When Rebecca Karagiorgos and her husband started knocking down walls in their Ringwood North unit, they found out very quickly that the house had never been properly insulated, and most of the electrical wiring and plumbing had to be re-done. This is when it turned from an interior makeover into a serious renovation!

‘The rooms were pokey, dark and closed off to one another,’ explains Rebecca of the original layout. ‘We wanted to keep the space open, airy and free-flowing.’ As such, they set out to create the perfect design that met all their needs, both functionally and aesthetically.

Given both Bec and her partner were coming from large family homes into a two-bedroom unit, the focus was on making the new open-plan layout cosy and inviting. This meant the colour and materials palette was crucial to achieving a contemporary, but intimate and welcoming atmosphere.

‘As the house is small in itself, we knew that the overall mood and theme had to remain consistent throughout, as every room is visible from the other,’ she explains. ‘My husband and I both love a good monochrome palette, so we stuck to a very simply black, white and neutral colour theme, to keep everything fresh and cohesive.’

The pair designed the sleek interiors themselves and even spent weeknights after work and weekend days painting walls, laying flooring and cleaning. Bec applied her impeccable eye to the finishes, selecting the Mizu Drift range of brushed gold tapware from Reece to add a touch of glam to the kitchen and bathroom. The Mizu Drift Gooseneck tap adds a particularly sculptural touch.

‘As our overall theme was very monochromatic, it made perfect sense to include the warm brushed gold tones into the renovation,’ says Rebecca. ‘The choice to include the matte black was a no-brainer too, it’s incredibly bold and sleek.’

This same mix of metallic fixtures and black finishes was repeated in the European-style bathroom-laundry (a.k.a. the couple’s favourite room in the house!) by adding the Alape Unisono Basin in matte black.

Combining the bathroom and laundry was originally a simple space-saving solution, but ended up as an inspired design feature, where the large, industrial-style Mizu Drift Twin Waterrail shower fixture works in tandem with the deep, farmhouse-style marble benches on the opposing laundry wall.

‘What was originally a very dated, pokey and cramped floorplan is now a free-flowing space where all rooms connect,’ says Rebecca.

This epic interior transformation takes the home from daggy to debonair!

Rebecca Karagiorgos brought her sleek kitchen and bathroom to life with Reece – Australia’s home of kitchen and bathroom inspiration, design and innovation. Reece’s expert team helps customers across the country make their dream bathroom a reality. Discover more here.