Extension and Renovation with Period Charm in Bentleigh

They had lived in the home for 20 years without doing any renovations, so there was a lot of work to be done:

• Dark house with no natural light

• The layout didn’t work well for the family

• Lack of storage

• Nowhere to entertain guests

They wanted more connection to outside and a modern family home that would allow them the space to adapt as their children got older.

We were recommended by their builder, who had worked with us before. They wanted someone with the right level of experience, who would pay attention to the detail of their project and respect their home’s heritage.

We re-worked the floor plan to create three separate living zones:

1. adults working and sleeping zones at the front of the house;

2. kids sleeping and bathing in the middle,

3. living and family activities to the rear overlooking the garden

Grouping functions like this is a great way to achieve a cohesive floor plan and connectivity between the family’s activities.

We remodelled the entire house from front to back, adding a new ensuite and walk-in-robe to the master bedroom, and changing the front room into a fabulous home office. The biggest change though was the extension and opening up of the back of the home-- creating a large, light-filled, open plan kitchen, dining and living space, which opens onto a dreamy, pergola-covered veranda. The whole house received a modern makeover with beautiful timber flooring, panelling to the hallway, new lighting and built-in custom joinery.

We always work closely with our clients to understand their vision for their home and to help them uncover the style they love—then we work to express it in the design.

They liked the more traditional aspects of the current home so we worked hard to interpret that into a contemporary language that would work for modern lifestyles.

We found the right engineers, building surveyors and others they needed to achieve a compliant set of drawings and connected them with Lisa Hannaford Interiors to put the finishing touches to furniture and soft furnishings and really bring the design together.

We also worked with their builder to keep track of the budget and planning.

Our favourite part was going back onsite with the builder to visit the finished renovation and seeing how happy the owners were with their home’s transformation. They were delighted with their new light and bright home, especially the outdoor deck—they couldn’t wait to move back in.