A 1940s beach house on Sydney’s Northern Beaches has been transformed into a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, contemporary family home. The Avalon property belongs to the creator of bellaMUMMA, Nikki Yazxhi and her husband Adam, Creative Director at MAXCO.
After nearly 15 years in the family home, Nikki and Adam decided they would either need to sell in favour of something larger or renovate the existing house. “With our two boys aged 11 and 14, we were at a crossroads of whether to sell and buy something bigger, or stay in a house and area we love and renovate to make the house suit our family’s lifestyle,’” says Nikki.
For the family, storage was the biggest issue. They needed to maximise the existing space and create extra storage in order to make the home more suitable for their growing family. Ultimately deciding to stay and renovate, Nikki and Adam put their savings towards creating their dream home featuring the highest quality building products.
“When it came to choosing plasterboard to re-do our walls, we couldn’t go past CSR Gyprock’s Sensitive plasterboard,” says Nikki. “This product is amazing and we can already feel the difference in the house. Gyprock Sensitive plasterboard has moisture and mould resistant benefits that are especially important for my family’s health.”
Gyprock Sensitive is a revolutionary hypoallergenic plasterboard that is the first and only residential plasterboard to be approved by the National Asthma Council Australia’s Sensitive Choice program as a better choice for asthma and allergy sufferers. Treated with a powerful but gentle anti-fungal agent, Sensitive is designed to resist mould growth, enhancing the quality of living for families who suffer from asthma and allergies.
Gyprock plasterboard also played a key part in creating that all-important extra storage for the family. “The bespoke plasterboard shelving in the living area is definitely one of the wow-factor features in the house,” says Nikki. “It’s great for creating niches that work in harmony with the overall design of the room.”
Plasterboard can be used to make a recess and to create nooks for storage units that don’t consume valuable floor or wall space. As a clever design technique, they can neatly house possessions like TV’s – cleverly hiding the nest of cables and providing a fluid finish.
Nikki also used Gyprock plasterboard to replace the existing ornate cornices with a modern shadowline effect. A shadowline is a simple alternative to a cornice that leaves a streamlined gap where the ceiling meets the wall. For Nikki, this subtle update contributed to the home’s clean lines and contemporary style.
With a clear vision to create flowing open-plan living, Nikki carefully selected from Stegbar’s range of stylish windows and doors to achieve this effect.
“We went from an old timber framed sliding double door in the dining room to a Stegbar aluminium bi-fold patio door which has completely opened up the room and given it the illusion of more space. Plus, we were able to match and complement the colour of our home choosing a pearl white gloss finish which perfectly suited our beachside feel,” says Nikki.
While closed, the aluminium bi-fold door allows an abundance of natural light into the home with easy accessibility through a single operating door. When all the doors are open and folded away, the outside flows inside, providing ventilation and a clear unobstructed view of the beautiful blackbutt deck.
As lovers of entertaining, having a flexible indoor and outdoor area was a must for the family. “The bi-folds make the interior and deck feel as though they are the same room, which allows us to really maximise the space all year round,” says Nikki.
“We also replaced the small timber framed windows in the bathroom with floor to ceiling Breezway Louvres from Stegbar. This is a popular trend in architectural design which we liked, but we chose the louvres mainly for their ventilation properties and ability to allow natural airflow and light into the home, while giving the illusion of more space,” says Nikki.
Stegbar’s Breezway Louvres enable you to control the strength of the breeze allowed through. When opened, louvres act as air conditioning and when closed, they seal tightly to keep water and wind out.
To continue the streamline look of the new entertaining area, Stegbar’s Aneeta sashless window was used in the kitchen. “We opted for Stegbar’s Aneeta sashless window due to its sophisticated style and cutting edge design,” says Nikki. As a modern alternative to traditional windows, the Aneeta sashless windows are a popular choice as they are able to deliver the sleek look of fixed glass with the simple practicality of a window.
Overall, Nikki and Adam are thrilled with the final result. “We are so in love with the outcome of the renovation,” says Nikki. “It’s our dream home and we couldn’t be happier.”
Source: Gyprock
Image courtesy of Gyprock