His childhood home

Location: Ramat HaSharon

Property: a 300 sq.m. house

Owners: a couple in their 50s with three children

Design and Styling: Meital Zimber

Photography: Eran Gur

The homes we grew up in are many times burned into our minds, as a containing, protective fortress full of experiences – a space that welcomes us also as adults. In this case before us, the owner returned to  his childhood home: he renovated his parents' house from the ground up and turned it into a living environment that was precisely tailored to the dimensions, needs and wishes of his own family. Interior designer Meital Zimber, who is responsible for the impressive makeover, takes us through the process

In one of the quiet and pastoral neighborhoods in Ramat Hasharon a spacious house has recently undergone a real transformation. This is the home of a couple in their 50s and their three children, a house that until recently belonged to the husband’s parents.

Following years of renting it out, the house returned to its familiar and loving hands and was now precisely adapted to the needs of the beautiful family he built together with his wife.

ֿ"The years passed, and the parents of the current homeowner decided that it was way too large for them. They rented it out for many years and now, when the lease ended, their son and his wife, who were considering buying a new house at the time, also included his childhood home in the equation and debated whether it would be right to buy and renovate it,"

recalls Interior designer Meital Zimber, who is responsible for the impressive makeover. "Together we examined the advantages and disadvantages of each of the options and chose the second option: the well-known and beloved house was purchased and renovated from the ground up.
This included infrastructure replacement, using advanced systems such as underfloor heating and a solar electricity system." "In the new design, we created a completely different house in which each of their teenage children has its own kingdom – a spacious suite with an attached bathroom.
To this end, we enlarged the basement, where the bedroom suite for one of the boys was designed.
The living floor was completely changed and that is where the couple's master bedroom and their girl’s bedroom suite are currently located. We turned the under-roof floor, which had never been used, into the bedroom suite for their third child.
For this purpose, we added a new staircase and dealt with the sharp roof slopes so that the space is both inviting, functional and pleasant. As part of the new design, two separate study rooms were also built for the couple, who work a lot from home, she being a senior hi-tech director and him a consultant. We designed a huge bedroom suite with a pampering closet and a dreamy shower, we created a laundry and service room and plenty of storage spaces in the different areas."

"The house, which naturally aged over the years, required extensive demolition and construction work: the electrical systems, the plumbing, the air conditioning, the flooring, the aluminum and the carpentry were all designed and rebuilt from scratch. The roof floor is now in use, thanks to a new permanent staircase added.
An English courtyard was added to the basement floor. The structure of the floors was completely changed , except for the public wing where the locations have not changed but their content is all new.
A garden was planted outside the house and fences and gates were replaced. The couple requested underfloor heating on two of the floors and so it was – we designed a roof with solar panels that helps save extensive expenses in heating the large house."

As part of the comprehensive renovation, the glass openings were also significantly expanded and now the connection between the interior and the well-tended garden that surrounds the house is closer than ever. Meanwhile, the original bathrooms also changed their place and new ones were added. "Storage was an important and central parameter and indeed we added a variety of solutions in order to leave the house perfectly organized at every stage of the day. For example, at the entrance to the house we designed a wardrobe closet where you can store coats and bags, which also includes a bench on which you can sit and take off your shoes just before entering.
Adjacent to the storeroom, we created a dedicated room with custom-made carpentry. The cleaning products, the vacuum cleaner, the luggage, the shoes, the animal food and more are stored there."

The new house is characterized by a modern design and clean lines, and light and balanced touches of color that give a place of respect to the green of nature that can be found on the outside: "The lady owner likes purple shade, and it was important to integrate it in a central place. We created a large and significant carpentry unit in the kitchen painted in purple, which we matched with a wooden dining area that brings a feeling of warmth and homeliness," explains Zimber.

"In general, the touches of color in this house are very moderate.
The overall look is mostly quiet and neutral, and the colors are reflected in some of the furniture details and accessories. The central sofa is upholstered in a delicate and light green shade that gives softness to the space, and pleasant shades of pink that balance the purple color. We added elements in iron and wood that make the space quiet, balanced and calm. The living floors are paved with natural oak parquet. For the public space we chose thin and refined iron bookcases in which we combined decorative accessories and items collected by family members over the years."