If you had told interior designer Mairead Murphy that she would be buying two houses within a three year span, she wouldn’t have believed it. It began in 2014, when she and her partner, Pete, were looking to buy a home in Melbourne, but the going was tough. “It was getting to the point where we were lined up along the street with 20 or 30 other couples bidding almost a million dollars for something that needed to be knocked down,” remembers Mairead. “Melbourne real estate is just mental.”

With competition the way it was, the couple changed their perspective. “We figured it didn’t matter what we got, because we were going just going to turn it into something else,” says the designer. “But I also didn’t want to buy anything that had been renovated because you don’t know what’s underneath.”

Before: Next Door House #1

The couple were finally able to purchase a post-war era weatherboard house in Brunswick East. It had three bedrooms and a bath, clocked in at around 970 square feet, and was one of three of its kind that all sat in a row on the street.

Mairead made a master plan for the home, which included a small extension, and the couple got to work remodeling. In addition to updating fixtures and finishes, Mairead tweaked the floor plan to maximize the small footprint, first opening up the main living areas to each other to let natural light flow through. When a front bedroom was discovered to have once had double doors, they were reinstated the room became a dedicated office.

Other issues, like seeing the toilet in the bathroom while standing at the front door, were resolved with clever design solutions: Mairead fashioned custom joinery around the bathroom door, hiding it from sight.

After: Next Door House #1

Mairead, which meant opening up the living spaces and doorways to create sight lines through the house and to the outside." layout="" credit="Photo by Tess Kelly" photoUserId="6662800920089243648"/>

As the remodel progressed, the couple had their first child, and, in 2017, bought the dilapidated house next door when it went up for sale. With so much of the city under development, they knew the home—one of the three in its row, but on a larger lot—was ripe for being torn down.

“If someone else bought that home, we were going to end up being a tiny little house with two- and three-story townhouses on either side,” says Mairead. “So, the plan was to bring it up to a standard that was nice enough that someone would want to keep it instead of demolishing it.”

Before: Next Door House #2 Exterior

There was only one problem with the couple’s plan: As they began to dig deeper into the house’s structure, they realized it was in terrible shape. “It was just everything,” Miread says, describing a slipshod foundation, extensive water damage, and repairs done with cheap adhesives and an assortment of found materials. “Around the time we found an old pair of underwear stuffed into the wall to fill a crack, we decided we were going to have to reassess,” she says.

Although they were still mid-renovation on the first house, they decided to finish it—without the planned extension—in order to sell it, so that they could properly renovate the second home and make it their own. “At this stage we were both working while living on a building site, with another building site next door, and a two year old,” says Mairead. In the midst of it all, another baby was on the way.

After: Next Door House #2 Exterior

Before: Entry

Mairead removed the closet in the entry to increase room in the bathroom." layout="" credit="Courtesy of Maike Design" photoUserId=""/>

After: Entry

Since they’d now be a family of four, Mairead focused on creating storage in Next Door House #2. For example, for the kitchen pantry, she created a sleek wall of cabinets that also conceals the entry to the adjacent laundry room.

The designer also wanted to create a better connection with the big backyard, so she installed large windows in the kitchen, as well as a double glass door in the main suite.

Before: Dining Room

After: Living Room

Mairead took a completely different approach to the color and material palette in the second house. “We wanted to show that with very small changes, you can have a totally different space, and there’s a lot of potential in these little houses,” says Mairead. Custom shelving, made of stained oak and metal, anchors one end of the living room. The armchair is from Southwood Home." layout="bleed" credit="Photo by Tess Kelly" photoUserId="6662800920089243648"/>

Before: Eating Nook

Mairead turned this space into the kitchen." layout="" credit="Courtesy of Maike Design" photoUserId=""/>

After: Kitchen

Before: Kitchen

After: Concealed Laundry

Throughout the remodel of Next Door House #2, Mairead preserved, and at times recreated, historic details like plaster finishes, woodwork, and stained-glass windows. These elements are juxtaposed with modern detailing, like the steel-and-wood open shelves. Mairead also installed energy-efficient systems.

“Both houses have solar panels, radiant floor heating, and double-glazed windows, where windows were replaced,” says Mairead. This further makes the case for preserving the old, rather than demolishing it. “You can invest in the building fabric and in the quality of space, and in doing so, make it what you want it to be,” she says.

Before: Bathroom

Mairead could expand the bathroom beyond this small space." layout="" credit="Courtesy of Maike Design" photoUserId=""/>

After: Bathroom

Before: Bedroom

Mairead sought to make more consistent." layout="" credit="Courtesy of Maike Design" photoUserId=""/>

After: Children’s Bedroom

Mairead redid the moldings around the ceiling and replaced the window." layout="" credit="Photo by Tess Kelly" photoUserId="6662800920089243648"/>

Before: Main Bedroom

After: Main Bedroom

Mairead replaced a window with double doors and a transom to bring in more light and to create a connection with the outdoors." layout="wide" credit="Photo by Tess Kelly" photoUserId="6662800920089243648"/>

Before: Backyard

After: Backyard

Mairead’s office. A custom metal trellis frames the walkway to the main residence." layout="" credit="Photo by Tess Kelly" photoUserId="6662800920089243648"/>Mairead." layout="" credit="Photo by Tess Kelly" photoUserId="6662800920089243648"/>

More Before & After:

16 Impressive “Before & After” Renovations in Australia

Before & After: A “Higgledy-Piggledy” Beach House in Australia Becomes a Streamlined Retreat

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Bancroft and Malone Architects

Builder: Mormar

Landscape Design: Stem Landscape Architecture & Design

Interior Design: Maike Design / @maike_design

Cabinetry: Plane Architectural Joinery

Exterior Design: Harvey Landscape and Design