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Bleakley-batKo House scope

4/14 Arcadia Street Coogee 2034 

Gabby and Michael,

What a huge year for you guys! It’s so motivating to have a deadline when embarking on renovations, it sets the tone early that we want ACTION!!!

The following is a scope of the ACTION we spoke about Gabby, but see this as the beginning of the road map, there is an abundance of room to add, subtract, amend and THRILL before we get underway.

Please let me know when you’re ready to discuss further - I have included an invoice which you can pay if you decide to go ahead with me, or just disregard if you choose another route.

I’d be delighted to help you transform this lovely bright and roomy apartment into a scrumptious family home.

Henrietta xx

This is a 1960’s classic Eastern suburbs block - full of the character of that era, of red brick simplicity and solid, dependable construction. But like I said Gabby, ain’t nothing charming about old bathrooms and kitchens.

My approach would be a nod to the history, but a reimagining of the space in line with with modern amenity and chic aesthetic.

I know that your plan has been to take out the kitchen walls and make the living/dining/kitchen one big open area. As we talked about on Monday, there may be a better way worth exploring.

My thought is that we don’t remove the walls, but rather, leave the living room wall in place, move the doorway into the living room off the hall, delete the kitchen door entirely, and only remove part of the kitchen/dining wall.

Let me explain my rationale:

• The doorway placement off the hallway into the living room prevents the full use of the living room, making it more a thoroughfare than a space with its own identity. Moving it would allow for much better furniture placement options and would prevent the interruption to the room (and the conversation) by through traffic.

• Consider a wider than average door opening and delete a door entirely. You don’t need one!

• leaving the wall where the tv currently is also protects the identity of the room and gives some relief to it from the clatter and splash of a kitchen! I don’t go in much for all-in-one rooms, I don’t think they look good or more importantly, feel good to live in.

• Gabby you said it had been previously suggested that you delete the kitchen door and that you rejected that on the grounds that it was convenient to have ease of access to the bathroom, laundry and bedroom. Well…. I have to say that we easily adapt and it’s not like you’re shutting down the west wing!! It’s not that much further to walk, especially given the suggested centralising of the living room door. It also means that the length of that internal wall can all be bench and cupboard space with the stove and rangehood centred.

• We leave the fridge placement where it is and put a tall pantry cupboard beside it, then drop to bench with cupboards below and above the bench. I think we will shave some of the wall back so that there is enough wall to conceal the side of the fridge from the balcony side - allowing for more room for the island bench to be easily navigated.

• By leaving part of the wall between the bench on the other wall, we contain the kitchen - with the island bench providing storage at the kitchen end, and barstool seating at the other end. The island extends the kitchen area but it does so politely - not dominating the whole zone which could otherwise be like actually existing on one big kitchen!

• The remaining section of wall running from the kitchen sink, past the narrowed divide, could be additional joinery, floor to ceiling with cupboards below (at the same height as the island bench) and open shelving above that point.

• The laundry options we worked through on Monday would see the replacement of the existing glass with reeded, a single long bench with a small tub at the left end, washing machine at the right (to comply with existing plumbing restrictions) and the dryer in the middle. This way you don’t miss out on that light source coming from the bathroom, you don’t turn this into a dark cupboard, you get the important sink and it will look lovely! We can add a cupboard below the sink, another wall mounted on the left wall above the bench height for chemicals, etc and on the right, lets add a fold down rack for drying smalls and delicates.

• the linen cupboard with hot water service remains, with new doors and perhaps better shelving.

• we add a robe in the second bedroom, making space by hanging the door on the opposite side to existing, or by using the whole wall to install cupboards, creating a 60cm deep passage or tunnel through, and replacing the door with a slider.

• And by swapping the bah and shower placement, we create a nicer spot for hte bath and a roomier shower with no need to move points. I thought this was a masterstroke!

• And PS, I just saved you a heap!!!!

It really is critical that we get the floorplan right - the rest will be easy. So have a think and I can come back to chat more in the coming days.

