The brief to Design Consultant Jes Gordon from Mastercraft Kitchens Tauranga was for a more modern, open and family friendly space. “My clients wanted something with clean lines and a very different look to what was already there. A large island the whole family could sit around was asked for, and also space for bigger appliances. And they wanted a scullery – that was very important to them.”
The new kitchen occupies the same part of the home as the old one. However, to accommodate these additional needs, the homeowners suggested pushing back two of the walls, borrowing space from adjoining rooms. This added at least half again to the floor area of the new kitchen, plus made room for the all-important scullery.
The resulting design is squared off and very structured – quite different from the old kitchen, and a lot more ergonomic. The colour palette, too, is quite a contrast. Pared right back, it is now predominantly white, warmed up with some timber highlights at the base of the island and the overhead cabinetry unit above that houses the extractor, and detailed with black accents, such as the black granite sink, the kitchen tap, the pendant light, and the steel-tubed barstools.
The newly formed scullery is not large, but it is extremely useful, says the designer. “There’s an abundance of storage and bench space, plus the addition of the second sink allows them to take full advantage of the room. And if they need to, it can be shut off from the rest of the kitchen,” she says.
Behind the large family sized fridge, facing out towards the dining area, the owners came up with the idea of a full-height bank of cabinetry where all the crockery and cutlery could be stored, so that the table can be laid without interrupting anyone who is working in the kitchen. The placement of the dishwasher at the dining room end of the island allows the table to be cleared without disruption, too.
The kitchen island itself is large enough to sit the whole family, and below the chunky 70mm engineered quartz benchtop every cubic centimetre of space has be used for storage, bins, and the dishwasher.
Owner Hayley Skilton says “We are thrilled with the result! The kitchen has so much storage, and the layout provides both function and the sense of style we were wanting, including the clean lines and sense of space”.
This kitchen was proudly designed, manufactured and installed locally in Tauranga by Mastercraft Kitchens Tauranga.