A simple brief to add a mud room and revise a misaligned floor plan in this Edwardian home in Malvern took on a life of its own after LANDE Architects stepped in.

‘The client asked if there was a better way to arrange the kitchen, dining, living, and it snowballed (in the best way) from there,’ says LANDE Architects director Lachlan McArdle.

‘They quickly became fully invested in bettering their home and how it would make them much more comfortable, both now and into the future.’

The new addition features a sunken dining room that sits between the house and landscape, letting the eye travel from the living room straight to the window overlooking the garden.

‘It was impossible, given the width of the home, to stack all three [spaces] across the rear elevation, so one had to shift,’ Lachlan explains.

‘Lamenting this direct connection to the garden, we decided to sink the dining space to visually subside beneath the view line from the living room. So, when you’re sitting on the couch (or if the owners like you — the BassamFellows armchairs), you look out over the dining room to the garden.’

Inserting the sunken dining room proved challenging thanks to the site’s location on a flood overlay. The solution was to create a ‘bunker’ — where the top of the concrete shell sits higher than the flood level — to receive proper council approval to lower the floor.

Upstairs, the footprint remains the same but sees an underused living space reworked into a bedroom, maximising both space and function.

‘[This project] is a special one for us, the first that really captures both our architecture and interiors,’ says LANDE Architects director Ellie Spinks.

A walk through the home’s interior reveals a warm, restrained palette of timber, rusted tones and tactile stone.

Moving outside, the larger-than-life outdoor fireplace acts as a structural and visual bookend to the renovation, and also supports the pergola.

‘It’s an anchor for an outdoor living space, and brings dynamism to the home throughout the year,’ Ellie explains.

It would have been easy for LANDE Architects to mimic the original Edwardian features of this home, but instead, they let its character evolve.

‘The facade recedes into its leafy Malvern street, expressive but not showy, and the palette carries the home’s history forward rather than copying it.’

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Any creative that’s broken out on their own will be familiar with the balancing act between artistic freedom and earning a living wage.

This rang true for ceramic artist Tantri Mustika after she closed her Collingwood Yards studio and shop in early 2023 to focus solely on her creative practice ­— an endeavour she says was centred on rediscovering the joy of making with clay.

‘I was completely creatively flattened and burnt out from pushing beyond the limitations of my capacity,’ she says. ‘Since then, I’ve had to experiment with different ways to finance my art practice… making “art” is quite different to making “product”.’

Following the shop’s closure, she spent 18 months working from her home garage before moving into her current ceramics studio in Carnegie.

But Tantri still wouldn’t describe herself as a full-time artist, despite her bespoke clay pieces bringing in her biggest slice of income.

‘I have a part-time job to make sure I have my baseline living costs covered… at first I felt it was some kind of failure,’ she says.

‘Now, I am more interested in finding the flow in my creative expression and telling a story, rather than just constantly making to pay bills… I have learnt that taking more time and putting all of my heart into the work is far more satisfying than making what I sense people expect from me.

‘My challenge has been trying to figure out how a balance of the art and the business can coexist.’

From marbled vases to intricately carved relief artworks, trinket trays, incense holders, and most recently, lighting, Tantri’s work is constantly evolving, yet ever distinguishable by one common thread — painstaking handcrafted detail.

Tantri pushes the boundaries of traditional ceramics practice, layering stain powders and oxides to create eclectic patterns and colours, not just as surface glazes, but also embedded within the clay body itself.

Metallics in particular feature heavily in her latest experimentation with functional lighting — a project that required plenty of discipline and troubleshooting, and assistance from a qualified electrician.

It was a natural progression from vases, kickstarted back in 2022 when she made her first floor lamp for Melbourne Design Week.

After creating a few prototypes, and chatting to various interior designers and stylists, Tantri discovered a niche: unique, handmade lamps that serve as both a piece of art and a functional element of daily life.

Her first lamp collection draws on whimsy, taking inspiration from unexpected places. Glossy, glazed forms with hand-painted vertical stripes reference vintage wallpapers; soft colourways are unexpectedly informed by Tantri’s previous career in hairdressing; a deep navy lamp dotted with metallic, platinum-lustred stars carries nostalgic night-sky motifs; while another, carved with Balinese floral patterns, nods to the artist’s Indonesian heritage.

‘I think I was a magpie in my past life,’ Tantri says. ‘I am just drawn to shiny things … using metallics in the context of making these lamps just makes sense to me.’

Tantri is optimistic this latest evolution of her practice might finally resolve her ongoing tussle between art and business.