The Hallway:

This zone of the house is really important - not because it’s the first impression visitors have of your home, but because the is the first impression YOU have of your home, every single time you put your key in the door. I want you to open it up and think ‘WOW - I live here’!!

Not convinced you’re getting that right now!!

I would suggest that the first thing is the flooring, then there is the runner, the lighting and light fittings, the colour on the walls, and then what you hang on those walls. I want this area to be special. I love hallways.

I’ve mentioned the changes to the doorways - deleting the kitchen door and shifting the living room door further into the house and widening the new opening to feel more generous. I also think the remaining doors need to be replaced with solid doors and lovely brushed nickel door hardware would replace the nasties.

Your apartment is generous, and it’s light, as I keep saying…. these are two critical advantages you have and when you have finished renovating, it really might start to feel west wing!!

Living Room:

Finding this room’s identity - we do that and the possibilities roll out before us like a magic carpet.

As mentioned, by increasing the hallway side wall in moving the doorway, there will be a larger corner section which is way better for furniture placement. I would suggest a modular as this looks more relaxed and is more space economic. The one you have is uncomfortable - maybe we look at MCM House Elio Junior - their velvets are divine and the colours even more so!

A round coffee table gives the amenity without imposing on the space and so is easier to navigate around.

I’m already colour dreaming…. the aim is for a stylish, serene and individual effect, nothing bold or too strong. Leave it with me!!

We have spoken too about the flooring and that you’re keen on a herringbone pattern. Let’s go to the showroom one day soon and look at options together - I would select an ash or oak - nothing too warm. I think we are on the same page but it would be good to be with you to look at what is available.

Art is a big one. I thought the photographs would be so perfect as I just love big art. It does so much heavy lifting in a room and is so impactful. Yet these photographs of clouds are serene and beautiful and don’t scream ‘LOOK AT ME!!!’. Totally your call, but well worth considering.

The rug for this room will also help define it’s border as a room. I told you aout Armadillo’s range of jute rugs which are well priced and look amazing. You’re going to have a small person very soon so now is not the time to be spending a fortune on woollen rugs. But there is no need to compromise on style.

Dining Room:

A dining table and chairs! I’ve got a great option to show you for a table from Globewest, a supplier who gives an amazing trade discount! I love it so much - I’ve used it in no less that three client’s houses (in the ash and in the black) and we are about to buy it for SoCo Farm. A ringing endorsement!!! And I’ve also found some Tom Dixon knock off chairs from Horgans that look perfect with the table.

And linen sheer curtains - a must!! Neutral tone, nothing that will date (within reason) or that you’ll quickly tire of. I like plain colours - I don’t really go in for prints (though I have been known to covet a Catherine Martin embossed velvet with enormous tigers… I’ll show you one day!!).

Nook:

I’m calling it the nook because it’s a temporary housemate!! As already mentioned, the back wall could become a wall of joinery with cupboards below bench height and open shelving above, and then the island bench would project in from the kitchen.

This space is too small to really have any other identity so we are better off making it an extension of the kitchen but at the same time, still keeping the integrity of the kitchen and not allowing it to become the feature or focus of the space as a whole.

Bar stool seasting at the balcony end will really make the best use of the area. It would be a lovely place to sit and have breakfast next to the open doors, or to have a glass of wine or more casual dinner on a warm night. Invite me!!!!

Kitchen:

Containment. I know I keep saying it but I really do want to emphasise the importance of demarcation - particularly in smaller homes where living spaces are limited so protecting them from each other to some extent makes sense.

Remember that the new flooring will really unify the space and make it feel cohesive and bigger. If we use a pale ash or oak flooring, the cupboards would need to compliment - timber on timber can be tricky. So my approach to the kitchen cabinetry would be carefully considered. I am convinced we’d end up with a well sized, efficient, light kitchen with an abundance of storage that has a degree of separation from the living room - the connector being the island bench.

Window coverings will be covered in my CIP - I think you need privacy at night and potentially shade for the daytime - not sure yet of the orientation and tbh, I will forever rely on Geoff to tell me which way is north!!!

Sneak preview? I am a huge wrap for terrazzo benchtops and more muted, organic tiles. I do not do gloss!

