Second time lucky

A redesign of an unloved dark masculine workspace, this new kitchen favours natural, textural products and turns the central island into a social hub

The new kitchen engages the home's scenic outlooks,

The cantilevered benchtop is underlit – showing off

The designer opted to undertake some minor changes

Vidaspace Nordus Winter Larch was specified for the

One constraint for the redesign was the need

Steel framing allows for the magic of the

Dekton Shell Liquid is designed to capture the

A Ghost stool with the textural Dekton Shell

Designed by Tracy Murphy, Vekart

From the designer:

Second time lucky – in this industry you don’t often get asked to go to site to view a kitchen that had just been installed with a brief to redesign it.

We were asked to create a different outcome from the recently installed, dark masculine kitchen.

The new kitchen incorporates natural, textural products taken from the surroundings, together with some dark timber elements, and turns the centrally located island into a hub to socialise with multiple friends and family and take in the home's stunning views.

This redesign was an emotional process for these owners second time around – I needed to push boundaries and create something special.

Limitations included retaining the 8mm plate stainless steel hob/sink top which had the sink welded in and the cooktop flush mounted.

However, I was given scope to redesign everything else.

We opted to do some minor changes to the scullery to tie the existing black lacquer finish into the new kitchen; adding veneer open shelving, toe kicks and lining the walls/splashbacks with Dekton Shell Liquid.

Vidaspace Nordus ‘Winter Larch’ was used for the cabinetry which is made from strips of various cuts of veneer creating a lineal colour variation – finished in a two pack UV lacquer.

For the island, Dekton Shell Liquid was used to create the cantilevered mitred top, waterfall end, the panels and push to open doors.

A steel frame is incorporated into the island overhang, complemented by recessed LED lighting which floods light down the stone surface, highlighting its texture.

Once the 12mm thick Dekton doors were installed, the Dekton logo plus texture of the stone needed to be sanded and painted – something I had not considered while designing.

The 12mm thick single sided Shell Liquid Dekton was expertly mitred and returned around all corners of the island, creating continuity of the texture.

Continuing this product up the walls of the sink elevation, running into the aluminium joinery and walls in the scullery ties the spaces together, even though the original design was nothing like the end result.