Timber finishes bring a sense of warmth throughout. Photo – Dimitri Tricolas. Styling – Studio Barbara

Travels to Japan inspired the renovation of the lower-level of this Sydney pad into a beautiful one-bedroom suite. Having spent some time there, the owner fell in love with the minimalistic approach to living, and enlisted Studio Barbara to bring that vision to life.

The resulting redesign involved several internal adjustments to the existing lower level of a family home, transforming a rumpus room and an under-utilised study space, into a bright self-contained one-bedroom suite, for the owners’ university-aged daughter.

Studio Barbara co-director Ben Selke says that one key component of the brief was to ‘provide more separation and privacy, allowing the client’s daughter to study, rest, entertain and host friends away from the rest of the family’. The main objective here was to create a feeling of openness, eliminating the existing dark ‘basement feel’ in this space, and unearth its potential!

Guided by simple design principals and a neutral colour palette, the renewed spaces across this home reflect a subtle Japanese-inspired aesthetic.

Blonde oak timber floors from Nash Timbers replace what was once a dark porcelain tile, while the original dark timber veneer was substituted for a similar pale timber joinery. This soft palette also serves as the perfect tonal backdrop for the home’s curated collection of furniture, with pops of colour throughout.

Another highlight of the project is the double-sided, timber-lined internal window niche between the lounging areas, which incorporates lots of storage, seating as well as a compact study nook, serving both aesthetic and functional purposes.

‘It provides a spot to perch, read a book, work on a puzzle, display or store the eclectic mix of vintage and new objects or to frame glimpses of the garden’ Ben explains.

See more of Studio Barbara’s projects here.