Kitchen, Pantry, Laundry & WIR Renovation: Glen Iris

The Brief

Just in time for their first Christmas in their new home, there's something particularly special about a renovation that delivers a family into their dream space before the holidays. This Glen Iris whole-house renovation was exactly that: an extensive project spanning the kitchen, butler's pantry, laundry, hallway joinery, and master walk-in robe, carried out in close collaboration with the clients and the trades teams at JW Hansen Plumbing and JG & Son Home Improvements. The home's period character, its ornate cornices, high ceilings, and original timber floors - set the design challenge: create something contemporary and considered that honours rather than ignores the bones of the house.

The Design

The material palette is one of the most considered and cohesive in the Axis Kitchens portfolio. A custom framed Tesrol 502 door profile runs throughout every space, finished in either colour-matched Polytec Evergreen or Dulux Buff It Half in matt polyurethane; two tones that shift subtly between the kitchen and pantry and the laundry, giving each room its own mood while remaining unmistakably part of the same design family. Polytec Tasmanian Oak Woodmatt appears as feature doors, open shelving, and floating shelves throughout, its warm grain providing a natural counterpoint to the deep, sophisticated greens that anchor the palette.

The hardware tells its own story. The clients sourced their own handles, carefully curated mix of ABI Beta and Rappana in Brushed Copper for the kitchen and pantry, ABI Pedra in Travertine for the walk-in robe, and Lo & Co Isla in Aged Brass for the hallway and linen cupboards. The result is a home where the hardware shifts in warmth and character from room to room, each selection perfectly attuned to the space it serves. It's exactly the kind of personal investment in the details that elevates a renovation from beautiful to extraordinary.

Caesarstone Cloudburst Concrete runs through every benchtop in the home, kitchen, pantry, laundry; its cool, textured surface providing a sophisticated foundation for the warm greens and timber tones above. Hafele Loox LED dimmable strip lighting illuminates the kitchen and pantry with a warm, adjustable glow, while a Hafele Le-Mans II corner unit, Comfort II pull-out, and Euro Cargo pull-out twin bin ensure the kitchen's practical demands are met with equal intelligence.

The butler's pantry is a standout space in its own right. Floor-to-ceiling Tasmanian Oak open shelving wraps the upper walls, lit from below by LED strip lighting that casts a warm amber glow across the room's beautifully organised contents. Evergreen cabinetry below and Caesarstone Cloudburst Concrete benchtops complete a pantry that is as pleasurable to spend time in as it is functional.

The laundry takes the Evergreen palette in a darker, more dramatic direction - deep forest green cabinetry against warm terracotta-toned tiles and a Tasmanian Oak floating shelf, with Brushed Copper tapware tying back to the kitchen hardware beautifully. The hallway joinery is finished in Dulux Buff It Half with Aged Brass Lo & Co handles; clean, calm, and perfectly suited to the period corridor it inhabits. The master walk-in robe, entirely in Tasmanian Oak Woodmatt with ABI Pedra Travertine handles, is a warm, gallery-like space that connects directly to the ensuite beyond - a considered sequence of rooms that makes the master suite feel genuinely luxurious.

The Result

A home delivered in time for Christmas and built to be enjoyed for decades. Every room in this Glen Iris renovation reflects the care, creativity, and deep material knowledge that the Axis Kitchens team brings to every project, and the clients' own contribution of sourcing their hardware gives the finished home a personal quality that no specification sheet could ever capture. A truly outstanding result.