Our Little Big House featured in The Design Files.

“This family home in Ashburton, Melbourne is nicknamed ‘Little Big House’ both for its deceiving size and playfully integrated children’s features…

…Hidden from the street, the house serves as a secluded haven for a family of four, where the priorities of parents and children take equal billing.”

See it Here

Maike Design lounge room. Bench steat and sheer curtains. Blue painted walls

See our Little Big House featured in Inside Out.

“Mairead Murphy’s clients already had an architectural concept in mind, and town planning permission sorted when the interior designer was asked to work on this new build in the Melbourne suburb of Ashburton six years ago…”

See our Meow House featured in Habitus Living.

“Maike Design has considered the specific needs of felines and their owners in this thoughtfully reconfigured Melbourne home.

“From the street, Meow House still looks like a slightly tidier version of the original house, which I love,” says Mairead Murphy, founder of Melbourne-based Maike Studio.

“It’s not a highly decorative or traditionally charming house but we wanted to just let it be the little orange house that it is … in all its frumpy, orange glory. But once you head through the front door it is an entirely different home.” … “

See it here.

Maike Design kitchen and dining room. Open timber shelves, indoor plants, brass pendant light, teracotta tiles, timber floors.

The story behind our Next Door Houses was covered in At Home magazine

“Tiny weatherboard houses once dotted Australia’s inner city and suburban streets, but as our hunger for bigger, and supposedly better, homes has increased, many of these so-called workers’ cottages have been demolished to make way for shiny, new structures, or extended so that they utilise every inch of the often sizeable blocks they were originally built on. This is something that has long troubled Melbourne-based illustrator and interior designer Mairead Murphy, who completed a Masters thesis on the topic.” 

See it here.

Maike Design backyard. Charcoal painted weatherboard and cedar cladding. Black painted pergola and grape vines. Concrete pavers in lawn

Our Meow House had a lovely write-up in Hunter and Folk

“Located in Fairfield, close to Melbourne’s CBD, Meow House was an original 1960s home full of charm and character, yet unfortunately the floor plan was not functional for its owners.

The family turned to Maike Design to transform the interior so that it was more open, allowed for family gatherings and also contained spaces and holes for their beloved indoor cats!” 

See it here.

Maike Design lounge room. Timber shelving, indoor plants. Boucle chair and ottoman.
Maike Design Bedroom with timber bedhead. Teracotta Linen and wool blanket

Our Garden House had a lovely write-up in Dwell Magazine

” The old saying that “two halves make a whole” is a fitting motto for one of Maike Design’s latest projects. The interior design practice recently helped a family of four in Malvern East, a suburb of Melbourne, renovate and reimagine their California-style bungalow while introducing a new extension. “Rather than try to integrate the new and the old, we decided to create a design with two distinct parts,” says Maike Design founder Mairead Murphy. ” 

See it here.

Maike Design garden connection. White bricks and black frame
Maike Design renovated Californian Bungalow and extension with beautiful garden

Our Garden House had a lovely write-up in Hunter and Folk

” Melbourne design studio Maike Design has gained a reputation for their clever approach to heritage home renovations, creating bright and functional spaces tailored to each individual site.

Their latest project, Garden House, in Malvern East, Victoria, is no exception. The original heritage Californian bungalow house has been renovated and reworked using its inherent solidity and darkness to create gentle, calm and enclosed private spaces.”

See it here.

Maike Design garden connection. White bricks and black frame
Maike Design renovated Californian Bungalow and extension with beautiful garden

We love our Garden House project and are so happy to see it featured on The Design Files.

Maike Design are a Melbourne design studio who’ve gained a reputation for their clever approach to heritage home renovations, creating bright and functional spaces completely tailored to each individual site.

Their latest project, Garden House, showcases this very approach, comprising a sympathetic renovation of a brick California bungalow, alongside a new north-facing pavilion. The original house has been reworked to create calm and enclosed private spaces, while the pavilion is as much a part of the garden as it is the house. ” 

See it here.

Maike Design garden connection. Kitchen and Dining room. White bricks and black frame

Thrilled to see Next Door House 2 featured on The Design Files.

” Director of Maike Design Mairead Murphy recognises post-war ‘austerity houses’ as an unappreciated element of Melbourne’s architectural history. ‘These post-war houses are modest and small, but they were the backdrop to a period of such optimism and change in Melbourne’s history,’ she says. ‘I think if you understand their historical context it is hard not to see their charm.’ ” 

See it here.

Maike Design dark teal bedroom opening onto private courtyard. Linen sheets and artwork.