House P

by CJH Studio

Working with a century-old residence, CJH Studio have effortlessly restructured and revitalised this inviting Melbourne home.

Luxurious design elements feature alongside beautiful custom joinery that has been expertly considered and woven throughout the project, as both storage solution and a recurring aesthetic feature. Given this is a home for a young family, the clients brief entailed a desire for a beautiful space that was not precious or pretentious. To achieve this, the selection of finishes remain minimal and consistent, with a focus on a soft palette of natural materials alongside a considered attention to bespoke detail.

The client wanted to modernise the internal layout of a 100-year old home and adapt it for a young and growing family. Without growing the footprint of the existing home, a once external deck area was internalised into what is now the dining area, which allowed to open up the kitchen. The internal floor plan largely remained but was tweaked where it gained maximum impact.

A large and poorly designed study adjacent to the kitchen was essentially halved yet doubled in storage capacity which then allowed a powder room and butlers pantry to be gained in the new floor plan. More storage was key in the clients brief and needs and also in the final design, for example the principal bedroom was lined with joinery and appeared to continue into a tight ensuite space to make it feel larger, and the single sided laundry become a galley layout with a second full wall of joinery added.

The design was relaxed, warm and inviting yet practical. All the design elements are luxurious, highly detailed and considered but are also forgiving for daily life and inevitable kids accidents. The main living room joinery design included large pull out toy boxes and open shelves for children’s books, all accessible to little hands with the tv closed behind doors.

Custom joinery is an absolute favourite element of  any Cassie James-Herrick designed interior, as with this home, it provides a customised solution to; the size/space or each room, storage needs, the function it serves as well as playing a major aesthetic role. Balance was key to the joinery elements, Cassie wanted to shift/offset the heavier full height elements of joinery (maximise storage space) with lighter/lower elements that become more like furniture in the room.

Finishes were intentionally  kept minimal and consistent throughout the home to ensure a thoughtful design flow occurs. Bedrooms were warmed with varying strengths of the same grey for wall colours which also  matched into the study and kitchen joinery. The palette mostly remained as it was initially presented, with the natural stone bench tops, light american oak and terrazzo floor tiles the grounding constant throughout with hints of brass and black in different elements across each space.

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