Hi Ally, Houzz is a great place to start, however not all architects and building designers are happy to work on small scale staged jobs as there often isn't enough money in it.

My advice is to think about exactly what you need, rather than just what you want when your budget is tight, and work out your priorities. I know from working with lots of owners of 1960's houses that sometimes unexpected maintenance and safety issues, such as asbestos, restumping, rewiring, stormwater etc can eat into a tight budget unexpectedly.

Unfortunately many of those boring type issues need to be addressed early on before you can get into the more interesting interior design. For anybody working on staged projects it is good to have a well resolved concept design that can be staged as your budget allows. Get your final goal posts lined up, and address a smaller sub-project one at a time, while working towards your goal. Don't rush into it, and discover five years down the track that work that you had completed needs to be demolished as you hadn't planned the big picture goal properly at the start (it happens!).

Your mid-century modern/scandinavian style should work well with your 1960's home, so it is important to be consistant with your choices throughout your smaller projects. Work to complement the style of the existing architecture and you can't go wrong. Don't try to change the style of the original house into something else if you are working on a tight budget.

Best of luck.

Dr Retro

Hi there, would love you to post a floor plan and photos of your house . And yes architects will give ideas/design plans and leave you and your builder to do the rest. Best way to find out about what this costs is to speak to a couple of local architects.

I can't remember the name of the architect who posted on this forum hoping to pick up some extra work at a very reasonable fee to escape his boring day job!!, I'll try to remember but perhaps someone else can help. Love your house period, MidC/Scandi/Japandi cheers

I vaguely recall the post, siriuskey, so will help look for him.

Is this the person?

Here are contact details.

Thank you so much annb, could be, I thought a boring day job was mentioned in the post. Perhaps it would be a good idea for architects like this to post simple plans in response to Houzzers dilemas cheers

Maybe there's an earlier one.

Thanks for all of your great help! I've attached some photos of the outside and a floorplan of the upstairs floor for you (the bottom floor is 2 garages and a granny flat - all our living is upstairs). Any help or advice would be great ... we did think about closing in the bottom garage to make a kitchen/dining downstairs and turning the upstairs kitchen (which is very small) into a 4th bedroom. I know the house is not the easiest on the eye but we're just a young family trying to make a home that feels like a sanctuary for us and our children and also, the beach is at the end of the road! I find it a bit hard having no easy access to the outdoors. Both verandahs have been closed in at some point and as we love to be outdoors and in the garden it would be great to somehow make that a priority. Anyway, a tricky house but if anyone has any ideas I am open! Thanks again for all of your help! I'll include some photos of the inside for you just to give you a bit of a 'feel'. Thanks again!!!

Hi Al, I completely agree with Dr Retro and would encourage you to have an overall plan at the outset and chip away at it as funds become available. The investment in an Architect is worth every cent in my opinion and many will offer plans and allow you to find your own builder. My suggestion is to find one that is referred to you by someone you know and just ask them how they work. Most people are friendly and you are a potential client so most of them will be receptive to a meet and greet kind of meeting. Once you have your architect in place and the overall plans have been agreed upon, you can then speak to builders who can advise on the steps. As Dr Retro says though, make sure that you allow funds up front for the structural and maintenance works. I find that most of my clients underestimate their renovation cost by at least 30% because they just don't know how much things cost. Don't be put off by this though. A project of this size will take time and so long as you have a plan, some great professionals around you, you won't regret it and you will have a home that you will be very proud of and happy to live in. I hope that helps. Good Luck!

Hi there, It's lovely to see your home and agree that you need to work to a whole plan, not sure how much you have undertaken so far. Your house looks like it could be turned up side down, bedrooms up and living down so that you get that flow into the outside space. I don't know what arrea you live in only that it's beach side. Interesting thing is that I was looking at and admiring a 60's house this morning that reminded me of yours, it has under gone renovations. Do you need the granny flat?

Wheres the house siriuskey? On Houzz? It looks fantastic!

Isn't it, I love it, can you message me

MB Design & Drafting - the great photos are from a house in Caulfield South (Melbourne) and it was originally designed by Michael R. E. Feldhagen in 1968

Lovely story attached to this house MB Design cheers

This 1960s house in suburban Melbourne has been overhauled by Branch Studio Architects to create a contemporary home for the original owners' granddaughter (+ slideshow).

The local firm was tasked with revamping the dream home of a pair of
Jewish refugees – one a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp –
who had arrived in Australia with little more than the clothes on their
backs.

The couple had built the house as soon as they could afford to, and lived in it for the rest of their lives.

