Inside the relaxed, chic Sydney home of fashion stylist Tash Sefton

Who: Fashion stylist Tash Sefton, partner Mark, and sons Jay, 12, and Mac, 6.

Where: Mosman, NSW

What: Relaxed family home

Sydney fashion stylist Tash Sefton epitomises effortless “off-duty” style, and it’s little surprise her family home has an equally relaxed yet stylish feel. Sefton sees interior decorating as a highly personal undertaking, where family stories take centre stage.

Sefton, her partner, Mark, and sons Jay and Mac have lived in their Mosman home for three years, and were first attracted to the property by its single-level floor plan.

“Living on one level for our family is very important,” Sefton says. “I can work up the front of the house while still hearing my family around me.”

A relaxed approach to home decorating also reflects this emphasis on family connection.

Sefton is a “true believer in your home being a collection of your journey as a family”. Following this ethos, she doesn’t believe you can walk into a shop and buy everything at one time, but rather that a house becomes a home as furniture and objects fill the space and reflect the personalities of its inhabitants.

“I don’t like our home being too prescribed or trendy,” she says. “It needs to not be too precious; we want the boys to be able to relax.”

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Tash and Mark have also built their family narrative in the house through an annual art purchase to celebrate their anniversary.

Their ever-evolving collection has, in recent times, been supplemented by another family-driven creative project – a collection of hand-painted pottery and distinctive artworks by Sefton and her sister Hayley, created under the name Sefton Segedin.

The home is constantly evolving, and Sefton says she is “forever pottering, changing and moving things around so they look right”.

However, she does caution the need to recognise when layers of memories and beautiful objects become clutter. She’s a fan of good storage to hide tired pieces and keep the house looking clean and fresh.

Tash and Mark had previously lived by the beach in Manly, but as the boys – and Sefton’s wardrobe – grew, they relocated to this larger home in Mosman which, she says, “feels very grown up.”

Her favourite spot at home is her home office-studio space. The light-filled room is Sefton’s dream location for creative projects.

The Design Files guide to hanging it all

Like most decorating decisions, there are no real rules for hanging and displaying artwork, aside from ensuring a strong, secure hook! One foolproof solution for hanging multiple frames in a small area is the “salon hang” – a collection of artworks or framed prints clustered on one wall.

• An eclectic and busy arrangement works well for varied frames in different sizes, while a neat, orderly hang is usually best where artworks are similarly framed.
• When dealing with works of varying sizes, start by hanging the largest work first.
• Regardless of the size of each artwork, the gaps between frames should be consistent – a spacing of 8-10 centimetres is a good rule of thumb.