Tracking down a perfect family house can be a daunting task. There are so many things to consider  - the neighborhood, size of the house, light, yard… and finally, how would everything fit into the family lifestyle. After relocating to Geelong, Mathew Dickens and Zytel Hircoe struggled to find a place that could house their growing family and their way of life. With three children under the age of 10, plus a dog and a cat, settling down for just about anything wasn’t an option. Finally, on the outskirts of town, they found a house they felt a connection to, but it needed a looot of work before it became the “Joyful House.”

The choice was set on a weatherboard workers cottage which later got its contemporary extension. With help from Warwick Mihaly, Erica Slocombe and Jake Taylor from Mihaly Slocombe Architects, Dickens / Hircoe family built their real-life dream home.

The family needed more space, more natural light and a better connection to the yard. A spacious new room with an open floor plan was built as an extension to the original house, linking it to the garden in a seamless and natural way. A steep, sloping roof brought in many rays of sunshine and made a perfect working nest just above its top. To further develop the indoor-outdoor transition, a new deck was created and covered with fiberglass. Thanks to translucent nature of the material, this remarkable spot, ideal for family barbecues, doesn’t stop sunlight from entering the living room.

But the best part of this great update isn’t its Pinterest worthy appeal, nor the fact that the brief was executed in full despite the tight budget. The simplicity of life and pure joy of living it brought to the owners is what makes this project stand out from the many.

The nickname came naturally. “Joyful House” is fun, bright, airy, user-friendly family home with Joyful Dulux Yellow leitmotifs sprinkled all around the place.

Isn’t it gorgeous?

Design team: Warwick Mihaly, Erica Slocombe, Jake Taylor

Photographer: Tatjana Plitt

Styled by: PIP+COOP