A laundry to love: style meets practicality in this Mediterranean-inspired makeover

The transformation

Homeowners: Kendall Macdowell and Adam Abdy (@KendallMac)

Location: Noosa Hinterland, Queensland

The project: Mediterranean farmhouse laundry renovation

The budget: $12,000

Kendall’s top tip for renovators: “One: live in your home for at least a year, spending time to work out how you use different rooms, how the sun moves seasonally, and figuring out which views to embrace and which to block. And two: ask yourself how you want to feel when you’re in a space. You’ll be spending time in and looking at it every day, so if you don’t feel that ‘aaaaah!’ when you walk in, change it up!”

The opportunity

The words “laundry” and “joy” aren’t often connected – in most homes, it’s a space used mainly by one person, getting sudsy with stubborn stains on the daily. In Kendall Macdowell and Adam Abdy’s house, jokes Kendall, that person is her – “and since I like to feel joy and go ‘man, this is nice!’ in the spaces I’m spending time, laundries (and kitchens!) always get extra TLC. It lightens the load a bit, pardon the pun!”

The laundry of this acreage property was the last room renovated, bringing cohesion to the whole home. “Originally it was done in a 90s colonial style – terracotta tiles, lots of salmon and aqua features – while the rest of the house had been redone in an elegant Mediterranean farmhouse style.”

Kendall says she’s the “practical one who picks furnishings that look good but also work for the family,” while Adam is the “visionary” who sketches designs. “I’ll walk through the space and say, ‘I want this here, that there, a window here … And a see-through door that lets natural light stream in.’ Adam then draws up my ideas, adding textural perspective.”

Sightlines and that “wow” feeling

Making the most of a view is core to Kendall’s approach – as is cohesion created through sightlines and re-use of striking materials.

A key feature of the laundry makeover (and one that always gets comments!) are reclaimed European roof tiles, laid in a herringbone pattern. “We have these in the mudroom at the front door – when you walk in and see them, you then look up to see the laundry directly across the house with the same tiles, and a view of acreage through the glass-paned door. That cohesion was part of the plan and is a beautiful way to add warmth.”

“It’s hard yakka!”

Thirty-seconds “from go to whoa” reels may make D.I.Y. renos “look easy”, says Kendall – “but the bit between demolition and final product is hard yakka!” This laundry renovation was even tougher: Adam had just had a bilateral hip replacement, so Kendall tackled most of the grunt work herself. “Adam was basically just pointing with his crutches to tell me what to do,” she laughs. She first removed the sink, benchtop and existing cabinetry, selling them on Facebook Marketplace. “We’re good at repurposing or selling existing pieces to create a bit of extra cash for a couple of tins of paint or tools.” Then, she jackhammered the tiles and glue off the floor: “the worst job in the entire world! But it was good training – I ended up doing it in our bathrooms too. I became very good at jackhammering!”

Next, the plasterboard, leaving beams exposed. “Adam may have crutched back in at this point to help with the new frames and walls – we chose shiplap cladding on the left-hand side as a feature when you walk in.”

An immovable bulkhead was clad in VJ panels and painted white. It caused the oak shelf with its hanging rack to end up a tad too low, says Kendall: “any long pants or skirts don’t dry well – the things you learn!”

Kaboodle cabinetry in Alpine – Macaron came next, with an oak benchtop. Because of Adam’s hip, a chippy friend helped install the cabinetry. Plumbing was left in space, but a plumber installed the butler’s sink.

The floor was tiled, followed by painting of shiplap, skirting boards, door, architraves, cornices, ceiling, and walls. Kendall stained the benchtop, caulked with silicone, and installed the floating shelf and rack. Styling was kept simple; “Terracotta-coloured hand towels, pots and an old Grecian urn filled with olive leaves.”

Lessons learned

Kendall recommends these tops:

• Measure thrice! “We used blue tape to map out exactly where we wanted the cabinetry to go and made sure we were 200 per cent happy before measuring and ordering.”
• Be patient. “I pulled the painters tape from the cornices too early: you spend so much time taping and then layering the paint, so to mess it up is extremely frustrating.”
• Rethink timber for wet work. “It weathered terribly due to water exposure and the temperature and humidity changes in Queensland, which caused the timber to move. I love wood, but I’ll opt for a stone benchtop in the future.”
• Invest wisely. “We spend money on things that have a ‘wow’ factor – like the floor tiles. And because we always invest in a good tiler, the tiles not only look nice, but are also laid beautifully: no dodgy bits that don’t line up properly! If tiling is not your forte, it will show. A tiny piece of wall won’t cost you a huge amount, but the result will make you so happy you budgeted for it.”

For the love of D.I.Y.

This wasn’t Kendall and Adam’s first D.I.Y. rodeo – they love turning ordinary houses into spaces imbued with a sense of homecoming. “Once we realised that we could pool our skills and achieve renos on a reduced budget, we went, ‘why not?’ Our style has evolved over time: we’ve settled on this classic European farmhouse style – it’s warm, it’s inviting, and it’s so nice to sit in the space and feel like you’re in the middle of France … Like going on a trip without getting on a plane. D.I.Y’s a labour of love. You have to want to do it, or you’ll fall out of love with it pretty quickly!”

See more from Kendall and Workshop

To see more projects and find laundry inspiration like Kendall and Adam’s Mediterranean farmhouse laundry renovation ideas visit the Bunnings Workshop community.