.
shrub: We believe that sometimes you have to turn to you if you are not an expert yourself.
Cairns: And we are very picky.
shrub: Brendan has a great network. It felt a bit like a community of experts who all got together to bring the house to life, which was really nice. I think you can feel that now.
How are you working together?
Cairns: We knew exactly what the tasks for each of us were. We trust deeply into the skills of the other and all have a clear understanding of our strengths. Melissa took care of all design and furniture selection, and I focused on performing the vision. Good communication was the key to success, especially when it came to giving constructive feedback. We worked closely together to solve problems, but we also gave ourselves the freedom to do what we can best do. I didn't tell her how to design and she didn't tell me how to build.
It is something very personal to build your own home. What was important to you about the process?
Shrub: It is about creating a home that not only looks nice, but also feels good. We have not chosen cheap materials. It is important for me to know that the materials used for the construction of the house were carefully selected and the environment do not damage. I also wanted the transition from the inside out. That's why I love the design of the middle of the century. Each window in the house is positioned to frame the trees on the property. For us, nature is a form of living art.
In addition, the light was very important. We both wanted to be sure that we knew exactly where and how we could best grasp natural light when building our house. Today, for example, we can see the sunrise through the high kitchen windows (which extend into the living room), the sunset through the windows on the balcony and the moon through the skylights. And two hours a day our house is bathed in gold or pink light.
