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With open-plan spaces more often than not providing for the social needs of the family and their guests, it makes sense to ensure they are both functional and accessible.

Kitchen designer Natalie Du Bois NKBA was assigned to upgrade this kitchen to provide an area that was in keeping with the lifestyle and needs of the homeowners: a couple with young children.

"The original kitchen, while very functional, was dark and overpowering. The clients wanted a serene, light and calm feel for the new kitchen. Lightening the color palette and using texture to create interest was the first consideration."

Other requests were for an area separate to the main kitchen space where the children could make breakfast, and somewhere to store an extensive wine collection.

"A hallway ran behind the appliance wall of the kitchen, separating it from a storage room," says Du Bois. "As the hallway was not needed as a circulation route, we made the decision to close it in at one end to create a scullery for meal preparation. The storage room was then repurposed as the wine cellar."

As with the rest of the kitchen, the designer chose to limit the color and material palette for this area.

"All of the materials are based around the same tone. Each has its own unique texture, but at the same time the tonality links the products together.

"The wood paneling is painted to match the exact color of the glass cabinet doors. The paneling is warm and slightly rough, whereas the glass is highly reflective, hard and cool. The countertops are smooth with a velvet quality, which contrasts nicely with the limestone tiles on the backsplash. These are textured and feel solid and cool."

Because the kitchen leads onto a large wraparound veranda and outdoor entertaining area, it was equally important to establish a sense of continuity, says Du Bois.

"Symmetry plays a major part in the overall design, in a geometrical sense as well as more ephemerally, providing an aesthetic link between the exterior of the house and the interior.

"The ivory colors of the kitchen have been chosen to work with the charcoal and cream exterior siding.

"A further dimension is added when the cabinetry is opened to reveal the charcoal interior."

The custom steel pegs used to hold the bottles in the wine cellar reinforce the colorway, adding to the overall symmetry.

"The resulting balanced effect between spaces imparts a warm ambiance throughout, creating a comfortable inviting atmosphere," says Du Bois.

Story by: Trendsideas