Don’t want a big reno? Doing less can create more

There are ways of increasing a sense of space and light in a home and doing less can often create significantly more if you are unwilling to fund a big renovation with huge costs.

Many now prefer to rejuvenate rather than invest substantial sums in extensions, says architect Ellie Spinks, director of Lande Architects, who recently upgraded a Spanish Mission-style home for her parents.

One of the small incremental changes made was to the threshold between the entrance and the front living area.Credit:

“My parents were actively looking for a new place for the last couple of years as they wanted to downsize from the family home,” says Spinks.

Their search led them to inspect a number of Victorian terraces in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. “They weren’t particularly fond of the layout of these terraces, mindful they would often have to raise their voices from one end of the house to the other to be heard,” she said.

Her parents eventually settled on a fairly tired late 1920s Spanish Mission house on a reasonably generous 600-square-metre block in Prahran.

Rather than make any major structural changes or significantly alter the floorplan, the house was thoughtfully tweaked for Spinks’ parents – whose only brief was to allow for three bedrooms (two of their children live outside of Melbourne) and also for more sunlight.

One of the small incremental changes made was at the point of arrival. Lande Architects increased the threshold between the entrance and the front living area. New larger windows were also inserted in the living area and, to the rear of the home, new French-style doors were added in the kitchen – strengthening the connection to the garden.

“We tried to do as little as possible, but it was important to make the spaces feel fluid,” says Spinks, pointing out the home’s new timber oak parquetry floors and the ornate plaster ceilings – each one in each room having different mouldings.

“These Spanish Mission homes have a certain character and charm, and unlike many Victorian terraces, they embrace the garden,” she says.

To make the kitchen feel ‘settled’ rather than spanking new, the architect included a 1920s-inspired built-in armoire.Credit:

The kitchen was completely reworked with the former laundry, originally plonked on the northern side of the kitchen, relocated to a bathroom.

Unlike most kitchens which have one central island bench, here there’s the main bench for cooking, and a secondary bench for preparing smaller dishes and for making coffee. Both are finished with Calacutta marble, with the timber joinery below painted in a sumptuous dark salmon tone.

And to make the kitchen feel ‘settled’ rather than spanking new, Spinks included a 1920s-inspired built-in armoire.

A new guest powder is room adorned with floral wallpaper that’s evocative of the 1920s.Credit:

“My parents were moving from a large family home so it was important there was sufficient storage for many things collected over a lifetime,” says Spinks.

Spinks also showed her skills when it came to reworking the main bedroom suite located at the front of the house. Featuring pale apple green walls and plush aubergine carpet, it now includes a separate dressing area and an ensuite bathroom – with some of the space borrowed from the corridor.

One of the nifty design features is the shower in the ensuite that comes with a large slab stone bench for sitting on and a sizeable shower rose above. Set at 50 millimetres below the bedroom, the shower is perfect for a couple who don’t want to step in and out of a bathtub.

Spinks also showed a more whimsical side of her design with a new guest powder room adorned with floral wallpaper that’s evocative of the 1920s.

“When it came to the changes, I was keen to acknowledge the past but also move the design forward,” says Spinks, pointing out the new windows in the living area with its elongated timber inserts. “There’s nothing worse than trying to be pastiche,” she adds.

The Prahran house is still a sizeable home for a couple, at about 250 square metres in area. But unlike many renovations today that tend to squeeze every centimetre into a new addition and sacrifice the garden, this one exemplifies that size isn’t always the way to go.

“People are being fairly cautious at the moment when it comes to renovations. There are certainly ways of increasing the sense of space and light. Doing less can often create significantly more,” says Spinks.

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.