At home with. . . Bec Statton
A beautifully curated Queenslander where art, texture and family life meet - we step inside the stunning home of Bec Statton of The Toowoomba Gallery (and it's every bit as soulful, layered and glorious as you’d imagine).
Published 17 July 2025
Photography: @heliosagencyau
Words: Sam Kirby
It probably comes as little surprise that Bec & Grant Statton’s home is filled with art, clever design details, and a warm sense of lived-in ease. Bec, a gallerist, co-founder of The Toowoomba Gallery, and interior design student; Grant, CEO of a local business.
Indeed, this is a house that is anything but static. A home that invites you in and tells you its story without ever needing to say a word. . . A gallery-like hallway greets visitors, awash with colour, texture, and story. Art lines the walls - not just for decoration, but as an expression of the people who live here.
Four children, two cavoodles, and a revolving door of family life have shaped this home into something dynamic and deeply personal.
As Bec explains, “It’s designed to take a bit of a beating - and look all the better for it."
Now, almost a decade after moving in, and though only their youngest of four still lives at home - weekends and holidays still see the others return in waves, and the house still flexes with whoever walks through the door. Part base camp, part studio, part sanctuary.
Add in two "badly behaved cavoodles", Billy and Henry, and the picture becomes clear: this is a space built around the rhythms of life.
And that is exactly how Bec likes it.
In 2016, when they found the house, the family was living nearby in a small cottage they’d renovated - charming, but beginning to strain under the weight of their growing kids, school drop-offs, sports bags, and the quiet need for more breathing room.
“We needed something that would carry us through the teenage years and possibly beyond,” Bec says. When the property came up, off-market, [and] a little out of budget, but ticking all the right boxes - they didn’t hesitate.
“We fell in love with the garden, the character, the concrete kitchen bench,” and as Bec says, “the rest is history."
The house is a Queenslander - full of charm, with high ceilings, generous proportions, and the kind of character that can’t be replicated. "The layout worked, the bones were solid, and the space had room to grow" - but it was never about a grand overhaul. It didn’t need knocking down or reimagining, just time to breathe.
Adding French doors let the light move easily through the spaces and opened up what were once closed-off living areas into the generous, green sweep of the garden. Original details - like the brick chimney and timber trims - gave the home a sense of history without demanding attention.
As with everything in this space, the architectural updates have happened slowly, guided more by instinct than by plans. Bec’s approach has always been about adding layers, not making statements - letting the house grow into itself, and into them.
Instead, the home evolved slowly, organically, with Bec’s design philosophy guiding each shift. “I’m not big on trends,” she says. “I want spaces that reflected the people in them - and that work hard for how we actually live.”
“Personally, I love to mix and match,” she says - layering second-hand finds with designer pieces, pairing antique furniture with more modern touches.
“I love materials that age well and look better with a bit of wear and tear, like timber, linen and concrete,” she continues . . . things that carry the marks of real life: the hardwood chevron flooring in the hall, the raw concrete island and a striking brick stove chimney, black pennies in the bathroom, and the navy linen sofa that once belonged to her grandparents. Things with soul.
And it's this same thinking, Bec explains, that extends to the way art is used throughout the house - an approach she recommends to everyone - 'soul'.
Art is more than an aesthetic; it’s directional, emotional, and deeply personal. “I use art to tell our story,” she says. “It adds layers of personality and guides you through the home.” Some works are bold and commanding, others are quiet and contemplative - but all are chosen with intent, a sense of fun, and meaning that’s often known only to them.
Figurative works by David Bromley (you know the one) share wall space with Ben Tankard’s playful pop-culture realism - from Monopoly-inspired canvases to pieces from his 'Unpopular Penguin' series. In another room, a cheeky addition, chosen by one of the kids as a lighthearted nod to their own dyslexia, now hangs proudly - a family in-joke that says as much about their humour as it does their closeness.
In the open-plan living space - where, as Bec says, “most of our life happens” - a light, joy-filled piece by Joanna Davies is paired with the earthy texture of Jai Vasicek’s resin and ceramics. Each room hums with a different rhythm. Some works were collected through the gallery, others stumbled upon unexpectedly. Some were chosen by Bec, others by the kids. “Very rarely do we buy a piece with a specific place in mind,” she says. “We see something we love and find a way to make it work."
And it does.
And yet, while the art tells part of the story, the real insight into Bec comes through the small, unexpected things woven into daily life.
A former teacher with a wildly creative streak, Bec has a background that includes everything from embroidery and basket weaving to lino printing and macramé — the kind of school-honed, teacher-encouraged craftiness that doesn’t just disappear with age. Like so many of those early hobbies, they sometimes lie dormant, but re-emerge when it counts: Christmas, birthdays, installations, gallery openings (case in point? The Toowoomba Gallery Christmas tree — a suspended sculpture of garlands, hula hoops, florist wire and electrical tape that’s as impressively 'extra' as it sounds).
“I’m [also] a bit of an over-sharer,” Bec laughs, but it’s that instinct — to jump into anything, to make, to play, to build something with her hands - that gives this home its magic and is key to her eye for interior design. The house itself feels like an open book: full of personality, full of moments, full of their family. Not just curated, but created. Not just beautiful, but beautifully lived in.
And for Bec and Grant, that's the key.
Slow afternoons on the deck, birthday dinners around the kitchen bench, laughter, mess, art projects, dinner parties and dogs underfoot. The sense that everyone’s welcome and nothing’s too precious.
Beautiful, personal, and ever-evolving. Not just about style, as Bec would say - it’s about function WITH form, and the kind of space that holds a family and grows with them.
@thetoowoombainteriordesigner | @thetoowoombagallery | www.thetoowoombagallery.com
