the Panel’s advice
Andrew Benn Architect and director, Benn + Penna Architecture, bennandpenna.com
It’s best to keep things on one level if you have the space, as going up is a big job and can be risky when managing costs, plus there’s already a large, underutilised front garden. It can be tricky with council approval building out the front, but the house is set back and on a cul-de-sac so they can be less strict with the front building lines. We could add a couple of rooms and a verandah, knock through two existing bedrooms to make a master suite, and it would be a good opportunity to give the front of the house a facelift at the same time. Since the kitchen is being upgraded, it would make more sense to move it to the middle of the house so the living area could flow outdoors onto a long verandah at the back.
Wayd Munro Builder, Focusbuild, focusbuild.com.au
The most pressing thing for Joanne and Heinz is to sort out the bathroom situation. It’s currently four small rooms – bath, shower in a cupboard, toilet and laundry – with its own hallway. We could knock them through to one big space or find a way to keep the toilet separate. A lot of people are going back to this setup now and it makes sense if you have a young family. Joanne loves the pink and grey mosaic tiles but you’d never get them up to reuse them. You can buy something similar as a nod to the heritage of the house. One thing to be careful of is stripping out the lino in the toilet and laundry; it almost certainly contains asbestos so shouldn’t be lifted when kids are in the house. Best leave that job to the professionals.
Lisa Koehler ISCD educator, stylist and interior decorator
Joanne would like to keep the existing timberwork around the doorframes, so that should serve as a reference point for the new paint colours; it will be really important to work tonally with the warmth of the timber tones. I’d choose something with a yellow base but I would use it at half or quarter strength to make sure it doesn’t end up too overpowering. With all the styling elements, it will be important to stay within the warm range of colours to create a cohesive palette. When selecting colours for the kitchen, Joanne should ensure the palette has warm tones to connect with the original parts of the house but also complementary cool shades to go with the freshened-up palette in the new kitchen/dining area.