Renovating Around What's Already There

It's often easier to renovate a kitchen by ripping everything back to a blank shell and starting fresh. It's not always the right call. In this Bondi Junction renovation, the home's original timber-framed double-hung windows were worth keeping — and the whole kitchen layout was designed to work around them, rather than the other way around.

That decision shapes more than just the window reveal. Cabinetry heights, the benchtop run, and even where the sink could go all had to be set out against windows that weren't going anywhere — rather than designing the layout first and fitting the windows in afterward.

The result is a kitchen that still reads as part of the original home, finished with new engineered timber flooring, timber-veneer joinery, a stone benchtop and an undermount sink set directly below the original window line. A gas cooktop with a canopy rangehood and full-height integrated fridge cabinetry with internal lighting bring the functional side up to a fully modern standard, without needing to compromise on the character the windows give the room.

The same project extended into the adjoining laundry and pantry — fitted out with open timber shelving and a built-in bench — and a bathroom renovation with a new timber-veneer vanity and stone-look benchtop. Three spaces, one renovation, one team managing the sequencing of joinery, plumbing and finishes across all of them.

Not every original feature is worth keeping, and that's a conversation worth having honestly at the start of a renovation rather than assuming either way. In this case, the windows were the right thing to build around. See the full project in our case study, or get in touch to discuss a residential renovation in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.