Chel - Kitchen
I like the cubby-style cabinet design here, where the storage almost seems to have doubled above the bench. The all-white finishes settle well inside the kitchen with wooden flooring and a grey island – a balanced melange of soft hues.
36. Location: Balham, UK Design: Imperfect Interiors Features: Matt charcoal cabinetry, subway tiles and a mix of open and closed storage. The resulting design sits comfortably alongside the owner’s collection of furniture. No clean enough with the open shelving?
32. Location: London, UK Designer: Banda Property Features: A bold grey kitchen island and matching cabinetry cleverly delineate the cooking zone in this open-plan space. Too mcuh gret - could do a feature bench in white?
21. Location: Brisbane, Queensland Designer: Claire Stevens Interior Design Features: For the open-plan kitchen in this small Brisbane apartment, the designer opted for a simple black-and-white palette, glossy light-reflecting finishes and plenty of built-in cabinetry to keep clutter at bay.
18. Location: Hampshire, UK Designer: Hobsons Choice Winchester Features: This modern-country farmhouse kitchen boasts fuss-free lines and a simple palette of charcoal and white – the perfect balance for those eye-catching timber beams overhead.
17. Location: Sydney, NSW Designer: Thomas Archer Homes Features: An island unit clad in Quantum Quartz’s Super White Marble, splashes of warm oak, and a medley of greys. A beautifully conceived palette.
14. Location: Sydney, NSW Designer: Stritt Design & Construction Features: White Caesarstone benchtops, dark-stained timber floors and a killer view – we’re loving this contemporary take on classic Hamptons styling.
12. Location: Melbourne, Victoria Designer: mckimm residential design Features: Sleek minimalist lines, oceans of white, and eye-catching metallic ceiling lights. Simply divine. Clean lines - with some timber on the side.
8. Location: Gothenburg, Sweden Designer: Entrance Fastighetsmakleri Features: Soft-grey painted cabinetry, sumptuous flooring, and an industrial-inspired steel-framed glass screen. Beautifully balanced. Grey - not enough contrast but black window screen nice touch.
Glamuzina Architects 7. Location: Auckland, New Zealand Designer: Glamuzina Architects Features: Decorative plywood rafters, sleek handleless cabinetry and a dramatic black kitchen island – it’s a little bit country, a little bit rock ’n’ roll. Too much black - island bench
5. Location: Melbourne, Victoria Designer: AD Design Develop Features: Punches of black in the base of the island unit, light fittings and sink add gravitas to a simple white kitchen… and we can’t go past that gorgeous heavily grained timber floor.
Features: Minimalist lines, lashings of white… and just a splash of colour in those Thonet chairs. Elegant in its restraint.
There are several options for these spaces. If your kitchen is existing and you want to transform the space for better access and functionality, some of these solutions can be retrofitted. The narrowest pull-out pantry can suit a cabinet that is only 138 millimetres wide (internal measurement). The more common types suit 250-millimetre-wide spaces (internal). They provide great functionality because all contents can be easily accessed. These systems are best professionally installed and can be expensive.
option… Transitional Kitchen by A & T Cabinet Makers A & T Cabinet Makers Spaces that are 100 millimetres wide or less are perfectly suited to wine storage, which requires minimal space. If you want something that is a little more versatile, adjustable shelves can give you good storage for books, platters and other bits you might want to store. These solutions might be great, but they don’t use all the available depth. These fridge gaps are generally 500-600 millimetres deep so if you need to make use off this depth, a slide-out system might prove a better use of space.
Spot a fridge gap? If you’ve ever bought a home with a fridge space that doesn’t match your fridge, you’ll most likely end up with a wide gap. Sometimes that gap is large enough to become a good ‘space opportunity’. Most people will squeeze in the broom and possibly an ironing board, but if you want something more permanent and, dare I say, more visually appealing (or concealed), these solutions might be a great option…
Spot a corner nook? This corner nook was given considerable thought before being turned into wine storage. It’s a great idea for any kitchen, butler’s pantry or even a small home bar. Corners can be hard to work with, but here all the space is usable and functional.
Spot a blind corner? These blind corners are always tricky to work with, so why not turn a negative into a positive? Creating a bookcase in an awkward corner gives extra detailing, as well as easy access to cookbooks and other reference materials.
The bookcase and wine storage are great decorative storage features in this small kitchen. They add additional storage and remove items that might otherwise clutter the kitchen.
Spot a narrow nook? The nook may initially seem like a difficult space to use because it’s commonly narrow and (if deep) difficult to access. Many of these spaces, with a little thinking outside the square, can be storage treasures. The joinery around this passageway creates a lovely transition between the kitchen and adjoining room, while creating a great place for cook books and some prized crockery.
