Ashfield Rejuvenation
This state heritage listed Victorian Federation home was built in the 1880s and contains some gorgeous features unique to this period that have been impeccably preserved both internally and externally.
After enjoying the home for around six years, the homeowners had a good feel for what aspects of the heritage home they wanted to retain, and which aspects of the functional flow needed to be altered to suit their family lifestyle.
They underwent a major renovation of the bottom level rear of the home which included moving the kitchen, opening up the space to the backyard and creating the sought-after indoor-outdoor flow. It also included renovating the family bathroom and adjoining laundry.
As you enter the home through the original living area in the front of the house and move towards the back, it provides a seamless connection of the old with new and weaves aspects of the Victorian heritage into the newly renovated rear.
Amanda from Jazz Hotel + Home has transformed not only the aesthetics of the area, but drastically changed the functionality of the rear of the home. With the combination of stacker doors, a window servery and skylight in the dining room – the area is now a sun-soaked space you won’t want to leave.
The family love spending time outside, so it was important to connect the two together and create fluidity between each area.
A beautiful light, bright and colourful space to enjoy a morning coffee, book in the sun or a dinner gathered with friends and family.
Method behind the masterpiece
The home is a beautiful Victorian Federation style evident from the entrance and front part of the house. The back area and pool cabana is more of a Hamptons style. Amanda’s aim was to blend the two styles together so that when one area meets the other, they are cohesive.
The homeowners dreamt of a Hamptons meets farmhouse look and was particularly fond of navy blue and white colour palettes. But Amanda challenged the traditional navy blue and encouraged them to be bold with a more creative teal colourway used in the kitchen island, bathroom tiles and in the Florence Broadhurst wallpaper in the dining area.
The new kitchen area opens to the backyard, now more so with the hinged servery window, creating the indoor/outdoor feel Australians love.
Amanda’s brief for the new bathroom was to create a moody, sensual luxury feel, a sanctuary for the lady of the house who has teenage boys. So, she created this area with a custom-made vanity and marble feature tiles to co-ordinate with the brass finishes. The laundry is the perfect segue from the bathroom to the kitchen in location and design.
The Unlacquered Satin Brass door hardware finish and tapware was a huge feature and part of this concept. They didn’t want a shiny brass but instead wanted it to look like it had been part of this beauty of a home forever, living and ageing gracefully.
Needless to say, it was imperative to also co-ordinate all the window and cabinetry hardware into that.
The custom vanity, tapware and finishes, throughout the new areas of kitchen, laundry and bathroom have a federation note. Amanda matched the hardware in colour and selected a simple style. The kitchen cup handles, cabinetry knobs and door levers are all a coordinated Unlacquered Satin Brass finish chosen to match the tapware, then the lighting followed suit.
The kitchen island uses the superb Statuario Dior by Smarstone as a beautiful, veined feature stone. The homeowner trusted Amanda to be bold with the choice of colour to really make the kitchen island, which let’s face it is always the hub of any home, a real hero. Amanda then used VJ groove, a farmhouse sink and gorgeous feature tap to make this area a feature all of its own.
