We are in the process of renovating our home, bit by bit, and this laundry room together with the kitchen is our project for this year. We decided to first do the laundry room and learn from our mistakes before we tackle the large kitchen.

Our home is mid-century and we want to honour that through every change that we make to our home, in the hope that the new will seamlessly blend with the old.

Therefore, we decided to stick to dark wood to match all the original joinery and woodwork from the ’50s that is already in the home. This will also follow through in the kitchen. To add an element of fun, we added a pop of green to the bottom cabinets and in true retro style, tiled the work surface with brown kit-kat tiles. We stuck to brass for the hardware to match what we did in the bathrooms. We installed a countertop window to flood the work surface with natural light and to look out at the granadilla trellis on the wall outside (a natural artwork that changes with the seasons).

This room leads off from the kitchen and leads out onto our courtyard, where we have made a vegetable garden and planted olive and lemon trees. This is a long-term project that is coming together bit by bit and will in time allow for all the living areas, and the outside, to be seamlessly connected.

Every surface and item that you see in this room was done by us – from the window frame that my husband built and installed and the parquet flooring that we bought second-hand, glued, sanded and sealed (it is from the old Ritz Hotel) to the cabinetry and even the painting against the wall which I painted myself and my husband then framed.

We spent quite a bit of time on the design to ensure it would work well and hard for our family. We managed to fit in the laundry components (washing machine, tumble dryer and drying rack) and also a dishwashing area (basin, dishwasher, built-in recycling bin). We’ve also incorporated a pull-out drawer for all the pet food, which can be scooped out from the top. The opposite wall has hooks for baskets, shopping bags and kids’ schoolbags. All in all, it ended up being a very practical little space with lots of natural light and personality.

Joinery was completely new to us, hence tackling the laundry room by itself first. We have only worked with solid wood and melamine before, but this time we used veneers that we laminated ourselves, and spray-painted cabinetry, which was also a first. Tiling we are familiar with – but this was the first time that we tiled a countertop. We were nervous but we’re now very happy that we went ahead and did it! It does sometimes pay off to veer away from the norm and try something unique and interesting.