‘It feels like the footing I’ve been searching for: a way to support my more experimental practice, while offering something beautiful, accessible and sustainable.’

tantrimustikaceramics.com

An edited version of this story originally appeared in The Design Files Magazine Issue 04. Subscribe to the biannual print magazine here.

When you’re lucky enough to live in the Sunshine State, having a house that supports the Australian tradition of living outdoors is non-negotiable. There’s a reason Queensland has the most private swimming pools of anywhere in Australia.

The challenge is that Brisbane’s heritage housing stock is often missing this indoor-outdoor connection, and before its renovation, this post-war cottage in Enoggera was a classic example.

‘The home is very typical of the post-war cottages situated on the fringes of the more traditional character homes of Brisbane,’ Leith Architects director Maya Leith says.

‘These modest homes are increasingly being demolished to make way for new builds, but the clients were keen to retain the existing cottage, which was still in good condition and had plenty of potential.’

The owners, a family of five, engaged Leith Architects to transform the house, with a particular focus on improving the lack of connection to the backyard, creating spaces that felt light, open, and generous, without losing the modest scale and character of the original house.

Meeting their goal of minimal intervention, the architects converted the existing structure into the children’s bedroom wing with a rumpus room. Meanwhile, the rear opens to the 113-square-metre extension, containing the main living areas, kitchen, and the parents’ bedroom.

While the new central courtyard and bridge entry mark the connection between old and new, this detail also became an important environmental feature, drawing fresh air and natural light into the house.

The clients’ strong appreciation for mid-century modern architecture was another key influence on the redesign. Choices like the playful pop of green on the rear facade, red bricks, the raked ceilings, and pre-finished cork tiles all bring warmth to the weatherboard, contrasted by the new stainless steel kitchen.

‘The biggest challenge was balancing the clients’ budget with their desire for a unique home containing comfortable, flexible spaces for family life. This meant keeping the extension efficient and making every space work hard,’ Maya adds.

‘The dining room is a good example of this approach. When all of the windows and doors are opened, the room transforms into an external deck space.’

Leith Architects are now about to undertake stage two of the project, involving updates to the original bathroom, installation of a carport, and of course, a pool: ‘It’s an essential addition for Brisbane family life!’

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Homeowners Emily and James have always believed the kitchen is the heartbeat of a home. So, after 11 and a half years in their red-brick California bungalow in Victor Harbor, they were more than ready to rework its small and awkwardly positioned kitchen.

Floating somewhere between the entry foyer and main living area, the existing kitchen left little room to move — particularly with three children and two cats in the mix. It certainly wasn’t set up for entertaining, either.

After years of collecting inspiration, Emily finally decided it was time to take the plunge and turn her ideas into a kitchen extension with the help of SpaceCraft Joinery.

The new kitchen reflects Emily’s love of mid-century homes, with a hero stone benchtop set against rich walnut joinery and dreamy green mosaic tiles. Together, these elements introduce a palette that feels both mid-century and distinctly Australian coastal.

‘The extension was designed with some mid-century design ideals fused with 70s modernist influences and contemporary Australiana materials and interior selections,’ SpaceCraft’s technical detailer Sam Clifton explains.

Beyond the kitchen, the walk-in pantry reveals an unexpected architectural detail: a series of curved shelves. To support the shelving, the SpaceCraft team designed it to double as an exposed curved wall, creating a sculptural feature that serves a practical purpose while also helping to reduce building costs.

The sense of continuity continues across the kitchen, where the walnut joinery finishes in line with the tall cabinetry.

‘Repetition of form and spatial consistency helped create harmony and balance, allowing the different elements to feel connected rather than competing with one another,’ Sam explains.

But for Emily and James, the new kitchen is about much more than its considered materials and beautiful details. It has become a place for the family to gather, cook, eat and spend time together.

‘Having a big, social kitchen where people can gather at the deep island bench, as well as on the window seat that connects the kitchen to the backyard greenery beyond it, has been game-changing for how they live as a family,’ Sam says.

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It felt like a ‘contained risk’ for sculptor April Pine to purchase a small inner-city block in Perth, enticed by the challenge of what could be built on the 179-square-metre vacant site.

Using every metre, she carefully designed her North Perth home to create a footprint that felt calm — but not compromised — by overlapping circulation, storage, and views with living spaces.

‘Privacy, natural light and a sense of calm were must-haves. I didn’t want the house to feel as though it was constantly looking out onto neighbouring properties, which can easily happen with inner-city infill,’ April explains.

