Graceful invitation

A renovation of a traditional house is likely to involve taming a jumble of existing rooms and introducing a lighter, brighter kitchen. It's also important to include a sense of the home's history, especially when the scope of work takes in only one part of the house.

The owners of this large kitchen asked designer Sandra Banks to create new light-filled spaces in one wing of their historic homestead, in keeping with its traditional style. The old kitchen was dark, with poor circulation, says Banks.

"And this was the context of a house so august that there were bell-pull cords in the existing scullery to summon servants."

With extraneous walls removed and the original wood floors refinished, the next task was to reconcile the cabinetry heights with the generous 3.3m stud.

"Perimeter cabinetry on the internal walls have an approachable, human scale but to create a dramatic presence for the glass-front display cabinet and to draw the eye to the windows, I designed this piece to reach up to the ceiling," says Banks.

"To connect the two heights visually, I used the bulkhead that conceals the ventilation ducting as a linking device," says Banks. "This starts where the lower cabinets end and rises to the height of the glazed cabinet and ceiling and draws everything together."

The designer customised the cabinet doors and panels with understated detailing. These subtle edgings evoke the past but also add a sense of modernity. Classic crown mouldings were retained and new identical sections introduced as required.

One concession to modern design is the vinyl-wrap finish on the cabinets. This protects the wood, appropriate for a family with small children, says Banks.

"The island, like the display cabinet, helps reduce the scale of the room. It offers a wealth of storage, provides an anchor for the tight work triangles and is finished in a lustrous totara benchtop.

"This wood was recycled from another part of the project and refinished to create a feature surface continuing its role in the home's already long history."

Overall, the finished look is restrained and traditional in keeping with the rest of the home. Most of the appliances are integrated, with only the double oven and refrigerator on show. In addition to the storage on the island, the rear wall houses single and double-door pantries.

"We chose antique white surfaces to maximise light play through the now open-plan rooms," says Banks.

Story by: Charles Moxham