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A skylight was added to bring in more light, and the existing ceilings painted Benjamin Moore ‘Black Tar’ for contrast. The island pendant is the Schoolhouse Ray 17” Pendant and the stools are the Artek Aalto High Chair K65.

The ceiling change and sink placement dictated one boundary of the kitchen. A bigger interior opening and new exterior glass doors now connect the kitchen to the backyard’s mango, avocado, and lime trees. “We couldn’t make the house bigger, so how could we make the rooms feel bigger?” asks Engelsman.

“Since the kitchen is open to the space, we tried to make it look as clean as possible with slab-faced cabinets flush to the walls, simple tile, and clean appliances,” Shively says. The island is inspired by Alvar Alto's designs.

A backsplash featuring custom matte black ceramic tiles by Waterworks is paired with stainless steel countertops. The timber cabinets, by JRs Custom Cabinets, are made of white oak.

Glass blocks allow soft light to enter the kitchen without distracting from the courtyard view.

Integrated appliances avoid clutter in the petite galley layout.

A mirrored backsplash reflects the garden. Spotted Gum cabinetry meets floors of the same material for uninterrupted flow. The counters are stainless steel.

In the office, existing track lighting illuminates cabinetry covered in Lemon Bar by Miller Paint.

Bright yellow and purple paints were used to add some vibrancy to the daughter’s desk area, one of the ways the architects tried to honor the personality of each inhabitant's space.

Furnished with vintage Eames chairs, a second-hand sofa, and pendants and tables designed by Nathalie, the space is kept purposefully casual. She painstakingly mixed and tested the paint for the mustard-yellow walls herself—15 times—to match the hue of a Kvadrat textile.

Dining Nook

The kitchen is both stylish and practical.

The designers fabricated everything in the house, down to the quarter-sawn pine and macrocarpa-wood kitchen cabinetry and concrete floor. “Physically the most challenging part of the build was wrestling an incredibly slippery concrete pump up the muddy driveway in the rain!” says designer Ben Mitchell-Anyon. The enamel pendant light is vintage. Photo by: Paul McCredie

Keeping sustainability in mind, the architects have cladded the structure's interior with timber.

Concrete floors provide a visual contrast to the pine surfaces that wrap the lower-level spaces. The kitchen counter is made from pine and steel.

The square tiles of the shower walls mimic the squares of the glass-block wall that delineates the bathroom.

The tile looks vintage, but was selected and installed as part of the renovation. On the vanity: Kristall Tumbler in Blush by Decor Walther from the Oliver Thom Store.

A graphic wallpaper by Kate Zaremba wraps the kids' bathroom with sconces by Allied Maker.