Mission Accomplished
Rethinking key elements, rather than replacing them, worked wonders.
Because it was built in 2007, this Melbourne residence was in good shape when its current owners, a family of four, bought it in 2017. Structurally, nothing major needed to be done, but they wanted to freshen its look and tone down some of the home’s more over-the-top Mediterranean flourishes.
They were, however, conscious that ripping out perfectly good fixtures just because they weren’t quite to their taste was wasteful. Katie Sargent, an interior designer whose values very much aligned with the family’s, was engaged to help them navigate the renovation process.
Katie’s style – “sophistication without shouty statements” is how one of the owners describes it – appealed to them, as did her approach. “It’s very satisfying to discover the inherent beauty in things by stripping them back and revealing what others may not have been able to see at first,” he says. “Katie is an expert in recognising what can be transformed.”
She ensured the expanses of marble in the kitchen were retained. “It would have been a crime to remove it; it had aged beautifully,” says the owner.
“CREAMY NEUTRALS PROVIDE THE BASE UPON WHICH THIS HOME’S INTERIORS ARE BUILT.”
Katie Sargent, interior designer
“This is where we really reaped the benefits of working with Katie. The marble stayed and the tired white-gloss cabinetry was replaced with rich walnut doors and dark overhead shelving. The resulting kitchen is far more sophisticated.”
Likewise, the engineered-timber floors – originally a “generic brown” – were stripped back to their paler original state, repaired in places and given a clear finish. “The impact shocked us all,” he says. “That process was totally transformative.”
Having spent quite a lot of time in the US, the owners and their two older teenagers were very familiar with California’s Spanish Mission architecture. “We’ve spent many hours wandering the streets of Santa Barbara, Montecito and Los Feliz. We wanted to bring some of that style to our home.” The house already had arches, Spanish roof tiles and beautiful timberwork, but Katie added further highlightsbypaintingtheexistingwindow frames Porter’s Paints River Stone. “It’s a powerful colour – not black or charcoal, but somewhere in between,” she says.
Wide, ornate glass doors welcome visitors to the house. To the right of the entry is a generous formal living and dining room. “These spaces are dreamy, warm and relaxing,” says Katie. The round dining table positioned in this spot
echoes the curves in the arched doorway and the pendant light above it. Star of this space is a soft-yet-striking wall mural the owners fell instantly in love with. “It came from a small-scale supplier in Brooklyn, New York. Katie’s ability to track down these perfect elements turned out to be just magic.”
The ground floor is mostly devoted to an open-plan kitchen, casual dining and living area. This main kitchen is, in fact, one of three in the house that Katie transformed. There’s also a small kitchen on the lower-ground level (by the home cinema and games room) that’s flanked by a bar and comes complete with its own popcorn machine.
The third is the spectacular outdoor kitchen that was existing, but in need of an update. “We had a bricklayer build the bench and adjoining seat in a very specific brick pattern that was common a century ago,” says the owner. “We sourced recycled bricks, selected for their imperfections. The bricklayer thought we were mad, but I knew what I wanted.” The finished space is the perfect balance between rustic and elegant, and offers a nod to the home’s Spanish Mission-style exterior.
The family moved to this house from a Hamptons-style home in the same suburb (it too had featured on the pages of H&G) but this time they knew they wanted something “moodier and more European influenced”, says the owner.
“Our focus was not on producing a bright and shiny renovation,” he adds. “We kept lots of materials that had patinated, and where we did add new materials we opted for those that would settle in quickly to look like the place had been here a long time – not just 15 years.” Katie Sargent Design, St Kilda West, Victoria; katiesargentdesign.com.
“OUR KIDS ARE OLDER AND THEY’RE FORTUNATE TO HAVE THEIR OWN SPACE AND SENSE OF INDEPENDENCE.” Homeowner