The ground floor works as an insulated space where views are directed towards the sky and into the courtyards, giving April and her family privacy.

Moving upstairs, the space opens up to engage with the surrounding mature tree canopy, which April says ‘gives the first floor an unexpectedly peaceful, almost a retreat-like quality’.

‘It feels private and protected without feeling enclosed. Downstairs you look inward; upstairs you’re amongst the trees. There is a quietness to it that I still really enjoy.’

The relaxing atmosphere continues with the materials themselves — warm timber, earthy brick and terrazzo, Japanese and Spanish ceramic tiles — rather than through applied shades.

‘I’m probably most proud that I committed to the material choices, particularly the extent of the timber,’ April explains.

‘There were plenty of opportunities during the build to pull it back or simplify it, but I’m very glad I continued the timber wrap around all sides of the building. It gives the house a completeness and warmth that I think would have been lost if it had only been used on the primary elevations.’

This colouring was mostly inspired by North Perth’s landscape. ‘I was interested in the warm, muted colours of the suburb, its mature trees, old brick and materials that already carried some evidence of time,’ April explains.

Her sculptures — or maquettes (small-scale models or drafts) — fill the house, adding texture and unique detail to each space.

‘They are part of the process of testing proportion, balance, movement, and ideas before works are developed at a much larger scale,’ she explains. ‘I like having those traces of process throughout the house rather than treating art as something completely separate from everyday life,’ she says.

April also sees something special in the home’s design as a reflection of her career transition from architecture to sculpture. Her sculptural practice has informed the contrasting lines and sharp edges throughout the house, bringing a sense of dimension and visual interest to the design.

‘Looking back, you can see elements of both disciplines throughout it: the rationality and squareness of architecture softened by increasingly rounded, tactile and imperfect details.’

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This Currumbin house on the Gold Coast with white and grey interiors, and dated finishes was anything but golden.

While the home was in an ideal coastal location — walking distance from the beach — its interior needed a thorough revamp for it to truly feel like a home the owner could one day move to from her northern NSW farm.

Interior designer Carlene Duffy transformed the home into a cosy, low-maintenance retreat in just four months, introducing quality materials, rich colour and a series of thoughtful details that give the previously dated interiors a new sense of warmth.

‘Aesthetically, [the homeowner] wanted to avoid white and grey colours (she came to the right studio) and instead wanted to be wrapped up in rich warm colours,’ Carlene explains.

Working with structurally sound architecture, Carlene only had to replace the doors and windows, before imbuing the space with ‘ 70s-inspired tones and adding a feature wood-burning fireplace.

‘It’s not often that you have a client who came of age in the ’70s that is still drawn to the colours of that time,’ Carlene says.

Inserting the fireplace posed the biggest design challenge, as it required the addition of surrounding non-combustible surfaces that would match the home’s aesthetic. Carlene responsed to the challenge by introducing a hearth lined in Japanese tiles, that has become a central feature of the living space,

Creating spaces for rest and relaxation was another priority. The homeowner wanted plenty of opportunities to lounge, nap and curl up with a book, so Carlene converted the office nook into a reading area, removing the desk and adding a plus-shaped bench seat. A built-in bench seat was also added to the dining room.

‘The bench seat’s vintage fabric from Redelman’s archival range feels like artwork,’ Carlene explains.

For Carlene, the sense of warmth and ease throughout the finished home is what she feels most proud of.

‘It feels like a completely different home… it now feels incredibly warm and lived in,’ she says.

‘When I think of coastal homes of my childhood I think of petite sized, low maintenance single level homes. This house fits that mould. It’s the perfect size with enough space but no excess.’

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Having lived in New York City, architects Kim Lai and Tom Orton are no strangers to apartment living.

Upon returning from the United States, the founders of architectural studio We Are Humble moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Fitzroy, developed by Neometro.

Even when Kim and Tom started thinking about upsizing and having a family a few years ago, the couple didn’t plan on leaving the inner city for a traditional suburban home — they just needed a bigger apartment.

It was around the same time they heard about a new Neometro development in Brunswick, which was conveniently located right near their studio.

‘Once we saw the fun, loft-style apartments they were offering, we were in,’ Kim says.

‘We bought off the plan, and during the process we found out that we were having a baby, so the extra space was definitely needed!’

Buying off-the-plan also gave the couple the unique opportunity to customise their home in a slightly unconventional way, combining two studio apartments with help from the project’s architects MA+Co and Neometro to create a single large-scale studio, spanning 110 square metres.

