1950’s post-war, red brick home in Seaforth, NSW prior to renovation. Photo via realestate.com.au

“We purchased a 1950s post war house with lots of charm however, we wanted to update the house to be more open plan and provide greater connectivity between the house and gardens without losing all of the 50’s charm. Whilst we engaged an architect already, in the back of my mind I was concerned that some of our proposed renovations may detract from the 50’s charm of the property.

Whilst researching online about sympathetic renovations I came across a few blogs written by Alistair from Secret Design Studio that resonated with me. I then learned of his Dr. Retro house calls / consulting service.

Given we were already heavily progressed with plans, we engaged Alistair to review our plans and provide some recommendations. We also had several questions about which period elements/features to retain, how to sympathetically update the kitchen/bathroom and also some assistance with finishes, products, colours etc.

The 2 hour meeting was invaluable. Alistair is very knowledgable (both in terms of architecture and also an expert in this period), he had some excellent ideas/ tweaks to our plans and recommended several suppliers for us to consider.

My only regret is not knowing of this service before I started the process… indeed this would have saved me a lot of time. I would highly recommend Alistair to anyone with a post-war/mid-century home and seeking to restore or sympathetically update it.”

1950’s post-war, red brick home in Seaforth, NSW prior to renovation. Photo via realestate.com.au

1950’s post-war, red brick home in Seaforth, NSW prior to renovation. Photo via realestate.com.au

1950’s post-war, red brick home in Seaforth, NSW prior to renovation. Sandstone fireplace and shelving detail. Photo by Secret Design Studio

1950’s post-war, red brick home in Seaforth, NSW prior to renovation. Original hexagonal mosaic tile detail in bathroom. Photo by Secret Design Studio