Modern family

While Drew Thomas and Nicole Sangregory call themselves TNK – Team No Kids – the couple’s East Perth loft apartment spills over with their own special kind of family… plants, plants and more plants. There are about 250 all up, flowing inside and out, up, down and sideways. “We are not planning on having children, so our plants are our kids,” says Drew. “We give them care and love, and they grace us with their presence.”

Their passion for creating “green spaces in small spaces” began in 2019, with the botanical equivalent of The Brady Bunch. When they met, Drew had two yuccas, which were displaced orphans retrieved from the roadside, and Nicole had three plants, including a dumb cane or leopard lily (Dieffenbachia spp.). They combined them and thought they looked “kinda cool”.

Two years later, the couple bought this three-level loft in a heritage warehouse conversion in Whadjuk Country. “I had to have a loft on three levels,” Drew says. But they found themselves staring at a brick wall with no hint of nature, so their fertile minds went into overdrive. They began “de-domesticating” their home, festooning inside and out with their own urban jungle.

Burly FIFO worker Drew had battled with mental health and substance abuse issues in his late teens and early 20s, and when he decided to transform his life, he looked to nature. “I was looking for meaning and purpose, peace and contentment, by leading a natural, healthy lifestyle,” he says.

Key to achieving this was surrounding himself with plants and bringing nature back into his life with “biophilic design”. His vision? “Greenery. We wanted to get plants out of single pots and into wall-to-wall planters, with their own drainage systems and fans, to create an environment as close to their natural habitat as possible.”

“While it started with just a few plants, we added more each week,” says Nicole. “It became an addiction, as we loved them to bits and started learning about species and their nutritional and water needs.”

What’s not in the courtyard is in large planters in the ‘plant room’– aka the study on the first floor – which is heavily skewed towards philodendrons, with about 20 varieties, chosen for their large, sculptural leaves, and because they are easy to grow.

The living room boasts a paludarium, an aquatic-based zone – which uses driftwood as a growing medium – where fish, snails and shrimp share their habitat with, yes, philodendrons, as well as caladiums and alocasias. “We just top up the water,” says Nicole. “It’s amazing how plants can adapt to unusual environments.” And, in their humid bathroom, what could possibly be a better option than a moss wall?

While the indoor beds are “random, like a rainforest”, the outdoor plantings are more orderly, with weeping figs (Ficus benjamina), teddy bear magnolias and Syzygium ‘Bush Christmas’ arranged symmetrically along the courtyard’s side walls. “The foliage tapers up, then peaks, then comes back down again,” says Drew. “Symmetry adds structure. Random would be uncomfortable.” Meanwhile, three species of ivy on a jarrah frame interweave along the back wall. And as for the mural of a giant octopus that stretches its tentacles above the greenery? “We like a bit of fun,” says Nicole. “Its tentacles wrap around for a 3D effect.”

Fortuitously, that high wall has created a virtually bio-sterile environment. If the garden does get aphids or mealy bugs, Drew and Nicole douse them with organic neem oil. “If we can’t get an infestation under control in two weeks, we bring in the troops – carnivorous lacewings and ladybirds,” says Drew.

The couple’s future plans include a cactus room on the warm third level. And, when they run out of room, they plan to create an Airbnb, again nurturing their love of small-space biophilic design. “It will be an inner-city getaway, so you can immerse yourself in nature without having to travel,” says Drew. “Plants and biophilic design have brought so much joy and happiness into our lives. Now we want to share that.”

Story by Chris Pearson
Photography by Robert Frith/Acorn Photos