Getting the balance right

Designed by Katie Scott, Caro Design

From the designer:

The owners were planning a new-build on a country section north of Auckland. Their overall brief for the project was to avoid the cookie-cutter look that subdivisions can sometimes have and to ‘think outside the box’.

The aim was to walk into the house not expecting to see what was inside .

The couple were not afraid of a moody colour scheme and, in fact, embraced this.

They wanted a feel of luxury – classic yet contemporary – so that the design blended into the house and was not too contrasting to the exterior, which is a quite contemporary cedar-clad build.

They also love a slightly industrial feel – so the challenge was to get this all into a kitchen that was functional, not overloaded, not too classic and not too contemporary.

The design idea for the kitchen came from a cushion that the owner had and loved, which had gold and deep purple fabric with a classic pattern.

Bearing all this in mind, we planned around the space first. From the original plans we moved the scullery and island and made a return for fridges in what was a dead space.

The cabinetry – in Resene Nocturnal – works well with the timber floor in rustic oak.

The cabinets have a routered framing as a subtle nod to the classic, yet the handles in shark nose add a contemporary touch.

The high units, which were taken to the ceiling (over 4m at the highest point) to exaggerate the high stud and angle, also have the routered groove framing.

The lower tall units all have custom length brass plated handles, as do the two, 600mm side-by-side integrated fridges.

The stone tops are Silestone Kenso in a soft grey to tie in with the splashback in a chevron pattern.

Story by: Trendsideas

Photography by: Julia Lochead