‘When we first moved in, everything was red – a red kitchen and red feature walls,’ remembers Phi Do. ‘The first challenge was to remove all the red.’
The couple are avid renovators, and have conducted a number of alterations to their three-storey warehouse-style townhouse over the five years they’ve been living here. Phi designs and Yaniv project manages!
After tackling the kitchen cabinetry, the pair expanded the bathroom over the whole mezzanine level. Floor-to-ceiling steel frame windows with fluted glass now replace the bathroom walls, allowing natural light to filter through the middle level and spill into the other rooms below.
‘We’ve always loved the warehouse aesthetic and dreamt of owning one,’ says Yaniv. ‘We fell in love with this New York-style warehouse conversion for its high ceilings, the industrial look of the Besser Block bricks and exposed steel beams. We wanted something with character and history, not something too new.’
Yaniv’s not joking when he says the ceilings are high – they are 4.3m tall, and the frontage itself is only 3.2 metres wide! These unique proportions lend themselves to careful decoration.
‘We’ve opted for large-scale art and a salon-style hang to draw the eye up,’ says Phi. Their favourite artworks are ‘Play’ by Yan Guo (purchased from Modern Times) and ‘Dance Your Own Dance’ by Spencer Harrison.
Inspired by Japanese and Scandinavian design principles, the warm and layered home features a combination of natural timber, organic homewares and pops of colour.
‘Our home is also a little love letter to Melbourne – celebrating many of its artists and makers,’ says Yaniv.