Former Sydneysiders Jessi and Koombs customised their new build on the Gold Coast, creating a bold, modern home for their growing family.
Photography Coast Park Creative / Words Nichola Davies
Creative couple Jessi and Koombs made the move from Sydney to the Gold Coast with their two little ones (human and dachshund) a month before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We wanted to have a home with a backyard for a dog and to cater to our growing family,” explains Jessi. “That didn’t seem possible with our budget in Sydney. We wanted a slower-paced life and the Gold Coast seemed to offer that.”
Opting for a new build for their family home, Jessi and Koombs chose a standard design through GJ Gardner Homes, adding some customisations to suit their needs.
“We wanted a lot of natural light,” says Jessi. “The raked ceiling provides heaps of light and makes the main living spaces feel bigger and brighter.”
“Open-plan living was really important to us to bring the outdoors in, and we wanted our main bedroom to open onto the pool to create a relaxing atmosphere and the feeling of being on holiday.”
The couple chose a black, VJ-panelled feature wall in the study and black feature walls in the living room, media room and main bedroom to add impact to the home’s interior. “As our home is mostly white, we wanted to create some contrast,” says Jessi.
Jessi and Koombs tackled the landscaping themselves – a feat made easier by the fact that green-thumbed Koombs is a bricklayer with experience in stonemasonry. Sourcing inspiration from gardens on Instagram and Pinterest, the couple had a rough idea of what they wanted: “tropical plants, different seating zones, a barbecue area, a low-maintenance garden, and a backyard that the family could enjoy and spend a lot of time in”.
The landscaping is designed around the pool, the corner of which lines up with the original alfresco area. Jessi says this was important to get right in order to maximise the other areas of the backyard on the 450sqm block.
The bench seat and planter boxes are an original design feature dreamt up by Jessi and Koombs, who were looking to elevate their plants and create privacy from neighbours. “The planter box and bench seat were perfect for the space,” says Jessi. “The area can also be seen when you’re standing in the dining room, kitchen and living room, so we wanted to make it a feature and create a view from all of these rooms.”
The process wasn’t without challenges though; the planters needed to be redone to make them higher and able to hold bigger plants. The area also originally had real turf that had to be ripped up – twice – due to lawn grubs. “Artificial turf has been amazing,” says Jessi. “It’s green all year round, low maintenance, and our daughter and dachshund Maple love playing on it.”
In addition to being open to the option of artificial turf, Jessi and Koombs’ top tips for DIY landscaping are to source plants locally and check out Facebook Marketplace for bargains. “Almost all of our plants are from local nurseries,” explains Jessi. “We purchased many items, such as the breezeblocks and railway sleepers, which we used as steppers by the pool and the front of the house, from Facebook Marketplace.”
The couple say they saved “so much money” by choosing to do the landscaping themselves – a big win for this growing family.