After they both died, it was passed down to their granddaughter
Danielle and her husband Adam, who works as a writer – hence the project
name, Writer's House.

The brief given to Branch Studio co-founder Brad Wray was to restore the house to its former glory without turning it into a "mid-century mausoleum".

"It was our joint intention that whatever new works we did to the
house would not impact on the original integrity of the original house
and it memories," explained Wray.

"There is often a very fine line between creating a nostalgic
'museum' of something that was and removing all notion of the existing
all together," he said.

Built in 1968, the two-storey house was designed by emerging
designer Michael RE Feldhagen, a protégé of modernist architect Ernest
Fooks.

It was one of a number of International Style properties built in
the Caulfield area at that time, although many have since been
demolished.

Respecting this, Wray's team chose to leave the building's facade
largely unaltered. The only real change was the addition of steel-framed
windows, to replace the original wooden ones, and a more minimal white
colour scheme.

A much bigger change was made at the back of the house, where a new
"party deck" has been created. Flanked by perforated aluminium privacy
screens, the deck extends the building further into the garden.

Related story

Pump House by Branch Studio Architects is a metal-clad lakeside retreat

"[It] not only solved a practical issue of overlooking, but more
importantly was used to extend the internal areas to create a much more
flexible internal/external cohesion of space," said Wray.

Inside, the house is still filled with the bespoke joinery created
by Jacob Rudowsky – a popular local craftsman – shortly after the house
was completed.

One of the biggest challenges was designing a contemporary interior
without making these restored traditional elements feel out of place.
Wray took a risk by choosing to pair them with plywood surfaces and
concrete floors.

"The hope was that the marriage of raw and refined would be seamless and elegant," said Adam.

"To this end, every room in the double-storey building was totally
reimagined, but each space retained hints of the original, Easter eggs
pointing to what came before," he added.

Behind the deck, an assortment of living and dining spaces are
organised around a generous plywood-lined foyer, which functions as a
gallery for the clients to display their art collection.

The kitchen features contemporary cabinets fronted by lime-washed
plywood, while the living space is furnished with old sofas
reupholstered in vibrant green fabric.

Three bedrooms are located at the opposite end of the house, along
with two bathrooms, including one that features a concrete tub and
decorative grey tiling.

The ground floor contains a wine and whiskey cellar, a garage and a writing studio for Adam.

The building is the latest in a series of 1960s renovations, as more
new owners start to appreciate the modernist style of architecture.
Other recent examples include a refurbished London terrace house and a renovated Ivory Coast villa.

Photography is by Peter Clarke/Latitude Group.

Project credits:

Architect: Branch Studio Architects
Project team: 
Brad Wray, Rowena Henry, Simon Dinh
Landscape architect: Plume Studio
Structural engineer: Perrett Simpson Stantin
Original architect: Michael RE Feldhagen
Original furniture: Jakob Rudowski
New dining and coffee tables: Brad Wray Workshop
Rudowski sideboard restorations: Orchard Design
Concrete bath and vanities: Hungry Wolf Studio

Fantastic story, fantastic house even before the recent works.

Absolutely, apart from a great house what drew me to it was the simplicity of the Architects eye in doing this, no sign of rendering or cladding just the original red brick with white trim and new black windows. Even down the the low front stone fence of the period. Love the entrance.

This is an excellent question and one I relate to! We have also been slowly renovating a mid-century home, but without having to do anything structural. After 3 years and two reno companies (doing kitchen and bathrooms, which are way out of our skill set, as well as re-flooring in 4 rooms), I employed an interior designer for colour scheme and window coverings - to help 'finish' it all off (...I was drowning in a quagmire of options and indecision).

Personally, I think we should have consulted an expert before we started anything big. Despite knowing what we like, we are not really design focused (and time poor, also with young children), which meant that our decisions haven't always considered the overall gestalt of the house. It also meant that choosing and sourcing everything was really hard work.

There are elements of our home that have ended up piecemeal as a result of going along and then deciding to do certain things with certain areas, because the plans 'evolves' as the house does, and for us that was particularly the flooring. I've since come to appreciate that the flooring is integral to the flow of the home! The other issue we had was a tile choice disaster for the splash back. That would't have happened with guidance, and essentially cost us the same as a design consult for the kitchen...).

In a nutshell, if I did it again, I would get advice on my 'big' choices (kitchen and bathroom design, tiles, flooring and light fittings). The rest, like the soft furnishings, with your interest and research, can evolve with your own personal style.

The interior design process isn't cheap but personally I think it's worth every cent and saves you stress and money in the long term (i.e., much less searching, deliberating, making expensive mistakes). If you would like recommendations, drop me a personal message. Good luck!!!