Beautiful In Blue

A small, dark kitchen and separate lounge were converted into a bright and breezy open-plan living area.

- Beatrice Moore-Nothnagel

After living in our house for 17 years, it was about time!” says mom-of-four Talia Bothawhen describing the conversion of the dingy old kitchen in their Jo’burg home into a beautiful open-plan space.

“We started our family as a young couple and now we are six – the small divided spaces just weren’t working anymore,” she explains. “We live in a house in one of the old mining areas of Johannesburg South and the rooms are rather small… It took a long time, but we finally decided to demolish some walls and create a more functional living area for our family.”

And in the true spirit of the Fix it with Flair competition, Talia and her IT wiz husband Nick got stuck in themselves. “The small rooms weren’t the only problem,” Nick recalls. “Every time you touched the hot water tap in the bathroom, you’d feel a slight electrical shock. We had to rewire the entire house as part of our kitchen revamp.”