‘The big “move” that we made was positioning the bathroom and the kitchen in the middle of the space, which creates an entry and a bedroom without building walls around the whole bedroom,’ Kim adds.

Beyond this strategic planning decision and the separation of the bathroom, the home has no formally assigned rooms. But that works perfectly fine for the creative family, who have also brought most of the furniture with them from their previous apartment, except for all the new pieces they’ve introduced for their now four-year-old son, Tai Lo.

‘His bed is like a little tent, which means he can escape into it if he wants to because his space isn’t actually defined by walls. His red shelving acts as playful storage but also looks really fun and creates a little room divider, even when they’re empty,’ Kim adds.

‘I think largely we like the idea of flexibility; we love that all of the big items in our space are furniture, so we can move things around and reorganise the space, like a teenager rearranging your room and making it feel completely different.

‘For a long time, we were searching for a warehouse to convert, but this is like the perfect middle ground.’

It helps that the apartment has expansive windows, high ceilings, and robust finishes, giving the couple’s colourful ‘stuff’ some breathing room. Outside, open-air courtyards act as the ‘lungs’ for the distinctly red-toned complex.

Plus, Kim and Tom have an astoundingly short commute to work, having moved the We Are Humble office to the ground floor of the same apartment building. They’ve even opened a casual cafe from their studio space too, dubbed Drip, offering exclusively hot and cold filter coffee on tap.

‘Owning your own business in a creative field, you’re always borrowing from your personal to your business life — everything is so intertwined,’ Kim says.

Their studio and cafe have become like an extension of their home too, like the ‘living room where you invite other people into’. It’s certainly a unique arrangement, but one that’s unlocked a wonderful sense of community for the family and their neighbours, who are known to come together for an excellent street party.

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Interior designers and married couple Jono Fleming and Ryan McGregor need little introduction.

The pair have a knack for creating spaces that feel welcoming, considered and effortlessly stylish, as seen in some of our favourite projects — from this Sydney harbourside penthouse to this colourful art deco apartment.

This time, they’ve turned their attention to their own shared workspace in Surry Hills. What was once a two-room office with plain white walls and floors has been transformed into a colourful, patterned space that feels much more like home.

‘More than anything, we wanted it to be a true reflection of our two design styles coming together. Warm, inviting, layered and full of personality, but still very much a working design studio,’ Jono says.

The studio sits above Ben David Store, and because the building required no structural changes, the pair focussed their attention on the details. Over six months, they layered in furniture, colour and texture, carefully selecting and sourcing individual pieces to give the space a distinctly homely feel.

The building is beautiful and old with wonky doors, uneven walls, and a leaky roof that proved especially difficult when a waterfall sized leak flowed onto newly installed carpet.

‘The fact that it’s now dry is really all we ask,’ Jono says.

Rather than let the building’s quirks get in the way, the pair worked with them, making the most of the soft, filtered light that pours through its arched windows.

‘We get this gorgeous dappled light coming through them throughout the year, and it changes the feeling of the space across the day,’ Jono explains.

‘It’s one of those things you couldn’t really design from scratch, and it makes the office feel incredibly warm and calm.’

Natural colours from the cork, timber and tiles also contribute to this warm space. Looking to cover the white floors in the smaller office, Jono and Ryan briefly considered a neutral carpet before taking a leap and choosing a custom tiger print.

‘To say we’re obsessed with the carpet is an understatement. It brings a bit of joy to us every day and, weirdly, it doesn’t overpower the space at all. It almost acts like a neutral now.’

Their love of patterns continues with a hand-blown leopard-print sconce by Volker Haug and DIY reupholstered desk chairs.

‘Between the tiger, the leopard and the chairs, there’s a lot of pattern happening, but somehow they all speak to each other rather than competing,’ Jono says.

The prints and warm colouring make these two rooms feel larger than they are. The couple also appreciate having this cosy studio space to separate their two practices — Fieldroom, and Jono Fleming Studio — from their home life.

This meticulously designed space ultimately conjures a feeling of ease for their clients, which reflects their creative process and approach to design.

‘People sometimes wonder how we can be married and work together, but having that separation between home and office really helps us zone our minds,’ Jono says.

‘And being in the heart of Surry Hills makes it pretty beautiful to come to work every day. We genuinely love it here.’

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With a name like Thornbury Eucalyptus House, it’s no surprise that the inspiration behind this Melbourne renovation by CARD came directly from an existing tree in its backyard.

