Style counsel

Now that many kitchens sit at the heart of the home, it makes sense to choose the style you want for your kitchen before making irreversible decisions about the interior design of other rooms.

That's the view of Jim Heathwood, owner of Heathwoods Kitchen Centre. Customers often choose a design for their kitchen, then carry the look through the rest of their home, he says.

"I recommend that people talk to us when they're looking at floor plans, so that we can help them work out the style and approach they need."

The owners of the kitchen shown above didn't have this choice their cramped and poorly planned kitchen had been installed some 20 years ago and a full renovation was needed.

A functional, contemporary kitchen that utilised the space more effectively was required, says Jim Heathwood. Key to the award-winning design was a triangular-shaped kitchen island.

"This enabled us to open up the area, making much better use of the available space, and creating a more efficient work pattern," he says.

Charcoal, soft grey and white tones were chosen for the cabinetry and benchtops to provide a dramatic look. Metallic paint behind the glass splashbacks allows the light to reflect and shimmer, says Jim Heathwood. Other contemporary touches include aluminium trims around the glass-fronted cabinetry, and a stainless steel rangehood.

For the kitchen shown on this page, a quiet, classic-modern ambience was chosen a look repeated throughout the rest of the interior.

"It's a soft and understated palette that uses off-white hues for a light and open feel, without the clinical or harsh tones that you can get with pure white," he says. "We talked to the clients about how they wanted to develop the look, and based on this we kept period detailing to a minimum. We paired modern touches, such as easy-maintenance glass splashbacks, with classic hints, such as the corbels on the kitchen island."

Heathwoods provides a full design and consultation service for homeowners, custom designing the cabinetry and co-ordinating the projects.

"Our job is to achieve the look our clients want, and fine-tune the process to ensure the kitchens function exactly as they should," says Jim Heathwood.

For details, contact Heathwoods Kitchen Centre, 7 Production Court, Toowoomba, Qld 4350, phone (07) 4633 1966, fax (07) 4633 1158. Website: www.heathwoodskitchens.com.au.

Story by: Trendsideas