Design Masterclass: Room To Grow

Carefully designed joinery elevates this home into a celebration of order

- Kate Barber

WHEN THE OWNERS of this heritage-listed Californian bungalow in Sydney’s inner west first moved in, they were a family of four. Since then, they have welcomed two more children. As the original home had limited storage, renovating was always on the cards, but after the arrival of baby number three, the dwindling space led them to act. Enter Sydney-based design firm Bone Made.

“The existing part of the home had very little storage so a big part of the clients’ brief was to ensure there was ample storage for a growing family,” says Leah Pitman, interior designer at Bone Made, who had the homeowners’ children, now aged seven, five, two and 11 months in mind when developing storage solutions.

Another part of the brief was to fuse together contemporary design with the classic elements of the original home. “It did pose its challenges sometimes because we didn’t want it to feel like two separate homes,” says Leah. “What we did was take elements from the classic, Californian bungalow style and really filter that through to the extension part of the home.”

Joinery features heavily in the design and in order to maintain this seamless connection, the same joiner was used throughout. “We find that it makes the whole joinery package a lot more cost-effective,” adds Leah. “It also ensures the design is consistent.”