Traditional white kitchen with black granite benchtops, display cabinets

Good kitchen design is invariably about proportion, and this is most often seen in new homes where the kitchen's status is elevated to a central role.

This new kitchen was designed for a display home by Oswald Homes a particularly grand home of 800m². Not surprisingly, the kitchen also needed to be grand, and it had to echo the traditional theme of the rest of the house.

The kitchen consequently runs right along one side of the house, with the cabinetry extending through to a large scullery. But the central focus is a large island with traditional moulded panels and fluted columns and capitals on each corner. These repeat the design of the mouldings and skirting boards throughout the large open-plan living space.

The sense of tradition doesn't stop there, however. Hand-painted doors and traditional hardware and tapware all help to convey the sense of an old English kitchen from a bygone era. Similarly, a butler's sink, subway-tiled splashback and classical profiles on the black granite benchtops enhance the sense of tradition.

A bank of overhead display cabinets with interior lighting helps to lighten the perceived mass of the cabinetry, while providing ample storage.

The appliance choice is also in keeping with the era a large 1200mm freestanding range looks the part while providing all the latest technology. Other appliances, such as the refrigerator-freezer are integrated into the cabinetry to complement the formality of the adjoining dining area. There is also a walk-in cool room.

Story by: Colleen Hawkes