When the clients bought this Federation house, it was decorated in predictable heritage colours and included many faux heritage details. It was slightly tired, and needed an upgrade and minor replanning to make it work for the family, who had two young children.
Some aspects of the job
• We added panelled glass doors between the family room and corridor to introduce a sense of visual integration with the rest of the house.
• The kitchen was renovated to include an island bench, which doubles as a breakfast bar. To fit the island into the narrow space, we built a full size bench on one side of the room and a narrow one on the other, with accompanying shallow storage units. Shelves have also been incorporated into the kitchen to allow cookbooks to be easily accessible.
• The clients had moved from a small apartment to a large house – we selected almost all of the furniture, with some sourced locally and other pieces from overseas markets and stores. The 1940s Swedish sofas in the family room are compact, and help create a sense of space in the narrow room. We designed, and had made, a matching footstool for the sofas.
• The living room has lovely afternoon light but faces straight onto the street. To address the privacy problem yet still maintain the light, sheer linen curtains were added.
