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Dream homes do come true

Jules Coffey's fantastic family home

Mixed stone, concrete and oak textures paired with an array of design trends fill Jules Coffey and her family’s dream home in New South Wales’ Redhead. Just south of Newcastle. 

Having always wanted to build a home from scratch, Jules loved the dreaming, creating, and building process and seeing her vision come to life from a block of land. 

Throughout the process, it was imperative that her home reflected her personality, hence her playfulness in mixed trends, elements, textures and materials. But while this busy mum wanted an aesthetically pleasing home, functionality and practicality were crucial – which is where Clipsal came in, firmly recommended by their electrician, Josh.

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iconic on wall
iconic in child's bedroom
iconic on wall
iconic in child's bedroom

Power up

Powerpoints can often be overlooked when planning a space, but the right placement is crucial in the day-to-day function of a home – from your kitchen (think toaster, kettle, coffee machine) to your bedroom (charging your devices, lamps, etc) to your living space.

“It's amazing how the finer details like light switches and power points can be such an integral part of a build” highlights Jules. “It's amazing what a difference they can make.”

Jules opted for the Clipsal Iconic range as she loved how the changeable front skins allowed her to integrate the power points and switches into her styling, as well as the built-in USB ports.    

“I've got quite a few of them and I've actually got some hidden in the cupboards, as well. What I loved about the Clipsal Iconic [switches] was that we could actually have the USB points, which is really handy for charging your phone without having the big plug.”

“You don't want your power points and your light switches to be a feature, you want them to really blend beautifully into the home” recommends Jules. 

She opted for downlights with dimmers for the same reasons, “You can't have too many downlights, and I think dimmers are so important. I wanted dimmers in every room as they create such a beautiful ambience.”

two girls in bathroom

Personalise where you can  

How could Jules reflect her individuality and personality while making her home comfortable and practical for her two little girls?  

“In our bathrooms we've got the Clipsal Iconic with the personalised icons [and] the sensor, which is amazing.”

Given Jules was designing a family home, intuitive elements made all the difference in creating a comfortable space her family would love. 

“The sensor turns on when you walk into the bathroom… When the girls use the toilet in the evening or nighttime, they walk in and the sensor activates and turns that stoplight on” explains Jules. 

“I loved that about the Clipsal Iconic, that at night the main switches actually have an illuminated light, which makes them easy to find in the dark.”

woman stepping on porch with iconic

Play with it

Workshopping ideas with the builder and her husband to ensure they maximised the space and utilised areas was crucial. 

“I've been incredibly hands-on, I've made sure that I was here every day and just noticing things and challenging the builders and I guess ourselves and trying to see what we can improve on” tells Jules. 

“For instance, we've got a garden bed upstairs” describes Jules, which was originally going to a rooftop. “I didn't like the idea of that. So I said, ‘Oh, I think it'd look really good as a garden bed.’ 

“The builder and my husband were both like, "Oh, I don't think that's possible." But I'd seen it done before… so we workshopped it and made it happen!” 

“There were lots of different aspects in the home where we did that. And I think that's really important to do when you're building and creating your home.”

woman holding up plan

Professional advice helps

In addition, Jules suggests, “Getting advice from an interior designer or anybody in that field to make sure that everything ties together really beautifully.” 

“You can have a vision but it can be really difficult to kind of tie all the rooms together” she explains. “I found that a challenge. I had an idea for the laundry and then an idea for the powder room, an idea for the kitchen. But it's actually really important that all of those rooms flow together really beautifully. So I got advice from an interior designer just to make sure that everything went together really well.”

Jules’ final advice to anyone renovating or building? “This is your home, you're creating a space that you're going to live in, it has to be what you really love. All the styles, all the textures, everything that you're putting into it makes sure you get what you want.”

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