Houzz Tour: Midcentury Dream for a Modern Family

Two households become one in a renovated Edwardian home with newly opened rooms and repurposed furnishings and materials

March 23, 2015
Houzz editorial team. Photojournalist specialising in design, travel and living well. Follow her photodocumentary about pets and the people who love them on Instagram @unfoldingtails
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Helen Sheppard and David Cripps bought their house in Croydon, South Australia, for its size and good bones, but they weren’t crazy about the existing decor or layout. “The owners wanted to make it their own,” says Rebekah Cichero of One Small Room, the firm hired to rethink the home’s design so that it better met the family’s needs. On the homeowners’ wish list was an open-plan kitchen, dining and living area that made living and entertaining easy, as well as a new bathroom. They also wanted the home to have a stylish, timeless appeal and an individual aesthetic. “We had to bring in light and openness to the layout so that the inside worked with the outside,” says interior designer Cichero, who worked with her architect husband, Timothy Cichero, to remove key walls and re-create the home in line with what the owners envisioned.
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Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Helen Sheppard and David Cripps, daughter Claudia (age 9) and cat Millie
Location: Croydon, Adelaide, Australia
Size: 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
That’s interesting: The owners both had previous homes before buying this one and moving in together. “This meant two households of furniture, so a big edit was required to work out which furniture pieces should stay and be revamped and which should go, and which new pieces should be brought in to work with family heirlooms and treasured keepsakes,” Rebekah Cichero says.

The family that lives in this Adelaide house loves to entertain, so the new kitchen had to look good but also be very functional. “It’s perfect for hurried meals at the kitchen [counter] and relaxed dinners with friends,” says homeowner Helen Sheppard. It sits in the same spot as the old kitchen, but with two walls removed, the space is now open plan. It adjoins the dining and living area and looks out toward the back deck.

The original home’s old fireplace has been reworked to house the oven, and an old walk-in pantry is now fitted with the salvaged kitchen cabinetry from the original kitchen, which means appliances can be hidden out of sight but remain easily accessible. The walk-in pantry also conceals a bank of outlets for plugging in mobile phones, laptops and iPads, keeping them off the countertop and keeping the kitchen looking far cleaner and tidier as a result. Midcentury barstools give the space a fashionable feel.

Drawer handles: Mother of Pearl & Sons Trading; pendants: MHY by Muuto, One Small Room
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“The kitchen design had to be timeless with a nod to the past,” Cichero says. She chose marine-style hinges, dark, sophisticated handles and simple door moldings. A color palette of biscuit, white and black ensures it will never become outdated.

The flow from kitchen to dining and living area is subtle. A step marks the line between zones — and serves as a stage for impromptu children’s performances.
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Cichero and her husband split a Danish wall-mounted unit into four parts to add open-shelving storage, along with some concealed cabinets to both the dining-lounge area and the kitchen.

“Claudia uses the lower section as her drawing desk and, as she outgrows her crafting and drawing years, this will become more display and storage shelving,” Cichero says.

Stools: One Small Room
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A parquetry-topped table is a family treasure and sits comfortably with real Eames fiberglass side chairs. The Mega floor lamp by Tolomeo makes a feature of an Ercol rocking chair to tie in with the clients’ existing Ercol armchairs in the adjoining living room.

The original dining-living area had slate tiles, and their removal proved a manageable but challenging aspect of the project. “We did have a slight panic when the old concrete floor under the tiles proved difficult to deal with,” Cichero says. “The clients were keen to reuse the old concrete floor under the slate tiles to avoid a new pour.”

After the tiles were pulled off and the grinding finished, the floor was pitted with holes. “At first the concreters filled them with a gray filler that looked terrible, so we insisted it had to go and something else be tried,” Cichero says. “It was resolved by using a type of amber-colored resin fill, which worked really well and added a real point of interest to the flooring.” The homeowners added a lock of Claudia’s hair to one of the holes before it was filled to mark the house as theirs.

The midcentury sideboard by English company G Plan adds streamlined storage to the dining area and displays some of Sheppard’s vintage dishware collection.

Wall light: David Trubridge; letters: vintage, One Small Room
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BEFORE: This is the main living-dining area before the revamp. Removing the slate tiles and enlarging the windows to create three sets of glass doors has made the area feel more light and welcoming.
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AFTER: One Small Room specializes in upcycling vintage pieces. As a result, the family’s lounge room features a mix of vintage and designer pieces, along with items the owners already owned. The cowhide is from Brazil, while the midcentury modern sofa is from Denmark and reupholstered in fabric from Mokum Textiles. The coffee table is also Danish, with a reversible top, and the chairs are originals by Ercol, reupholstered in Mokum fabric.

