SMART SPACES

Stylish ideas for a smaller footprint.

furniture brands, Richard Munao of Cult and wife Lisa renovated their inner-city 1890s house, two doors from his showroom, in a breakneck three and a half months. cultdesign.com.au How did you resolve the challenges of the space? The ground-floor extension which had been added in the 70s was a bit of a shanty. It housed the kitchen whose view of the backyard was blocked by a bathroom. We decided to demolish it and add a new twostorey addition with an airy family room below and a master suite above. The main challenge was that it could only be 3.2 metres wide. How did you maximise the sense of space? We wanted to create as much openness as possible. Glass louvres were installed to provide cross ventilation and a huge pivot door integrated into the back facade. We wanted to be able to sit and look out a big picture window. It took six guys to get it in here and it was the thing on which we had to spend the most time because we were really testing the boundaries. The door is 2.5 metres wide and 2.67 metres high. How would you describe the completed interior? We wanted to respect the original part of the house. In the library we exposed the original brick chimmneybreast, and we retained the old staircase – although as the timber was not very attractive we painted it pale blue, inspired by a boutique hotel where we had stayed in Turkey. We were adamant about getting the details right – for the kitchen walls, we tried out six different shades of white. For the furnishings we mixed pieces we already owned, such as the Hans J. Wegner dining chairs, with selections from the Cult brands. Are you happy with how the house turned out? We’ve always dreamed of renovating a terrace. The idea of keeping the old and adding something new really appealed. Af ter years of living in an apartment it’s wonderful to be able to step directly outside and hang clothes on the line or have a barbecue in the backyard.