Laundry:

We spoke at length about this and I think we landed in the right spot. I have detailed it in the sketch - essentially one long bench with a small round tub at the left, the dryer in the middle to comply wiht existing plumbing, and the washing machine on the right.

I’d suggest the same terrazzo benchtop (my favourite comes in slab form for under $1000 for a 3m x 1.4m piece, so VERY economical) and the same tile for splash back as we use in the kitchen.

Imagine a cute caddy for detergent on the bench top and any chemicals like bleach etc could be stored in a high wall cupboard mounted above bench height on the left hand side. You’d also have room for a dirty washing basket on the right hand side.

As already mentioned, preserving the light source is really important to avoid this feeling like the deep dark depths… this is a room you’re going to be using a lot from early next year so it should be a room you feel good about - not one you always want to keep closed away from visiting eyes!!

Bathroom:

Big, bright and bloody ugly right now - but a fabulous foundation for a truly spectacular upgrade!

Excuse my presence in the shot above, but there wasn’t a lot of avoiding the angle!! we discussed keeping the points where they are to save on cost, but another thought is that we put the bath where the shower is, given the vanity will be on the wall to the right as you enter. We may need a 1500mm bath, but that is not really any compromise. If we do this, we can get a slightly more generous reed glass shower stall that would feel more luxe and it wouldn’t require changes to plumbing points! God I’m good!!!!

So you’d enter the bathroom, vertical heated towel rails to the left, another horizontal rail across the shower end wall, the shower opening at this end, and then the loo is screened slightly by the reeded glass at the other end. The shower door could swing in to the shower, so as not to project out into the room when open, because you’ll have the room in the length of the shower. I hope this is clear - I may well need to explain more when I see you next week!

A back to wall toilet, a ledge behind to conceal the cistern, fluted glass, generous shower, away from the window (so much better) a lovely wall hung vanity…

We’d also want to include a stylish sconce light fitting and either underfloor heating, which is (counter-intuitively) economical to install and to run, or heated rails.

Again, we agree brushed nickel is the finish for tapware etc, and we could also use the tile form of the terrazzo slab for the bathroom floor. All ideas to be thrashed out in the CIP!

Master Bedroom:

I always encourage clients to see this as the most important room in the house - it’s the two of you who fund this whole shebang, the ones who are ultimately responsible for every last detail of it’s existence - so it owes you a big debt of gratitude. It can pay that debt by making you feel so damned pleased with yourselves when you close your eyes at night, and when you open them in the morning and can congratulate yourselves that you made this!

A bedhead and new bed linen against a beautiful new colour scheme, soft linen floor to ceiling curtains, a couple of delicious bedside tables and lamps… total transformation. I gotcha!

Bedroom #2

This will be the nursery and you will have an idea of what nursery equipment you need, but we can make this room sing, too! A gentle colour, more floor to ceiling linen curtains, a soft and scrumptious rug, baskets for toys, some shelving on the wall for children’s books… omg my favourite project is a nursery!

We need to carefully plan the storage solution for this room too, where we maximise the capacity without needing to pile stuff up (as caught on film here!!!!) because that upsets the harmony for everyone - every time, It is a sure sign of inadequate storage!

By hanging the door on the other side, we can then install a built in on the left as you enter - or alternatively, another idea is that we could replace the door with a slider and if you can imagine, we use the whole wall to install a cupboard each side of the doorway and above it. We make a door shaped tunnel that would be about 60cm deep to accomodate the depth of the cupboards. By doing this, we can create a really efficient bank of cupboards without overly impinging on the room - and it also would ensure a pretty effective sound baffling. Obviously you’d store stuff seldom or infrequently required in those high cupboards (particularly over the doorway), but a fold-away step ladder would be an handy addition to this.

To conclude…

I’m not sure why I feel so inspired by your house - is it that you and Michael live here and how close you feel to my family, or is it because this apartment is so ripe for transformation that it has got me in a spin?! Either way, my lovely people, I would be honoured to help you in this exciting time of expecting and enjoying the bounty of all you deserve.

Call me any time.

Henrietta x