Facing a rural, open landscape of strawberry fields in Even Yehuda stands a four-level, 250-square-meter, two-family house, designed and built by the interior designer Keren Meir For a couple of parents and their three children. For Meir, the project is also another chapter in a long-standing relationship with the family. “This is the third house I’ve planned and designed for the family, and the relationship between us has long gone beyond a professional definition,” she says. “Every time, every few years, they turn to me and ask that the new house be ‘like the last one,’ and each time a different house is born, more precise and deeper.”

Ofri Paz | STANNEL

The new house is part of a residential complex where the houses are similar in appearance, but Meir took advantage of the opportunity to make extensive tenant changes to adapt the interior layout to the family’s needs. The new design created a separation between the public spaces and the private areas, with a children’s floor, a basement used for entertainment and family activities, and an upper floor dedicated entirely to the parents. The design language was formed around light shades, natural materials and meticulous details, alongside a decision to invest in elements that affect the living experience over time.

The master suite, which spans the entire top floor and overlooks the fields, was designed as a private space that combines a bedroom, bathroom, and open closet. The bedroom area and bathroom are separated by a low wall clad in warm-toned stone, topped by a glass partition in a thin black metal frame, which allows for the feeling of openness and the passage of light between the spaces. Against the wall stands a double bed, model Hollandia’s New Impero, upholstered in cream-colored fabric, with a scalloped headboard and thin dark legs, which give it a light, almost floating appearance, and echo the metal frame of the partition. The bed blends in with the light parquet flooring, natural textiles, and subdued color scheme of the suite, while sheer curtains that stretch from wall to wall filter the daylight and create a subtle play of light and shadow.

“In a home that is all about quiet, gentleness, and quality that is felt every day, the bed is the most important piece of furniture: it is the place where each day begins and ends,” explains Meir. “Just like in the rest of the house, the principle here was to invest in what is felt through touch and use, and not just what is seen.” In line with this concept, Dutch beds were chosen for all the bedrooms in the house, and all were upgraded with Tempur mattresses, with the desire to provide all family members with a quality and comfortable sleeping experience.

The bathroom continues the design language of the suite, with warm-toned stone cladding, an integral sink, a dark wood cabinet and delicate black hardware. The open closet room maintains the same clean lines, with light wood fronts with arched embossments and a tall mirror with an arched edge, which stands in the center of the space and is anchored between the floor and ceiling, and also serves as a sculptural element in the room.

The ground floor is the public space, designed as an open space that includes a living room, kitchen, and dining area. One of the significant decisions in the design process was to expand the original openings and add windows and exits to the outside, in order to take advantage of the rural landscape surrounding the house. Wide glass walls connect the living room to the balcony and garden, bringing in natural light and blurring the boundary between inside and outside. The large natural stone-colored floor tiles create a uniform base, on which a layer of furniture in light tones was built: a white modular sofa, two light leather swivel armchairs with dark bases, wooden side tables, and a glass coffee table. The living room wall was designed as an architectural carpentry element that combines smooth surfaces with rounded edges, open shelves in a dark wood finish, and a long, floating sideboard. Thin black lighting tracks and sand-colored curtains complete the look.

Alongside the design choices, emphasis was placed on creating a space that would meet the family’s needs for routine and entertaining. “A family of five who loves to entertain needs a home that works hard every day and still feels relaxed,” explains Meir. Accordingly, the dining area includes a large, inviting table, soft-toned chairs, and round, floating lighting fixtures that give it presence without weighing down the space. The kitchen, which is used by the family on a daily and intensive basis, was designed as an integral part of the public space. Metallic brown facades blend with natural stone-look work surfaces, and high joinery hides the electrical systems and appliances. In the center stands a wide island used for food preparation, seating, and family gatherings, while open niches with hidden lighting add depth to the joinery.

The material palette chosen for the house is based on shades of cream, sand, beige and warm gray, combined with wood, stone and measured touches of black. The choice of finishing materials was made in an attempt to balance a luxurious look with the project budget, and to invest mainly in elements whose quality is felt in everyday use. “The guiding principle was luxury in the quiet and profound sense of the word: not to ‘scatter luxury’, but to build it from light, materials, proportions and precision,” explains Meir. Within this framework, the flooring, cladding, parquet and sanitary ware were selected from Negev Ceramics, with whom the designer also worked in the two previous houses she designed for the family.

The children’s floor includes a suite for a girl and two bedrooms for the boys, designed in classic, monochromatic tones. Meir chose a clean, timeless language, with the idea of rooms that will be able to accompany the children in the years to come, as they grow and their needs change. The rooms incorporate Hollandia beds from the New Impero and Elisir models, characterized by elegant and classic lines. Model Elixir Combining a gently curved headboard and high legs, both models fit into the subdued color palette chosen for the rooms.

On the same floor is also one of the most personal spaces in the house – the music room, which is used as a study at certain times and as a space for creativity and disconnection at other times. Music has a significant place in family life, and in the two previous houses that Meir designed, a dedicated space was already allocated for it. The carpentry in the room was designed specifically to display musical instruments and integrate storage solutions, while taking into account acoustics and creating a pleasant environment. “It’s a space that brings emotional depth to the house and tells a very personal story about the residents,” says Meir.

The basement floor was designed as an independent unit that includes a study, guest room, children’s living room, kitchenette, shower and storage areas. The division allows for comfortable entertaining, while at the same time giving the children a separate area for gathering and entertainment, without sacrificing privacy in the rest of the house.

The connection to the outdoors continues in the garden, where a paved terrace, an outdoor dining area, and a swimming pool surrounded by lush vegetation were designed. Adding the pool was one of the most complex challenges in the project, due to the need to deal with existing water holes and dictated height differences. The chosen solution allows the pool to integrate into the garden space, where the vegetation was specially adapted by the Magic Garden Nursery. Together with the wide openings in the living room, the result is a living environment where the view and light are an integral part of the architecture and design.

Interior design | Keren Meir Interior Planning and Design
Photography | Maor Moyal
Styling for photos | Sivan Hatal

About the firm | Keren Meir Interior Planning and Design
Interior designer Keren Meir founded her office in 2010. The office plans and designs private homes, comprehensive renovations, offices and commercial spaces, and also specializes in designing clinics. Meir’s work is characterized by quiet luxury, clean, bright and warm spaces, and the use of natural materials, light and precise proportions. “Getting to know people is the starting point. I want anyone who enters the house to see who lives in it,” says Meir, who believes in precise investment in quality and timeless materials and details, which combine aesthetics with quality that is felt in everyday life.