Ceiling light, floor lamp: Artemide; pillows: custom made with Mokum fabric
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The newly laid flooring in the kitchen includes some reclaimed Baltic pine to tie the hallway, bedrooms and formal living area at the front of the house together as seamlessly as possible with the kitchen area. The floors were then sanded throughout and stained a dark chocolate to make them look as though they’d always been there.
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BEFORE: Prior to the renovation, the kitchen was cozy but cramped. Walls were removed to open up the kitchen to the rest of the living-dining area.
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BEFORE: The fireplace was repurposed by opening it out and removing the cupboards and the old cooktop to bring it into the 21st century.
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AFTER: The homeowners feel the home accommodates gracious living. “Above all, I love the way the home unfolds as you walk down the hallway, from a traditional Edwardian front to contemporary at the rear,” Sheppard says.

Floor runner: Floorco; bentwood chairs: One Small Room; hall table: repurposed bathroom cabinet; artwork: David Cripps; pendants: Coral, David Trubridge
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BEFORE: Structurally the entrance hallway is the same. What a difference fresh white paint, a standout light fitting and a dark floorboard stain can make!
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AFTER: “We like to call the formal lounge the Flounge,” Cichero says. “It was to feel relaxing but sophisticated and act as a reading room and TV room but with no focus on the TV. It can’t be seen from the hallway.”

The homeowners also wanted the room to incorporate book storage and embrace old pieces of furniture the couple treasured (despite their needing updating and reworking).

Cichero sourced Danish midcentury modern bookcases to work with an old vintage drinks cabinet and contrast with the rounded lines of the revamped sofa and armchairs.

“Mokum Textiles fabrics were again used to bring life back to some very old but loved furniture pieces, giving them a new lease on life,” Cichero says.

Pendant: George Nelson Saucer; coffee table: Lex Stobie; ottoman: custom made with Mokum fabric
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Cowhide rugs are used throughout the home, adding a soft touch to the wood and concrete floors. “Otherwise the floors are left bare and beautiful,” Cichero says.

The spare room acts as a guest bedroom; a bed is brought in as needed. The rest of the time it is Cripps’ home office. The home office has a soft industrial feel with a vintage bus scroll, iron artwork and a photograph by Cripps.

Vintage desk, chair, desk lamp, Danish wool upholstered chair: One Small Room; log side table: Lex Stobie
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“The couple had a cabinet made on a whim, thinking they might update the existing bathroom, but when they decided to renovate the whole house, it wasn’t going to work, so we suggested it could be repurposed into a hall table instead by adding a wood top and staining it Japan Black,” Cichero says. “Now it has pride of place in the hallway, adds sleek storage and shows off artwork and special finds.”

The couple wanted the renovation to be as environmentally conscious as possible. Low-VOC paints by Porter’s Paints were used throughout, along with a water-based floor sealant. Rainwater is plumbed throughout the house from a 37,000-liter (about 10-gallon) tank that also provides water for the garden.
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The idea for the main bedroom was to create a luxurious boutique hotel feel. The custom-made headboard is covered in Mokum Ficus fabric, and the resin pendant light is vintage. An old industrial-style safe serves as a bedside table on one side with an antique Chinese stool on the other. Two sizes of Type 75 Anglepoise lamps have been added for asymmetrical quirkiness and to provide good directional light for reading.

Pillows: made with Mokum Textiles fabric; bedding: Sheridan
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The entrance to the bathroom is off the foyer, which leads to the kitchen and open-plan dining-living area. “The door sits almost in the center of the wall that leads into the bathroom. It’s beautifully framed by a wall of decadent-looking wallpaper,” Cichero says.
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BEFORE: The bathroom was functional but in need of an update …
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… and a little more room to move.
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AFTER: The wall of the gutted original bathroom was knocked down and pushed out to allow for more space and a freestanding bath. “There was only to be one main bathroom, with a second powder room off the laundry, so it had to be a good one with some clever storage,” Cichero says.

The shower and freestanding bath tie in with the home’s midcentury modern theme, as do the classic penny floor tiles. The vanity mirror hides a cabinet that has been inset into the brick wall behind. A new louvered panel window floods the bathroom with extra light.

Faucet: Reece; mirror cabinet, vanity: Duravit, Routleys; penny tIles: Ceramica
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“Claudia’s room was to have a fun element without being themed or too girly,” Cichero says. Nothing was built in, to allow the room to evolve over time and change as Claudia grows and her tastes mature. Bedding from Sprout Design and colorful wall art bring in a fun element, and practical storage was achieved by reusing some of the existing furniture, including a wardrobe, a chest of drawers from Transforma and an old bed that had been passed down in the family.
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The deck has a structural canopy designed by Yardstick Landscapes. Vintage industrial tennis court lights from One Small Room add a quirky touch.

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Comments (32)
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karahinglis
'Flounge' love that!
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maudiej
What a transformation!
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modernistlover
I absolutely love this house. It is unpretentiously unique and full of character. The design statements are perfectly adopted and nothing seems forced or affected. I am inspired to look at older houses with fresh eyes. Bravo to the team and congrats to the owners.
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