Quirky Cape Town house

Personal treasures, vintage accessories and retro furniture transform this stunning 3-bed

Helen and Richard Somogyvari's Cape Town home is lovingly festooned with second-hand buys and junk-shop finds.

Helen worked as a handbag designer before her sons, Mille and Gillis, came along, and her love of fashion is evident throughout  a tailor's dummy stands proudly in the dining room and a pair of glam gold boots are displayed like art in the hallway.

Random bits such as a mannequin's foot, peacock feathers and religious iconography add up to perfect groupings thanks to her creative eye.

There was no major work to be done, apart from replacing the kitchen, which was dated and full of clumsy islands and rickety storage. 'We stripped it out and installed custom-built units and shelving,' says Helen. 'By redesigning the kitchen, we had space for my longed-for kitchen table, which has become the hub of family life.'

 

They transformed the living room by swapping a picture window for French doors and turning the 'muddy hole' outside into a cool concrete veranda. The former master bedroom at the top of the house was turned into a playroom for the children, complete with mini furniture and stylish lighting.

Contemporary family home

 

Take a house tour around this stylish Sydney home

Simon Hansen and wife Paris have lovingly reworked two small terraced houses into one big family home.

The couple had been living in a pretty but tiny (three and a half meters wide) terraced house in Paddington, Sydney, with their children Sunday, 9, and Jock, 7, when the house next door came up for sale.

Desperate for more space, they saw the opportunity to expand. 'Our third child (Saxon, now 5) was on the way and we had a chronic shortage of space,' says architect Simon. 'It had reached the point where I just wanted to be able to stretch my arms out and not hit someone or something.'

After three planning applications and a year's hard work, they were rewarded with a spacious family home, furnished with vintage finds, bright pops of color and a plunge pool in the back garden.

 

 

And if the interior now feels even bigger than it actually is, that's down to Simon's space-saving tricks such as a wall of floor-to-ceiling cupboards, an under-bench bar fridge and wall-mounted lights.

Brighton renovation

Take a house tour around this huge property in East Sussex

Originally an old people's home, sectioned off into 20 rooms, this property presented a huge challenge to furniture maker Paul Soden and his wife Alex.

The couple, who run Brighton store Second Seed, bought the 4-storey house in East Sussex 18 months ago, convinced they'd found their dream home. 'A flash of deja vu - that's what happened,' says Alex. 'I knew we belonged here, even though the task in front of us was crazy.'

The sheer scale of the renovation wasn't for the faint-heated, but the couple's dogged instincts - along with inspiration from architect Paula Barnes - meant they completed the project in just 6 months.

Walls were knocked down, fittings ripped out and under floor heating installed. Once they had stripped the house down to its original shell, they began salvaging antique furniture, repainting floorboards and creating a unique family home.

Now the property boasts 6 beautiful bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a shower room, a spacious kitchen-diner, a cozy living room, an office and a utility room.

Want to see inside? Take a house tour around this stunning renovation>>

Dublin terrace

 

Clean-cut bone structure and pale simplicity, this house oozes A-list beauty

When Catherine Crowe and husband Gavin Wheatley bought their Victorian terrace, they nicknamed it 'The House of Horrors'. It was derelict, dark and poky, with a lean-to shack for a kitchen and no bathroom.

 On the plus side, it leant itself to the complete overhaul that the couple had in mind. They built a 2-storey extension, repositioned the stairs, and added two bathrooms and installed solar panels and insulation.








                                            

                         

       But extra space wasn't all they had in mind. Maximizing light was one of Catherine and Gavin's priorities - and not just in the living areas. They installed skylights in the bedrooms to pull in more sunshine; windows were cleverly angled to catch the southern light; and the kitchen was transformed with glossy worktops and a stunning glass splash back.

                  

Tropical Aussie house

 

Spacious rooms, stylish decorating and a swimming pool - what more could you want?

Suzanne Dutton and partner Kris Torah waited 3 years to bag themselves a home that was designed by architect Walter Burley Griffin in North Shore, Australia.

The couple, who have daughters Sadie, 7, and Poppy, 5, were living in a terraced house in the middle of Sydney, when they decided they needed more space.

But Kris was determined to wait until his dream property became available. The moment it did - it had belonged to film director Jane Campion - they made their move.

 

'We loved it immediate as it's one of those houses that you can do stuff to but don't have to,' says Suzanne. 'We just slotted right in and feel more at home as time goes on.'

Now they spend their time chilling by the pool, relaxing in the enormous open-plan living/dining area, and enjoying the cool breeze and tropical surroundings.

Deluxe California home

Marc and Melissa Palazzo bought their two-storey home in southern California 8 years ago. 'We loved the house but it was compartmentalized and disjointed,' says Melissa. 'Our vision was for an open-plan space, as light as possible, with a strong connection between inside and out.'


The couple, who run interior design business Pal & Smith, worked with architect Henry Buckingham to extend the house, creating a new dining room and a double-height family room, with a mezzanine 'mini loft apartment' for the children, as well as extra skylights and glass doors opening onto the
garden.

Now the simple white kitchen leads seamlessly into a long living area. 'I compare our living area to a train carriage, divided into three zones,' says Melissa. There is the sitting area, where two of their own sofas sit under an antique chandelier from Marc's father, a study zone, and an intimate nook by the fireplace.

Upstairs rooms are cool and airy with ceiling fans juxtaposed with antique chandeliers, walls of diaphanous white curtains concealing wardrobes and skylights to let the sunshine in.

Melbourne warehouse

                                                     

 

Diane Berger on blends the approach of SoHo loft living with Technicolor hues, vivid patterns and vintage elegance in her Melbourne home.

The textile designer, originally from New York, moved to Australia with her Aussie husband Peter in 2004 and bought a run-down warehouse in the Collingwood area.

'It was totally raw when we found it – no electricity, heating or plumbing,' says Diane. 'But it gave us the chance to create spaces that felt generous   and floodlit, without being cold and sterile.'

As well as being the ultimate live/work space, it's a functional, flexible family home. Diane is able to manage her interiors business from a specially-designed office/showroom on the first floor, while the upstairs space can be low-lit and sensual for jazz and Martinis in the evenings.

Want to see inside? Take a room-by-room house tour of this fabulous Melbourne warehouse