The owners of this Carlton North terrace aren’t afraid of some bold colour, but the existing blue 1990s kitchen was a step too far.

Eat.bathe.live (who designed a renovation to the front rooms of the house in 2015) were once again called upon to create a more sophisticated and functional kitchen, dining and living area, in addition to a new upper storey.

Similar to the brief for the first renovation, the clients wanted to create something special with unique design elements — particularly patterned tiles referencing those on the original front verandah.

‘Knowing that the clients wanted an amazing feature tile, this became one of the starting points for the design vision to pull together,’ says Jenefer Gordon, director of Eat.bathe.live.

The designers introduced a bold feature tile in the new dining area (replacing a former bedroom), which not only creates visual impact, but overcomes discrepancies in the flooring between the new and older parts of the home.

‘Although it was the same engineered board, it would not have matched due to around seven years between installations!’ explains Jenefer.

‘We used a feature tile to transition the old and new timber flooring so that the difference in colour was not noticeable. These tiles were also continued on the splashback and in the courtyard.’

The flooring adds warmth and complements the exposed brick wall that marks the point between the original and added rooms of the home. ‘This is actually the back wall of the original terrace home that we have exposed. It’s such a nice reminder of the history of the home,’ says Jenefer.

The use of bold tiles continues upstairs in the new first floor containing the main bedroom and en suite. ‘The tiles in the en suite were selected as the “wow” tiles that the clients requested,’ says Jenefer. ‘The pattern references the curves that are evident throughout the design in the joinery design, light fixtures, and steel door handles.’

Black accents integrated throughout the renovated interiors on the bathroom tiles, timber veneer joinery, steel framed doors, extension cladding, and tapware pay homage to the fretwork, door, and window frames on the home’s original facade.

‘I love that all of the colours selected through the home speak to each other and really tie back to the original brick wall. It’s like the new design is really anchored to the original home,’ Jenefer says.

Now completely renovated, this Carlton North home is finally well equipped to support its residents and reflects their unique personality.