Stainless splashback
Decus Interiors Entertaining is serious business in this down-to-earth house. This is reflected in Donohoe Church’s choice of materials, which delivered a home that can easily withstand the boisterous lives of two teenagers and their fun-loving parents. Antique Black granite: SNB Stone; Bassam Fellows Tractor Walnut stools: Living Edge
Mops, brooms, vacuum cleaners… It’s the fiddly bits that can overwhelm a home, so try to create at least one cupboard for these miscellaneous household items. A closet 60 centimetres wide and 40-50 centimetres deep would be ideal. And a height of 160 centimetres should suit most situations. Maximise every centimetre of space by strategically placing hooks and shelving baskets on every available surface, including the door.
Office nook
Another clever option is to anchor the island into the room by extending the floor tiles up the kickboard. This is also a great way to marry form and function: “Tiles are also really practical here,” says O’Donohue. “With feet kicking the island all the time, tiling this area makes it easier to keep clean.” Tip: As with the splashback, you can double the impact of feature tiling on the island by lighting it with some concealed LED strips.
Wild islands Splashbacks aren’t the only place to add extra flavour in the kitchen: more and more designers are opting to use the island kickboard as a decorative canvas. “This is another place to be creative, to add some more texture and flavour into the kitchen,” says O’Donohue. “You can be really daring, but it’s easy to change if you get tired of it.” In this kitchen, the striking black-and-white patchwork tiles echo the wall art and provide the only visual relief from the blocked-out colouring in the rest of the room. The island – visually and literally – takes centre stage.
Simpson and O’Donohue both say that terrazzo-look tiles – already popular in bathroom applications – are slowly migrating into the kitchen. “That sort of cheeky, almost retro look is becoming really big,” says O’Donohue. The modern renditions of this mid-century favourite are playing out in a neutral palette of greys, white and beige – which makes it a perfect match for almost any colour scheme. In terms of size, the larger the tile, the better – from both a practical and aesthetic point of view. Simpson recommends going for 800 x 800 millimetre, 600 x 600 millimetre or 450 x 450 millimetre tiles. The idea is to minimise the number of grout lines and create a more streamlined effect. “Kitchen floors get so much wear, and you’re going to get more messy spills, so the bigger the tile and the less grout there is, the more durable the floor will be,” says O’Donohue.
Flawless floors Floors are, for the most part, neutral canvases from which the rest of your kitchen design can grow. “Today’s floor tile palettes feature neutral tones … they are like paint, where it’s a broad base and you use the splashback to give the kitchen the colour. Tiling the floor is also often an expensive exercise, so while a statement floor might be fun, it’s wiser to consider longevity and to go with a more timeless finish,” says Simpson. Amesbury says industrial-inspired looks are trending for floors, most notably large-format concrete-inspired greys, which are as practical as they are stylish. Keep the look contemporary with a matt rather than polished finish.
5. Wireless phone chargers If you own an electric toothbrush, you may have already had cord-free charging in your home for some time. Wireless energy transfer works via coils of alternating currents and what, for our purposes, is best described as magic. Recent improvements in wireless charging mean you can now purchase pads (basically a thin disc) for as little $20 that you can leave on your desk or bedside table. All you have to do is drop your phone and then wait… two to five hours. Verdict: This purchase is worthwhile if you value drop-and-go convenience highly. The more affordable options will not charge your phone fast, so here’s some advice: look for one that can handle high-speed charging. Now, if only you could find your phone… Price guide: $15-$90
Softer grey contrast with white
Thinking behind the arrangement of furniture The appliances in the kitchen – a black integrated oven and induction stovetop – are designed to give a modern streamlined feel; the same notion applies to the white undermount sink and white kitchen tap.
The wine racks (which are visible through the glass splashback) are matt black nine-bottle wall-mounted wine racks from Howard’s Storage World (no longer available). Beneath the bench that faces into the wine room is a Vintec wine fridge and Husky drinks fridge underneath.
Starting point The wine room, glass splashback (which provides a view to the wine room) and the pool were the main features the clients wanted to highlight, so the kitchen was designed to be streamlined, simple and smart to ensure it didn’t detract from these. But it also had to embody the contemporary style of the home.
4. Build a bench Adding a low built-in bench (or two), say along a fireplace wall, can be a great multi-tasking addition to any living room. A height of 45 centimetres will work for both additional seating and perhaps a low-level home for the TV. You can also pack in useful storage below for logs or any other items you may wish to have to hand but out of sight in order to increase the sense of space.
Seating
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