When an architect took his work home, it led to a huge challenge both personally and professionally, with outstanding results.

Story & Styling Helen Adams Photography Jonny Valiant

The key to creative talent is making something look easy - even when the road has been winding, tricky and steeped in frustration. Architect Mark Ian Jones's home exudes a feeling of space and calm, and is the impressive end to five years of careful planning and technical challenges. The high ceilings, dark paint colours and rich materials of the immaculately renovated Victorian workers' cottage provide a modern, urban retreat from city life. Period charm is effortlessly combined with contemporary living - or at least, it looks effortless, and therein lies the home's airy appeal.

When Mark and his partner were looking to buy their first house, they had only seen a handful of properties before they discovered a two-bedroom cottage in Sydney's inner west. "From the front it was promising," says Mark. "Everything was going well until we reached the back, which was an awful late 1970s renovation. A dining room led into a dated kitchen and bathroom with timber clad walls, which were reminiscent of a Finnish sauna!" This didn't deter Mark, although he still had to convince his partner. "I felt the house had the potential to be made into something specific to suit our needs, as well as a place for me to express my architectural personality," he explains.

Not wanting to rush decisions, the couple moved in and simply painted the back of the house white to get a feel for the space. They lived there for three years before they began reconfiguring the property. "Our aim was to open up the house and make it as light as possible," says Mark.

Now the house is finished, Mark is more than pleased with the results - although he describes the project as one of the most difficult he's ever done. "When you are working for a client, they approve where you're heading with the plans. I spent longer exhausting solutions for the space to ensure we built the right one." After all the hard work, there is no doubt that he has injected his individuality and brought a 100-year-old cottage into the new millennium.