When asked to design a kitchen for their holiday home, the clients brief was to modernise the kitchen as part of a total refurb to this very dark, dated early 1980’s waterfront home. The success of this project has been due to the designer / client relationship. The result being an exciting combined social living environment and contemporary kitchen for the clients and their family to enjoy. This design recently won a HIGHLY COMMENDED Award at the NKBA (National Kitchen and Bathroom Association) Awards Evenning.

Key Design Features and Benefits

• Breakfast bar seating and also the need for a dining table of reasonable size for entertaining family and friends posed a challenge when space planning this square shaped room. It was overcome when the table and island were incorporated into one.
• With the amazing beachfront view it also meant the breakfast bar seating could face the adjacent living area, the beach, dining table and the cook. The breakfast bar doubles as a servery for food when entertaining larger numbers of guests, and discreetly incorporated underneath are 300mm deep cupboards for extra storage.
• Work surfaces in textured stainless steel were selected for the ability to weld in the sink for ease of cleaning, durability, non-porous and having a semi industrial feel.
• The dark stained oak veneer cabinetry with concealed handles was chosen for its rich warm colour, and to contrast with the light floor and wall colour. The woodgrain runs horizontally emphasising the clean contemporary lines of the kitchen design.
• To make the most of the stunning beach view, interaction with guests and to see the children while cooking at the hob, a toughened mirror was installed as the splashback, which reflects the colour of the water and linking this to the turquoise blue of the squab.
• The use of drawers and pullout units have been designed to maximise storage and are equipped with non-slip matting and soft closing mechanisms for user friendliness.
• The custom made dining table in the same dark stain as the kitchen cabinetry forms the central visual point of this area, and can easily seat up to ten people.
• The vibrant striped back squab has been made using an outdoor fabric from Mokum, and injects some fun and colour into the interior colour palette. The cream base squab in vinyl was specified for total ease of cleaning and creates visual relief from the dark stain. The Ray & Charles Eames plastic armchairs were chosen by the client to co-ordinate with the striped squab fabric.
• David Turbridges ‘Coral’ hanging light shade, which sits above the table, has been stained in the same colour as the kitchen cabinetry and table. The majority of the lighting is indirect, accentuating the height of the raking ceiling. LED strip lights have been placed either side of the concealed powerpac extractor for task lighting on the back benchtop and also acts as accent lighting in the evening.

Product Specifications

Benchtop Linen – Deco 9 Textured Stainless Steel 80mm thick
(antispill around sink area)
Cabinetry – American Oak ¼ Cut Stained Dark Oak/Black 1 to 1
Handles Concealed
Hardware – Blum
Splashback – Toughened Mirror
Sink – Franke Planar PPX 110-52
Tap – KWC Systema
Oven – Bosch HBL 3552A
Cook Top – Smeg PGFA95F-2
Microwave – Bosch HBC84K551A
Extractor – Design Air PANZ-PP80
Dishwasher – Bosch SGV69T15AU (Fully Integrated)
Fridge – Electrolux ERM3707SAR
Freezer – Electrolux EFM3007SAL
Coffee Machine – Bosch TKN68E751
Table – American Oak Crown Cut Stained Dark Oak / Black 1 to 1
Back Squab – Mokum Meridian 7145 Manuae Stripe 551 Azure
Base Squab – Warwick Lustral Nova Ivory
Chairs – Eames DAR with the Eiffel legs
Floor – Tile 600 x 600 Berica Sabbia
Wall – Colour Dulux Half Marton