The existing cottage featured beautiful heritage detailing and plenty of character, but it had also accumulated a series of additions and alterations that ‘weren’t particularly well resolved,’ according to CARD co-founder Jimi Connor.

‘The biggest issue was the existing lean-to and deck, which had been poorly constructed and created a physical and visual barrier between the house and the garden,’ Jimi adds.

Beyond these basic requirements, the clients — a family of four who had outgrown the cottage’s existing footprint — also asked to keep the project relatively modest and affordable.

‘Rather than pursuing a large extension with lots of expensive finishes, the intention was to make a small number of carefully considered moves that would have a big impact on how the house was experienced day to day,’ Jimi says.

These budgetary restraints pushed them to focus on low-cost, robust, readily available materials and simple detailing, which has become part of CARD’s signature flair.

In reconciling the house around the towering eucalypt, the architects created an additional bedroom and separate laundry, while the new living, kitchen, and dining area is now nestled beneath an angled roof that opens to frame views of the leafy backyard and the sky above.

Lifting the roofline of the addition a little over four metres towards the north allowed for expansive timber-framed windows, offering a greater sense of scale in the communal areas.

The eucalyptus tree also informed the new green Laminex joinery in the kitchen, complementing the cottage’s original green and red facade.

Externally, economical off-the-shelf claddings like Genesis Rustik Board FC (a fibre-cement panelling) and corrugated Colorbond in Paperbark give the building a more contemporary, utilitarian character. Keeping the footprint relatively compact and the structure lightweight, with exposed rafters, also helped avoid labour-intensive construction methods.

‘Raising the addition off the ground allowed us to avoid a more costly concrete slab and instead use a lightweight timber subfloor. This reduced the amount of concrete required, while providing a thermally efficient and relatively simple construction system,’ Jimi adds.

Inside, the built-in seating and joinery were created by sourcing slabs of recycled hardwood and supporting them on simple timber dowels: ‘It was a very inexpensive solution, but in the end quite an elegant solution that adds so much function.’

The finished renovation speaks to CARD’s overall philosophy of doing more with less, where clever design choices make a humble budget feel anything but limiting.

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It’s not every day Pac Studio Director Aaron Paterson gets to fully imbue his personal taste into his client projects, so transforming his own Mt Eden home was a special opportunity.

When Aaron and his partner Kate looked for their family home in 2021, they searched for the right layout rather than the best location and saw potential in this 1910 Auckland transitional villa in Mt Eden.

‘As a wheelchair user, Kate needed a home built close to the ground, with generous doorways, wide hallways and a sense of ease and flow throughout,’ Aaron explains.

The home was in surprisingly good condition, but its small kitchen and complex arrangement of doors didn’t make the space fully accessible.

A clever renovation ensued, retaining the front half of the original villa and adding a three-metre rear extension with a generously sized kitchen and spacious living area that open to the garden through a flush deck and gently ramped garden.

The accessible considerations inside the home extended to the garden, where waist-height planters were added so the ‘eye-catching perennials could be enjoyed and tended to with ease.’

‘Above all, the design was driven by flow — making movement through the house feel intuitive and accessible, while carefully framing views through the rooms and out towards the garden,’ Aaron says.

These new spaces never compete with the architecture of the original villa, but rather extend its lines and proportions through recycled materials, giving the old house a new life.

Original kauri flooring transitions into reworked weatherboards, salvaged from the side of the house, while the original chimney bricks were reused throughout the garden to form paths, a seat and high landscaped planters.

Inside the home, Aaron is most proud of the library wall lining the dining room and the inserted pyramidal skylight.

‘It was a slightly unexpected move, but it brings such a sense of joy and playfulness to the space, transforming what could have been a more conventional room into a really memorable moment within the house.’

This joy continues in the bursts of colour throughout the home. Inspired by Le Corbusier’s approach to polychromy — using colour to shape and add volume to a space — Aaron used 17 different colours to bring the house to life.

‘From peaceful greens and lively spearmint to pinks, blues, yellows and earthy browns, each colour creates a sequence of distinct experiences as you move from room to room,’ he explains.

‘All the colours have a slightly muted grey undertone, allowing even the more unexpected combinations to sit comfortably together.’

As freeing as designing one’s home can be, there’s a challenge that can arise: knowing when to stop.

’There is always another detail to tweak, or another idea that could be explored, but living amongst construction is a pretty good incentive to finish the project and make the house become a home,’ Aaron explains.

‘It was particularly special, bringing Pac Studio’s love of colour and heritage architecture into our own home.’

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