There undoubtedly comes a time in many people’s lives when the family sanctuary, once so beautifully full and refreshingly familiar, becomes strangely unbefitting. The endless noise of children’s chaos fades and metre upon square metre of emptiness suddenly appears, now conveniently free for limitless storage. Such sentiments would surely hold resonance for the clients of Jewel House, who, after sharing their generously sized North Melbourne terrace with their five daughters for some twenty-five years, decided to make the move and downsize to a smaller, single-storey Victorian terrace in Melbourne’s inner-city suburb of Carlton. But with two-and-a-half decades’ worth of hoarding, it became apparent that their much smaller residence would need some adjustment to be comfortably transformed into a suite for two. They decided to build the renovation themselves and sought advice from Karen Abernethy Architects to help realize their vision.