Brief: A light, bright and colourful 1959 weatherboard home in a quiet cul-de-sac to raise our children.

“She was an adventurer at heart, but oh how she loved drinking this tea from this mug in this chair, oh how she loved to be home” – Unknown

In 2007, while pregnant with my eldest son, I began to document the renovation of my new home on my design blog, ish and chi. What began as a diary to keep track of the progress, morphed into a collection of projects, tours, interviews and launched my design career following four years of study in Interior Design and Decoration.

What started as a rundown weatherboard that was classified as ‘almost satisfactory to live in’ is now a bright home playing with a mix of styling, pattern, colour to create a home that is unique for us while exploring interesting combinations – Moroccan-inspired, Hollywood-Regency, Mid Century, Vintage, Contemporary styles mixed together to give a look that is very much ‘us’ and suits this old house.

As our family has grown in size and as our needs have changed so has our home. Updates have been made to the kitchen, various iterations exist of the living space and our boys bedrooms have and will evolve from nurseries, toddler rooms, and boys room that can grow with them into their teenage and young adult years. Our home continues to evolve as we do and we take great pleasure in sharing the journey.

“Designing your own home is a challenge between getting it right, getting it finished and craving a playground to try out new ideas. For this reason, I consider our home to always be a work in progress.”

– Vivian Panagos, designer and client