Beauty and lifestyle content creator Sam Mauvis has turned a custom home extension into her dedicated sanctuary.

Mauvis lives in Gauteng’s East Rand with her husband, Emile, and their two children.

“It’s very much a busy family home, so having a little corner of it where I can close the door and have some quiet is definitely a luxury,” Mauvis says.

The family bought their home in 2018 and spent six months renovating before moving in, though Mauvis admits that they have never really stopped renovating.

“Every year since then we’ve tackled another area,” she says. “Our home has evolved with our family rather than being something we finished all at once, which I think is part of what makes it feel so personal.”

Affectionately called the beauty room, Mauvis’ purpose-built space serves as a dressing room, filming studio, office and private retreat.

“We decided in July last year to build it,” Mauvis says. “I had a lot of special content coming up and desperately needed a proper space to work and film from.

“I had always made sure everyone else in our home had a space that felt like theirs,” she says. “My husband has his garage as his outlet, and our children have their playroom. At some point, I realised I wanted that too – somewhere that was mine.”

Designing for function and style

The extension was designed from scratch, allowing Mauvis to customise the ceiling height, layout and storage.

“I knew I wanted a very feminine space, but I also didn’t want to build something beautiful in photographs and completely impractical to use.”

“I use the room for so many different things; every bit of space needed to earn its keep. I wanted enough storage for beauty products, clothes and shoes, space to film, somewhere to do my admin and somewhere to get ready. But if I was going to spend so much of my time in there, I also wanted to walk in and think, ‘I love this room’.”

The beauty room features white and warm beige walls, gold finishes and pink accents. The showstopper is a glamorous chandelier.

Mauvis describes the aesthetic as ‘chilled, with a pinch of bougie and a little farmhouse thrown in’.

To maximise space, a sliding barn door with a large mirror was installed instead of a traditional door. Corner cupboards were fitted for shoe and dress storage.

Mauvis also repurposed two large kitchen cabinets rather than installing full built-in cabinetry immediately. “When we renovated the kitchen, I no longer needed them for crockery and glassware, so instead of getting rid of them, I incorporated them into the beauty room with my dressing table and a countertop.”

Family heritage and personal touches

The centrepiece of the room is a dressing table passed down through four generations.

“It originally belonged to my great-grandmother and was then passed down to my grandmother,” Mauvis says. “I have memories of being four or five years old, sitting at that dressing table and playing with my grandmother’s makeup, so there is something incredibly full-circle about it now sitting in my own beauty room.”

The heirloom was updated with white paint and gold handles to match the modern interior.

The room also houses handwritten notes, event mementoes and a digital photo frame displaying family memories. “There are sentimental pieces everywhere,” says Mauvis.

She encourages others to set aside dedicated personal spaces, regardless of size or budget.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be an entire beauty room,” she says. “It could be a dressing table, a reading corner or a desk. We put so much thought into creating spaces for everybody else in our homes that sometimes we forget we’re allowed to create somewhere that feels like ours too.”

Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel.

Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal.