Modern kitchen boasts furniture like cabinetry and two tone scheme

Adding a kitchen and entertaining wing to the less sunny side of a home needn't be an exercise in discreet artificial lighting. On this new kitchen and living extension, stacker-sliders open to the deck, clerestory windows admit natural light not views of the neighbours, and a skylight does the same all adding up to a light environment.

The wing, and kitchen in it, are part of a whole house makeover by Hilary Scully of Architecture Smith & Scully.

"As well as being well-lit, the owners wanted the kitchen to function well for the day to day of family life including having a homework station and also be sleek for entertaining."

To achieve these goals, Scully designed a wall of wood cabinetry to run along the side of the room opposite the stacker doors.

"At the kitchen end, the bifold doors conceal kitchen storage and frame space for a refrigerator, while further into the room they enclose a study nook," says Scully. "The interiors of the cabinet alcoves are painted jet black. This continues a black and wood theme also seen in the kitchen proper with the black, marble-look tile splashback and the island front in the same American white oak finish and also throughout the wider reworked interiors."

The design allows a slender edge of black to show through from the cabinet interiors even when the doors are closed. This black accent is also introduced on the custom powdercoated cabinetry handles and the spot lights above the island.

When the tall doors are closed the cabinetry has a furniture-like appeal ideal for a backdrop to a social gathering, and when open they still have a crisp aesthetic.

To optimise the kitchen's functionality and keep things tidy when entertaining, the kitchen is served by a rear scullery that can be screened off with a pocket slider.

Negative detail handles on the white kitchen cabinetry contribute to the clean, minimalist feel, as does the hidden rangehood and discreet bulkhead heat pump.

Other key touches include the pristine engineered stone, waterfall benchtop and a rear ledge that, being in the same tile as the splashback, all but disappears from sight.

Story by: New Zealand TIDA Kitchens

Photography by: Platinum HD