BEST DESIGN
A kitchen had never before occupied the front of this villa so it was important that this bespoke design should look as if it had always been there
Anji Foster has something of the gypsy about her. Not only was the Wellington real-estate agent born in Japan (her mother and father were teaching English there), she has also spent time travelling around New Zealand in a house bus and estimates she has lived in 30 homes so far. “My husband, Jason, and I tend to move every two years,” she says. “Our daughter, Bella, is 15 but she’s already lived in 15 houses!”
The family’s current abode, a 150-squaremetre, four-bedroom villa high on Mt Victoria, is Anji’s favourite, not least because she sold it to the previous owners in 2012. “We were renting nearby and although I really wanted to buy it back then, it wasn’t in our price range,” she says. Two years later Anji was on the hunt for a property for a client. “I stopped to chat to the owners and asked if they’d be interested in selling.” They were, but this time around the stars aligned for Anji to buy it. “It feels like we were supposed to be here,” she says.
THE KITCHEN
Despite Anji’s sense of a destiny fulfilled, the house still needed a rethink. “The layout didn’t work,” she says. “The kitchen was at the shady rear of the house, while the afternoon sun and city views were in the living space at the front.”
The couple knew they would have to flip the spaces around for the home to work for them, so Anji drew up plans to move the kitchen to the front where it would share space with a cosy living room. At the back, a formal dining, office and living area would be created to open onto the sheltered rear courtyard.
“For the kitchen, I wanted a space that looked as though it had always been there,” says Anji. “I see a lot of kitchens but wanted something a little different.” Helping to translate this idea into a design was Wellington architect Sam Martin, from Foundation Architecture, and Pete’s Joinery in Wairarapa.
Anji opted for Shaker-style cupboards which were meant to be matte black to contrast with the reflective black floorboards and white walls painted by the previous owners.
“The cupboards are the same colour as the bookshelves in the front living room. But when the bookcases were being installed, I realised they were actually a dark grey. However, it’s a slight mistake that’s turned out for the best, because the contrasting shades work well.”
Cupboards on the adjacent wall help to disguise the rangehood and provide muchneeded storage, as do a series of floating shelves covered by sliding glass panels. “The builders had a bit of a challenge working out how to secure the floating shelves, but we got there in the end,” Anji says.
While the couple chose hard-wearing stainless steel for the food preparation area of their kitchen, they wanted marble for the servery. After a lengthy hunt, they finally discovered a slab of Italian marble which had started life in a showroom. “We had to remove some of the fence palings to get it inside,” says Anji. “I was terrified it would be dropped or chipped so I refused to be here when they installed it!”
“JUST BECAUSE YOUR BUILDER HASN’T DONE SOMETHING BEFORE DOESN’T MEAN IT CAN’T BE DONE”
MEET + GREET
Anji Foster (real-estate salesperson and co-owner), Jason Lowe (business consultant), Bella and James, plus Jock the miniature schnauzer.