GUIDING LIGHT

The coastal location of this Melbourne home influenced its fresh, easy-on-the-eye palette and relaxed inside-outside aesthetic

- KATE JACOBS

Creating a house for her sister's family gave interior designer Samantha Eisen the invaluable opportunity to be involved in the project from the start, accompanying Bianca and her husband David on countless house-hunting trips around their native Melbourne. 'I've helped her before with their previous homes in a more sisterly, less professional way. When it came to looking for their dream family home, they wanted my input from the outset; recalls samantha. Eventually, this house, in the historic bayside suburb of Brighton and dating from the early 1900s with charming verandas and pleasingly proportioned rooms, came up. Samantha immediately told her sis ster: 'It could be magical. This is the one.'

The house was well preserved but tired, with a 90s kitchen and bathrooms ~ 'lots of granite!' summarises Samantha. The couple wanted comfort and relaxation with a warm, friendly atmosphere and a light, fresh feel to reflect the coastal setting. Where the previous owners had built a tennis court butting up agains the house, Samantha created a generous extension that gave the family ~ the couple have three older children, Autumn, Isaiah and Astrid ~ an open-plan kitchen dining living area, along with a pantry and laundry, both supremely useful but no less beautiful than the rest of the house. Upstairs they gained a new principal suite, with its own balcony, and an office for David.