A Sunshine-Yellow Kitchen Is the Antidote to Beige in This Malta Home

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A Sunshine-Yellow Kitchen Is the Antidote to Beige in This Malta Home

published now

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“Before I got my hands dirty, this place was honestly a mess, in need of a lot of love and energy,” begins Mark Strijbosch, the founder of the independent surf magazine, BOMBA Surf, of the 1367-square-foot home he purchased and renovated.

Credit: Sandra Regalado

The G-plan bar trolley in the living room is thrifted, and the sofa is from IKEA. There's a table from KREA in the living room. The chairs are from BigMat in Malta. "The archway became the biggest internal debate," Mark writes. "I hated it. Wanted it gone, and it made me so so sad, almost to the point of regretting the purchase. At first, I wanted to remove it completely. I hated the deep, dated bevelled lines and thought it made the space feel heavy and awkward. But instead of ripping it out, I softened it. Filling in those hard grooves and reshaping the edges changed everything. Suddenly, it felt less like a leftover feature and more like a deliberate architectural moment. That was the most stressful decision in the house, funnily enough. Now it is one of my favourite parts. It taught me that not every original feature needs to be erased. Sometimes it just needs a little surgery, a softer hand, and a chance to belong in the new story."

“Electricity and plumbing lines ran outside the walls, dirtied patterned tiles, dark touches, water stains, and no flow. The sense of neglect made it sometimes hard to see the blurry vision I had for this house, but stripping it all back and re-starting it enabled me to keep the dream alive. It is never easy, but always satisfying,” continues Mark, who shares his home with son Pedro.

Credit: Sandra Regalado

The new kitchen was designed, built, and assembled by Domestica. Mark says the old kitchen was "rotten to the core" and unfortunately "unsusable." The new kitchen was a tiny living room and the arch was closed off. "I moved the kitchen there to be the heart of the home. And adding the yellow makes the space feel awake," Mark writes. "My son’s obsession with the LA Lakers helped in the color choice. I was torn between pink, pistachio, and yellow — and he wants a giant Lakers logo on the fridge, of course!"

Mark says the kitchen remodel took four months because he needed to maximize a tiny space. "I added high cabinets, which for me is major, as I don’t really like the idea of hanging cabinets. However, having them is brilliant for storage in this small space," he writes.

He says every single square inch needed to be renovated. “It was as simple as tearing it down before building it back up. Stripped down to the bare bones. New electricity circuits for a modern sense of living, new bathrooms and plumbing, a new space for the kitchen, polished tiles, all new plaster and paint, new rooftop tiling,” he explains of everything that needed to be done. And it all needed to be done on a strict budget, too.

Credit: Sandra Regalado

The first thing Mark did was work on the home’s layout, “putting the kitchen in the heart of it all, and opening up the closed iconic arch.” Next, he installed wooden floors upstairs to “offset the traditional patterns on the lower floors.”

Credit: Sandra Regalado

"The design process was instinctive rather than overly planned. I knew I wanted the home to feel personal, colourful, and collected, with surf energy running through traditional Maltese bones," Mark writes. "I run a local surf brand and magazine called BOMBA Surf Magazine, so having a space for that to happen is important, so you’ll see lots of surf boards and fins dotted around the house — it is a functional and fun design aesthetic for me, as the surfboards to me are huge canvases, and each one is painted by me."

“I wanted to bring out the colors, and introduce new ones. I grew tired of the gentrified look of beiges, grays, and sands. I’m over it. Life needs more color, and this little casita feels so alive and vibrant today. To think of the state it was in pre-me is a massive contrast,” he writes.

Credit: Sandra Regalado

"I have these gorgeous old shop signs, made with silver leaf and hand-painted typefaces," Mark explains of the oldest thing in his home. "They probably date to before the Second World War. I absolutely adore them; a piece of Maltese colonial and artistic history, total craftsmanship."

The home is a mix of Mark’s personality, but also some of the building’s history. Mark describes the home as a “solitary maisonette, with townhouse features. One section was built in the late ’40s. Then it was expanded in the ’90s, and renovated in 2025/26 by me.”

Credit: Sandra Regalado

Mark calls this home his pastel palace: “a layered mix of surf energy, traditional Maltese living, and things collected with feeling rather than rules. Artworks by close friends sit alongside thrifted furniture, colour, pattern, and the occasional gloriously odd find,” he writes.

Credit: Sandra Regalado

Mark polished old and dirty tiles to bring the home back to life.

This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
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