Chef's choice Natalie Du Bois chooses Fisher & Paykel

Starting over from scratch is the best way to get exactly what you want when you plan a new kitchen.

For the owners of this remodelled home, the priority was a kitchen that would be suitable for entertaining. Designer Natalie Du Bois of Du Bois Design says the owners are both chefs, so they knew exactly how they liked to work and what was needed.

"For example, they wanted to socialise with guests while preparing meals. I suggested placing a 120cm freestanding Fisher & Paykel cooker on the large birch plywood island so they could face into the room and talk to people easily."

The long-grain rotary cut birch veneer is similar to the perimeter cabinets it was laid to emphasise the fluidity of the grain. This also enhances the strong horizontal lines of the kitchen. The multi-ply layers provide distinctive negative detailing to the honed quartzite benchtops.

"Another way we played up these lines was to set the Fisher & Paykel 120cm VentSurface rangehood within a flying shelf," says Du Bois. "This is a strong visual feature and it provides additional space for the owners to display cooking equipment, just as they like to display their books."

The other Fisher & Paykel appliances are a Double DishDrawer¢, 440L bottom freezer ActiveSmart¢ refrigerator and 90cm CoolDrawer¢.

"We didn't have a lot of space on the rear wall for a large refrigerator, so having the extra refrigeration with the CoolDrawer on the island is a real bonus," says Du Bois. "The Fisher & Paykel appliances co-ordinate perfectly, yet they still let the kitchen shine they look great but they don't dominate. And the owners really appreciate the large size of the cooker and the cooktops."

For more details, visit www.fisherpaykel.com and www.duboisdesign.co.nz.

Story by: Trendsideas