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.

Friend and interior designer, Nina Maya was engaged to direct and style the home renovation. Following two previous renovations, this final makeover involved the family moving out for three months so that the house could be gutted and rebuilt. To achieve the simple and elegant interior, a refined palette of neutrals was chosen, using only natural materials such as European oak flooring, marble, stone and brass.

Nina designed a space that maintains the home’s original charm, while maximising the indoor areas with added storage. The original wall separating the living area and the kitchen was removed, and to increase the connection to the outside, full-height glass bi-fold doors were installed on the back deck and skylights were used to boost the amount of natural light, provided by Stegbar. The kitchen is one of the first rooms the family had outgrown. With Adam’s love of cooking and the couple’s passion for entertaining, the kitchen was maximised and upgraded with new appliances for a modern and contemporary space that performed as amazingly as it looked. The kitchen and the benchtop bar are now the hub of the house.

The new kitchen appliances were selected for their aesthetic and functionality. “We loved the look of ASKO products first off, then we started doing some research and watching Adam Liaw's YouTube videos and realised how amazing the appliances were,” says Nikki. “The ASKO Elements range is sleek and sexy, and we are beyond impressed by how they make life so much easier in the kitchen. I think the first couple of months we were continually impressed with all the new features that we were discovering.”

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.