Renovating an old house is a bit like having plastic surgery after the age of 40. How far can you go before becoming unrecognisable (aka the Madonna Effect, after the tightened and tucked Material Girl)? Can you keep up with the times without losing the qualities that made you “you”?

Eight kilometres from the city of Melbourne, in the bayside suburb of Elwood, sits a demure gable-fronted cottage built in 1923. Its new owners found it charming, but the kitchen and living room were poky, and it was dark and cold in winter. The backyard was a challenge: overgrown and overlooked on all sides.