A stylish kitchen with personality
Interiors expert Wendy Moore explores a clever, beautiful kitchen
Photography throughout Cath Muscat/The Interiors Edit
Designing kitchens is a great passion of mine - what better way to understand how different people live and use their spaces than by crafting a room where they cook, gather with family and friends and enjoy the best things in life? I wish I could take credit for this one - but that belongs to Dominique from Provincial Kitchens, who created this divine space with a hint of blue for a busy family.
A beautiful kitchen designed for practical living
The blended family living in this home is a particularly busy one, with each of the parents working professionals and a Brady Bunch-load of kids! Three of the kids live in the home full time but on the weekends, the house gets hectic as three more children descend. Do the maths - that’s six kids plus the parents at any given moment!
The biggest challenge this family had was organisation, and they literally needed a place for everyone to sit, with the old kitchen a closed off room that simply wasn’t functioning. Home life usually centres around the kitchen - particularly when you have six snack-hungry children. The couple called upon kitchen designer Dominique of Provincial Kitchens, who devised a plan to transform this kitchen into a calming and practical area of the home.
“The way the kitchen was before was really dysfunctional and impractical, with the cooktop on one side, the stove on the other and a big island in the middle. It was a completely separate room to the dining room, really enclosed,” explains Dominique. “We had to knock out a wall to open up the spaces to a really beautiful view at the back looking at the water surrounding Hunters Hill and to let in a lot of light and a lot of air.”
Wendy’s 5 favourite inclusions in this clever kitchen
Statement island bench
Removing the wall meant the working spaces could be reconfigured and a new statement island bench could extend into the new space, with seating factored around the end to allow the kids to just pop in for breakfast or to serve up a casual dinner. Leather stools offer protection from sticky fingers, alongside a generous island with loads of extra storage.
2. Platter racks with style
No longer stashed at the bottom of a drawer, this narrow display area makes sense, as not only is it easy to access and remove these heavy items, it means guests can just jump in and help themselves. “They had 25 over for Christmas this year, and the owner said every platter was used!” says Dominique.
“This clever display method elevates the platters to art status in this gorgeous space” ~ interiors expert Wendy Moore
3. A clever small appliance cupboard
The owner of this home prepares a lot of food using a lot of small appliances with different functions. Now they have a neat home with electrical points, a clever little appliance cupboard that lights up when the door opens. Dominique was sure to add some extra depth to the benches, preferring a 700 over a 600 depth. “Sometimes even 750, if I have space,” she says. “I just find it's a lot more generous to have that extra bench space where you're prepping food or plating up.”
4. A slimline home for letters and keys
This clever little drop zone is ideal for stashing keys and documentation that comes home from school, with the front doubling as a noticeboard. It makes a real difference in keeping the kitchen presentable and tidy, and things don’t get lost.
5. Gorgeous appliances that do the job
While Dominique was adding the final touches, she turned to Wendy for help, who suggested the Belling Colour Boutique 110cm Gas-Through-Glass Range Cooker Rangecooker in Thunder Blue as a central focal point. It was the perfect shade of blue to suit this modern provincial-style kitchen, adding a pop of statement colour that really brings the design together.
The owner also loves the four independent ovens, perfect for entertaining as you can have multiple meals cooking - at different temperatures - at the same time. For a family of this size, a six-burner hob was essential, too. Forget entertaining - anyone with a fussy eater will appreciate this!
