Homes

Welcome To The Good(rum) Life

It is little surprise that one of Australia’s most celebrated designers has a home which sparkles with exacting aesthetic flair! Today’s home is the corner pocket of Adam Goodrum, a TDF favourite whose industrial designs have been lauded the world over.

We chat with this master of eye catching furniture, and explore the home he shares with wife Michelle and sons Oli and Archie. Have you ever seen so many chic chairs under one roof? Honesty, how do you choose where to sit down!?

Written
by
Lucy Feagins
Supported by Dulux

The Waterloo corner home of award-winning furniture designer Adam Goodrum, his wife Michelle, and kids Oli and Archie. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Adam in the upstairs living room. Chair is vintage Geoffrey Harcourt F520 lounge chair for Artifort. Ala desk lamp by Rodolfo Bonetto for Guzzini, found in a Mosman council cleanup! Artek limited edition stool from Victoria and Albert in London. Painting by Adam’s friend, Enrique Duval. Mask from Sri Lanka. Bubble George Nelson pendant light from Spence and Lyda. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

The leafy, urban courtyard. Volley Rocker chair from Tait, by Adam Goodrum. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Kitchen/living areas. It’s hard to believe that when Adam and Michelle first purchased the property in 2004, it was in a ‘sad and derelict state’. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Blue Glass Boab by Adam Goodrum, produced by Vert Design. Cult 20 year anniversary brass tower by Adam Goodrum. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Living room, looking out to the verandah. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Looking through from the kitchen over the courtyard to the new addition. Alexander Calder print visible in new addition. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

The living room. Hans Wagner rocker chair, bought from Shapiro Auction House. Tolomeo floor lamp from Artemide. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

The ‘perilous’ staircase! Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

The iconic Cappellini Stitch Chair by Adam Goodrum, alongside an Alexander Calder print in the extension. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Veuve Clicquot Riddling Stool prototype in Archie’s bedroom.  Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

‘There’s a loose continuity in the forms and colours I like, so mostly things end up working together, but if they don’t that’s okay too,’ Adam tells. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Ground floor entrance. Chatter Box ceramic table by Adam Goodrum. Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

The family lived in the (then decrepit) Waterloo house for two years after first purchasing it, then ‘gutted it and started again’. They’ve been happily living in this new renovation for the past 11 years.  Photo – Caitlin Mills for The Design Files. Styling – Annie Portelli.

Writer
Lucy Feagins
2nd of October 2018

The corner terrace of industrial designer Adam Goodrum and family hasn’t always been such an eye catching spectacle. When Adam and wife Michelle purchased the property in 2004, it was in a sad and derelict state (aka a renovator’s dream!). After living in it for two years, Adam describes how they ‘gutted it and started again.’ The family moved out for the nine month renovation process, and since then, have lived for the past 11 years in their succinctly updated home.

Adam highlights how the small size of the home necessitated clever spatial organisation, where little pockets of space provide multiple functions. Where possible, windows have been orientated to look out onto foliage, and the bedrooms are on the top level, away from the street, with sky and treetop views from the beds.

The aesthetic of the family home is self-described by Adam as ‘eclectic, minimal and honest’ where chairs and collections of small designer objects interject into an otherwise minimalist vibe. While there is no particular strategy in the objects, there is a sense of cohesion, and Adam acknowledges ‘there’s a loose continuity in the forms and colours I like, so mostly things end up working together, but if they don’t that’s okay too.’

Adam’s own designs inhabit the house, both in the form of small maquette models, and prototypes the family test run before the furniture goes into full production. Other favourite pieces include the comfortable and spinning (fun!) Geoffrey Harcourt Artifort Swivel chair, and an arresting Alexander Calder print. The lineage of Adam’s inspiration is clearly evident!

It is hard to believe this home was initially the ‘most dilapidated, termite ridden, fire damaged terrace in the inner city!’ – its transformation is a testament to Adam’s ambition and vision. With the Goodrum design studio on the ground floor downstairs, this home is truly a living part of Adam’s brilliant and all encompassing creative practice.

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