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When Sandra Georges moved into her childhood home in Melbourne’s east, originally built by her grandparents in 1956, she saw an opportunity to give it a new lease on life.
‘The home had a lovely mid-century character and a number of original architectural features that we were keen to retain and celebrate,’ interior designer Jenni Robin explains.
‘While the house was in a generally liveable condition, it lacked some of the comforts and functionality expected of a modern home.’
With single-glazed windows and minimal insulation, the home fell short on thermal comfort and energy efficiency. Limited storage and an awkward layout also meant it didn’t entirely support the needs of Sandra, her husband Gerald and their son Alexandre.
‘The brief was about creating a home that would evolve with [them]… We wanted to preserve the charm and personality of the original architecture, while introducing contemporary functionality and considered design solutions,’ says Jenni.
Catherine Ruffle from Lateral Building Design devised a new layout and added a small extension to make room for a larger kitchen, pantry, laundry, and bathroom. A new bedroom was also added, alongside a new outdoor entertaining area.
‘The extension provided an opportunity to create more usable space and address some of the shortcomings of the original home, without significantly increasing its footprint,’ Jenni says.
With the layout resolved, Jenni turned her attention to the interiors.
‘A big part of the design approach was finding a balance between celebrating the home’s original mid-century character and introducing contemporary elements that would allow it to feel fresh,’ she says.
Throughout the home, delicate decorative details are expertly balanced with harder, industrial materials, such as the stainless steel used in the kitchen.
‘We were keen to explore a soft, feminine colour palette that would bring warmth and personality to the home, while providing a beautiful contrast to the more commercial aesthetic of the stainless steel benchtops and splashbacks’, says Jenni.
‘Sandra had a real aversion to grey, so this was never a consideration… Instead, we embraced warmer, more expressive colours and materials that brought personality and a sense of individuality to the interiors.’
These warm tones appear in the burgundy gloss tiles covering the kitchen rangehood and the rich red Axminster carpet in the living room — a colour inspired by the couple’s Rosso Rubino Murano glass vases.
While the revised layout meant a few existing windows had to be removed, a new internal stained-glass panel was installed at the top of the staircase to honour the home’s heritage.
‘Small fragments of glass were salvaged from an original window in the home that was unfortunately damaged during construction, allowing a little piece of the original house to live on in the new design,’ Sandra says.
1950s-inspired glazed panels replaced solid internal doors, while old fabric light fittings were swapped for beautifully detailed glass shades, adding a sense of craftsmanship and further celebrating the home’s original character.
‘These details provided a connection between the home’s past and its future,’ says Sandra. ‘While the house has been transformed, its memories, character and history remain very much part of its story.’
