Melbourne terrace house renovation

Terraced house meets high life in this marvellous makeover in Melbourne that focuses on functionality and flexibility.

Living room with two kids playing
ARTICLE Stephanie Matheson PHOTOGRAPHY Dean Bradley 

From its street façade, this modest terraced house in Fitzroy, Melbourne doesn’t give away much. All five metres of it (width-wise) are blending neatly into the neighbourhood, and apart from a new, light coat of paint, don’t allude to the fact that this building has been transformed well beyond its rather traditional frontage. But don’t be fooled by the understated appearance.
The street-facing front two rooms are in fact the only rooms of the original house that remain – everything else has been completely redesigned and rebuilt to suit the lifestyle of a young, urban family. Spatial designer Dan Geyfer, mastermind of this redesign completed by Dan Geyfer Design, says: “Daniel and Leah essentially wanted to turn inner city living on its head. They wanted the convenience of inner city living without compromising on space, function, interaction, flexibility and light.”
“We wanted a design that not only accommodated everyday living, but enhanced it,” explains the couple. “With our young daughter Clementine, we spend more time at home, so we wanted to create a stylish but practical living environment. Not in an over the top/expensive appliance kind of way, but alternatively in a functional way.”
The stylish renovated kitchen
The design process was key to the success of this renovation, which is reflected in the fact that at 12-months the design time was almost as long as the construction time of 14-months. “Extensive testing was done on the spatial design of each floor until every square millimetre of space had been attributed a specific role in the client’s everyday lives,” explains Dan.
With flexibility and interaction as a focus, all spaces and design elements were selected and adapted in order to facilitate and promote conversation and activity between occupants. Good examples of this are ledges, steps and custom seating, as well as built-in furniture and cabinetry, some of which are used across different spaces in the house. All of the home’s fixtures, fittings, materials, finishes and colours are carefully chosen to support the clients’ goals.
There are two living areas, which both flow seamlessly to the outdoors to offer more space for entertaining. The upstairs area, as most areas in the house, shares several uses and functions. “It is part retreat, part family room, part study, part living and part outdoor living/entertaining,” say Daniel and Leah.
Woman sitting in her new bed in the renovated bedroom
“The interior of this space is highly customised to our lifestyle. There is a custom day bed to lounge back and read a book, have a wine (drinks ledge at end of the daybed), play with Clementine or watch TV. This element is strongly integrated with the study in that the timber of the day bed ‘continues’ perpendicular to the bed, becoming a generous-sized desk. The television is literally recessed into the back of the balustrade, so as not to project into the space at all, thus leaving the floor clear.” 
The upstairs living space is also the lightest in the house. Space and light are delivered throughout the home with strategically placed skylights, windows and doors. Dan says: “From a design perspective the built form is strongly driven by the need to provide natural light to the narrow site and south facing ground floor living spaces.” 
An internal courtyard in the middle section of the house distributes light into one of the bedrooms, the bathroom and the dining room/kitchen.
Renovated bedroom with dog sleeping in bed
As a real point of difference, the whole rear façade of the house is tiled, as are seats, benches, planter boxes and balustrades.
No corner of this house has been left untouched – every millimetre thought through. What results is a clever mix of forms and materials that create an overall impression of space and tranquillity. At a modest 178 square metres of floor space, this home shows how the ‘high life’ is possible in a smaller space and with an affordable budget.
The idea of interaction and flexibility is what drives it all. "It doesn’t matter if we are downstairs or upstairs, there is plenty of room for our daughter Clementine to play, read books, etc, and importantly, participate in activities and interactions with us,” says Leah.
“The spaces accommodate this somewhat ‘organic’ living – there is no designated play room or family room; several spaces, including those external, can accommodate this.”
Daniel adds: “Spaces can accommodate two, three, four or five activities and are not exclusive to any particular one. As a result, we can be ‘living’ the weekend at home, but interaction and activities during these times are more reflective of a short holiday or weekend away.”  .

You might be interested in reading some Project Estimates for Australia.

Renovate Magazine Logo
This article by Stephanie Matheson featured on page 68 in Issue 021 of Renovate Magazine. Renovate Magazine is an easy to use resource providing fresh inspiration and motivation at every turn of the page. This is not a Refresh Renovations case study. 

Get in touch with Refresh to discuss your home renovation project

If you would like to discuss home renovation options for your next renovation project, please use the enquiry form on this page to provide us with your contact details. We will get in touch with you at a time that suits you to discuss your project. If you would like to provide us with more information about your project, we have a more comprehensive enquiry form on our "Get in touch" page too.
*All information is believed to be true at time of publishing and is subject to change.

No items found.

Read Next

All Refresh Renovations franchises are independently owned and operated.

Get in Touch

Get in touch if you are interested in a quote or consultation

If your enquiry is not related to renovating your home, you may wish to use one of our other enquiry forms to ensure your message reaches the right team:

(Don’t worry - if you change your mind you can unsubscribe anytime)

Please Wait ...

Processing...

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Talk to a renovation consultant today

If you would like to find out how Refresh Renovations can support you with a high quality, efficient home renovation, get in touch today. Your local Refresh Renovations consultant will be happy to meet with you for a free, no obligations consultation.

Get in touch