Iam a project professional and a team advocate. I am surrounded by a great bunch of innovative customer experience experts in the NSW government. I work in the Transport sector, and we are building the next-generation informational portal for my state’s residents and visitors, focussing on mobility as a service. I am driven by the customer’s needs first. I work from my home now.
Where do you live? Where have you lived?
Ihave been a wanderer for forty-five years, spanning continents in Colombo, Dubai and Sydney. I lived in my parents’ home until I left Sri Lanka at twenty-one. In that period, four years were spent in a boarding school. Then in Dubai, I lived in a mixture of rented apartments. At age twenty-five, I built a home in Sri Lanka, project managed by my father. I never lived in that house except for short holidays. In Sydney, I built and lived in five homes and finally settled into my current home in 2020. It is in Marsden Park, in the Northwest area of Sydney, fifty kilometres from CBD Sydney. I hope I can live in this house forever.
Why did you move to Marsden Park?
Iwas a hardcore nomad after I ended my marriage some eleven years ago. I started out again initially in rented apartments until I found enough money to build a house again. In those eleven years, I bought land and built homes three times. (I had built three homes prior — altogether, six). When I settled into my second home after my separation, I was coming out of another long-term relationship. It was a time to take stock of my situation. My four children were now adults, and I wanted to live close to my grandkids and selected Marsden Park as the place to live. Marsden Park is an emerging suburb with many green spaces and walking tracks. My son’s home is a walk away. I did not spare any expense in building a sustainable green home. simplicity and open living as themes of this new house. G J Gardiner, my fantastic project builder, helped me to realise this dream and here I am.
Who else lives in your home?
Nobody now. A close friend lived with me for about ten months until he was independent enough to move out. He helped me to fit out my new place and set it up. He continues to visit me, and we are great pals.
What do you most like about your neighbourhood?
Myneighbourhood is awesome. Two minutes walk, there is a massive green space and walking tracks. I can visit my son, his family, and his kids in a ten-minute walk. All my neighbours are my friends. I run their social group. Pre Covid days, we got together every two months in my garage. Everybody brings food and grog. We have a gala time. We share information and useful titbits about our neighbourhood. We look out for each other. I live near a big shopping complex, ALDI grocery store, IKEA and Bunnings. I do not live far from the subway and the train stations.
Tell us about the house itself:
Itis a gorgeous house built on bricks and some great claddings mixed artistically to my liking. I have been severely influenced by creative design from my young days, so I put a lifetime of experiences into this house. I was lucky to come across G J Gardiner builders, who helped build my dream home. It has a white theme with my favourite colours baked in to break the ice and monotony of white. My living area is fabulous and allows me to survive the hard lockdowns imposed by Covid. It has large windows and sliding doors that bring a lot of Australian sunshine. The house is future-proof with business-grade wifi, voice control, home automation, streaming music, top-rated insulation, rooftop solar and built-in fibre optic connectivity. It blends creativity with technology. Green, my favourite colour, breaks the repetition of whites across the house. I have a large living and open working space that allows me to do my work for my awesome team and live my life to the full. It has created a workspace to thrive in my writing. It has four bedrooms, a double garage and a mid-size utility kitchen. Everything in my house has its place. I am religious about being organised. My house inspires me to wake up looking forward to the day ahead and live out my life beautifully.
How did you decorate the house?
When the house was being built by my awesome custom builder, G J Gardiner, I was scheming and planning my decor. I imagined what every room would look like, and the furniture selections for each room. I sold some of the furniture I had on the IKEA buyback scheme at their store. I bought some new IKEA furniture with that money. Most of the furniture I now have are what I had. I have added to the decor of the house my ancestral furniture and some family heritage items that I shipped from Sri Lanka. My house is a mixture of my proud legacy and modern alpha settings. It is a living testimony to my ancestors and my life embracing modernism.
How have you used colour throughout the house?
Outside is dark brown bricks, and the cladding colour is creamy, embodying mist from the sea and surf. My walls and ceilings are crisp white. My internal doors are green in a subdued, Ivy undertone colour. Minimalist in nature. My wooden floor is aged oak. These three contrasts bring the best in me and sanity to my life.
Describe your decorating style:
Natural and modern. It has my unique and modern signature. I am fortunate to have been blessed with this unique ability to mix old with new and make it appealing.
What about your garden?
Ihave curated and created a small garden in my back yard which requires little maintenance. It has Ivy plants running everywhere with some Australian pigface plants. Surrounding my house is pebbles with stepping stones.
What is the first thing you see when you arrive?
Ihave a historic wall painting from Sri Lanka from eight hundred years ago hanging near my entrance. Next to it is a shelf cabinet that adores some of the unique heritage items from my grandparents that have been proudly passed on to me.
Have there been any challenges while setting up the space?
No. I had a plan before I moved to the house. I am a visual artist. I imagined every corner, every space in my house. Then fitting everything was easy because I had thought of things ahead.
Which room gets used most?
Myliving room is where my study desk is during the daytime and my bedroom by night where I read before I go to sleep.
And the least?
The main bathroom. I have a built-in ensuite in my bedroom which I use. The main bathroom has hardly been used.
Where do you find all your furniture and bits and pieces?
The majority of my furniture is from IKEA or hand-me-downs from my kids. The master bedroom suite is from them, and so is my armchair. I bought a lovely Persian carpet in Dubai, which is now proudly used by my youngest child. For those who did not know, I have four lovely kids who are cool adults thriving in their dreams. Some furniture is from Gumtree, and some are from the IKEA bargain counter. Fortunately, I am gifted with a unique ability to mix, match, and create my style.
Can you share a favourite memory that’s taken place in the house?
Ihave lived here for one and a half years. My kids have visited my home regularly when they can bar the Covid restrictions. I get immense joy when my granddaughter, Mia, who lives nearby, visits my place and spends a few hours. When she is here, the entire house is hers to enjoy. She loves drawing and observing my decor. She will be a great artist and a decorator one day. I have another granddaughter, Darcy, in Gold Coast, Queensland. Due to the current Covid situation, she has been unable to visit me. I look forward to her visit and making another great memory.
Having moved around regularly, are there any lessons you have learnt about setting up a space?
Iam an ultra planner. Being a project professional in my other life, proactively managing everything is the most natural thing for me. I have checklists for everything from building, decorating, budgeting, expense control, forecasting and moving a house. My builders have said they have not seen an organised person like me. Having done this repeatedly over the years, nothing is surprising to learn. It is so easy. I know some find building a home and moving in daunting.
What does home mean to you?
Igrew up in two homes. My father’s ancestral home until I was about four. Then from five to twenty-one in my mother’s ancestral home with my parents. My time at my parent’s home was my best experience. I was loved by my parents and grandparents in my home. I emerged as a confident young man baked from those surroundings. I tried to build and give that experience to my children. It is great now that they are independent, thriving in their dreams, and I can live in a home that means much to me. It is my home that brings the past and my current state together. I love it.
My home is a mirror of my soul. It supports my well-being. It gives me a feeling of self-worth and gives me an identity. My distractions are limited because there is no clutter. My possessions are kept to a minimum in my home. It allows me to live a purposeful and happy life.
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