“The homeowner has a great love of travelling, Morocco being a highlight. They wanted to make their own little Moroccan haven within their home,” says interior designer Sarah Nolen of Birdblack Design, of this recent kitchen renovation. From the teal blue v-groove joinery to the patterned encaustic tile, this kitchen is certainly no wallflower.

Part of a 1960’s brick home located in Wollongong, aside from aesthetic changes, Sarah was employed to create an open-plan living space of the home’s former rabbit warren of rooms. “The existing home lacked a functional layout. It had separate living, kitchen and dining areas typical of the era,” says Sarah who let more light into the home too, courtesy of three new skylights.

The centrepiece of the space, the kitchen joinery combines solid blackbutt timber with v-groove teal polyurethane cabinetry for texture as well as a statement encaustic tile on the splash back and bench top. “Encaustic tiles are popular in Morocco but when selecting the tile, we wanted to reflect the location of the home and introduce some coastal elements,” says Sarah of the the blue and white tiles.

The new kitchen also houses a white ceramic butler’s sink, a custom blackbutt timber pendant light above the kitchen island, a gunmetal sink mixer as well as white Corian benchtops. “We also included open shelving to display our client’s travel treasures,” says Sarah.

With the home’s main laundry on the ground floor, and the kitchen on the second floor, Sarah also designed a little laundry in the kitchen to improve the functionality of the home. “It was ideal to have a secondary laundry area. We achieved this through installing a washing machine under the kitchen bench, along with incorporating a cleaning cupboard within the joinery,” says Sarah.

Adjacent to the kitchen, there’s a lounge and dining area – both of which feature the same teal shade. “They act as art within the space, picking up on the colours featured throughout,” says Sarah of the hand-blown Mark Douglass glass pendant lights that hang in a cluster about the timber dining table.

The custom teal joinery continues in the TV area where a teal velvet upholstered sofa sits covered in neutral cushions. Alongside, a monochrome Moroccan inspired rug helps to break up all the blue.

A matching upholstered bench seat sits nearby; it’s position ideal for taking in the view. “It’s the perfect location to enjoy a morning coffee and breakfast overlooking the escarpment,” says Sarah.

Photography: The Evoke Company | Styling: Jessi Eve

For more on Birdblack Design | Australian kitchen trends: Spring 2019 edition