Contemporary family kitchen with maple cabinets and Blue Eyes granite tiles

Pedestrian flow can be a major consideration when a kitchen and adjacent living areas are in frequent use by a number of family members. Introducing multiple passageways to divide spaces is one response. These sightlines bring the added benefit of shared aesthetics and light.

This modern kitchen is by interior designers Mary Jane Pappas and Patricia Undlin. Because the owners' extended family visit often, part of the wish list was for people to be able to enter, exit, cook, or make coffee without getting in one another's way. Another request was that the design optimise the immediate river views.

In response, the kitchen, living room and breakfast area are set on the river side of the house as these rooms benefit most from day views of the water, says Pappas.

"The dining room, more often in use after dark, is located on the other side of the home.

"For an easy pedestrian and aesthetic flow, connectivity was addressed in several ways. The kitchen's rear bank of cabinetry defines one wall of a corridor running behind it. This arrangement is also repeated in reverse with an identical cabinet unit in the dining room forming the opposite side of the passageway that runs between the two spaces. Broad apertures separating the upper and lower cabinets in both units provide sightlines from one room to the other and allow glimpses through to the river.

A similar unit separates the living area and kitchen again with an aperture that in this case doubles as a servery into the living room. Seen from above, this arrangement affords a dividing passage between kitchen and dining room but also along the sides of both spaces, creating a crisscross configuration.

"This layout means there's plenty of room to move between areas and family members can move through these adjacent spaces without feeling like they are under each other's feet," says Pappas.

Architectural detailing creates harmony between areas. The ceiling soffits draw the rooms together and a rich veined porcelain tile floor, with a look of statuary marble, features throughout the public spaces. A rectilinear tile inlay in Blue Eyes granite, with a black accent in Cambrian granite, borders the kitchen and dining area, drawing the two spaces together.

Material links appear throughout the spaces. The blue and black stone floor strips are seen again in various combinations as benchtops and splashbacks. Another repeated surface is the pale wood finish on the cabinetry.

"The positioning of appliances and storage was important in terms of letting multiple chefs loose in the kitchen at the same time," says Pappas. "The island, which looks to the views, is at the centre of the design. This combines a double sink, a dishwasher and storage. The large range is a short step away on a wall of cabinets that includes vertical pull-out pantries."

The bank of cabinets and a benchtop along the living room wall offer an area of operation outside the main work arena. A microwave, coffee maker, second dishwasher and a bar sink are set here so anyone can make a snack or pour a coffee without entering the kitchen proper.

"Perhaps the most frequented appliance in any kitchen is the refrigerator and this is also positioned at an outer corner of the kitchen so anyone can easily get a drink.

"The cooking appliances that need the least attention when in use, the ovens, are positioned at the corner over by the windows moving yet another important function away from the busy operational heart of the kitchen," says Pappas.

Story by: Trendsideas