Drummoyne house Transformation

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Sometimes what a house needs is quality instead of quantity. In this case by making strategic design decisions we completely changed this house from being a slightly depressing and oddly laid out house to a wonderful place to live and relax. Toula and Ben's Drummoyne house was a good size already for them and their daughter, but a lot of the spaces in the house were poorly located, dark, had no connection to the outdoors and were dysfunctional and uninspiring to be in. This is the case with many Sydney houses, most of which were never architect designed and were just added to over the years as people got the money to add a room. By carefully rearranging some of the layout you can transform these houses while working to a tight budget. Toula was closely involved with us at every step and her tasteful and clever input made a big difference. The builder's thoughtful input also made a big difference.

CLIENT BRIEF

Existing problems with the house were:

A poor connection to the outdoors and a laundry that took the prime position
A series of unsatisfying living spaces which had no connection to the outdoors, no joy and were spaces you just walked through to get somewhere else.
Living rooms with odd shapes that didn't fit furniture
An upper level that felt like a cheap 1980’s addition with low ceilings and an unusable layout. This meant that it ended up being a de facto store room.
A small living room with a stair in it that was otherwise unusable.

Desired Brief

Better open plan kitchen / living / dining area that opened onto a deck and new pool.
Excellent kitchen to be part of the open place space
New relocated laundry
4 lovely bedrooms instead of 3 dark and odd bedrooms
Maybe a new front entry instead of side entry
New large deck

DESIGN SOLUTION

On the ground level we moved the laundry to the middle of the house which allowed the living room to be bigger and to open up to the garden with stacking doors
We created a small but strategic “bump out” at the side of the house which allowed the kitchen to be placed to the South of the hall and to therefore create a simple house flow and layout.
The pool is positioned to allow to still retain a big lawn and new garden shed
We moved the entry from the side of the house to the front where it should be. We turned the front odd feeling small living room into a lovely big entry foyer which already had a staircase in it which now feels right.
The front verandah had been badly “glassed in” and was a hot sun room. We took out the glass and turned it back into a verandah which creates a welcoming entry.
We turned a small depressing existing dining room into a walk-in pantry for the kitchen which meant that the open plan kitchen, living and dining ended up a large and beautiful proportioned room with a view of the pool and garden.
The deck has a roof over it which makes it useable all year round and it has a cool built in BBQ and bench
Upstairs we created a two bedroom haven for Toula and Ben and their daughter. This former large but depressing room that wasn't a good living room became a perfect master bedroom and stair hall. But introducing the stair hall makes both bedrooms function much better and gives them a sense of separation and privacy. The large linen cupboard in the stair hall was a bonus.
We then turned a small upstairs bedroom into two ensuites, one for each bedroom.
The ceiling was low upstairs at 2.4 m high so we strategically created a new sloped ceiling in part of the master bedroom which makes all the difference.

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OTHER KEY ASPECTS OF THE DESIGN

The pool is great and looks classy with stone tiled paving but it was still done on a budget as a drop in fibreglass pool.
Frosted glass windows to neighbours side
We created a banquet seat nook in the living room
We created a home study in the living room by using an existing stepped wall and turning it into a positive thing
The upper level was an awful brown colour on the outside and looked like a cheap 1980’s addition. With minimal cost we upgraded the look of the upper level with a contemporary colour scheme and by putting large timber architraves around the windows. Sometimes subtle things make a big difference
We created a little skylight void above the kitchen by putting two skylights side by side and making a void that encompassed both, creating a sense of light and space.