Bright with blue hues
My favourite space A colourful Wellington kitchen nurtures a creative family - and inspires the neighbours with a changing window display.
The colourful kitchen and dining area at Charlotte and Jamie Schaefer’s Wellington home is a showcase for the couple’s creativity, with ever-changing decorations by Charlotte, which passersby admire from the roadside, and artwork and furniture designed by Jamie.
It didn’t always look like this. When Charlotte and Jamie bought their home, built in 1905, it was in a ‘‘terrible state’’. Once a doctor’s surgery, it had more recently been rented out to students.
There were worms coming out of the skirting boards and rats living under the toilet. ‘‘But it had space and potential,’’ remembers Charlotte. Jamie thought the house looked haunted, but it had room for the large family they wanted (they now have four children) and scope for renovations.
Those renovations started as soon as they moved in, the couple working one room at a time, often taking Fridays off work and working three days straight.
But when Charlotte was expecting Molly, it was time to call in the builders. A few tough months with a new baby and no bathroom was all worth it, when the lean-to and conservatory out back were replaced with an openplan living space.
What was your vision for this space?
A light-filled space complementing the energy, action and playfulness that comes from a family of six.
Also important was a certain level of adaptability. We can be guilty of boredom so need to plan a level of flexibility in our spaces. When we thought about the space, we imagined everything from lazy winter weekends watching movies to summer pizza parties for 60.
What are the key features of this space?
Our dining table. In fact it’s two tables - both rectangular - that can work together as one long unit, a square or two separate tables.
We designed and built it with a mixture of chairs and benches to accommodate all needs. A number of meals have involved 20 adults sitting around it. The built-in banquette is also key; it’s fixed but it does give flexibility in that it can be used for storage, for lounging or as seating for dining.
What was the inspiration for the nook?
The nook was designed to get maximum seating while taking up the least amount of footprint.
I have always loved the idea of creating dining nooks using banquettes and this is a great way to achieve that when we want it. It is currently used for Tv/movie watching, card games, afternoon naps, reading and coffee breaks.
When we want to separate that area from the rest of the kitchen we just pull the curtain and two distinct spaces are created. Perfect for when we are hosting a crowd and the children are ready to wind down with a movie.
How did you choose your colour scheme?
We have fallen in love with blue, so white and blue are key colours. Ours is a light blue mirroring the sky and because it’s nature-based it can be used with a number of different colour schemes.
At the moment we are loving green, pink, orange ... Uplifting colours.