Kitchen
Featured in This Kitchen: Base, overhead cabinetry and custom handles: Laminex Burnt Ochre Natural finish. Benchtop and curved splashback: Laminex Moroccan Clay Natural finish. Island: Laminex Danish Walnut Chalk finish and Laminex Milkwood Natural finish. Integrated fridge: Laminex Moroccan Clay Natural finish. Tower cabinetry: Laminex Danish Walnut Chalk finish, Laminex Moroccan Clay Natural finish and Laminex Fresh Spring Natural finish. Tiled kicker: Artedomus Vixel N47 for kickers. Kitchen base cabinetry handles: In-Teria.
3. Invest in bespoke unit doors The first characteristic you probably notice about kitchen cabinets is the doors. They can be highly individual style statements in any material, from chunky driftwoods to coloured composites. We tend to assume these options are pricey, but in fact there’s a budget way to get the look you want. Design a kitchen using a range of carcasses from a budget or mid-price retailer you feel has a decent build quality. You can then simply replace the doors with the material of your choice. Discuss material options with your fitter, as you need to make sure that any doors you choose will stand up to the wear and tear of kitchen life. Do also check for the stability of the actual units you’ll be buying – the back panel should be thick and rigid. While you want to save money, you don’t want your cost-saving solution to end up letting you down in the long run.
2. Think big When you’re really looking to save some cash, the basic rule of thumb is to go for fewer larger cabinets. Work out multiples dependent on the length of the wall – for example, 3.6-metre wall will give you a neat four cabinets of 900mm in length. To keep the design looking smart, try to recreate the same sizes on wall units as you did on the base level.
1. Keep it simple Cabinets that have minimal accessories, fiddly designs or internal mechanisms will certainly keep the pennies in your pockets. The units themselves are usually less expensive to make, as it’s the drawers, pull-outs and special materials that pile on the dollars. Keep the aesthetic minimal, too, by choosing a basic white door, like the ones in the kitchen here. The design is subtle and uses only one wall, but it stretches up, with high wall units to maximise storage space. You can use flatpack units to achieve this look, which of course brings down prices.
Pot filler with a spout taller than the water source 9. Pot fillers My old pot-filler rule was this: if I put it in, you must promise to use it. But at what height should it be placed? I recommend measuring your tallest pot and then adding about five centimetres. And before your plumber plumbs the waterline, be sure to have the pot filler on-site.
Bench layout
Would the timber in the window frame fade?
Nice colour fronts Colour palette Olive green, white and tan leather. What challenges did you have to work around? Building the curved wall of the island to the right size, radius and height to suit the cabinetry, and installing and cutting the huge Lithostone benchtop – it’s right on the maximum length of 3.2 metres.
Good option for our seat that backs onto the couch - easy to clean under. And looks more open than a block seat.
Nice idea - little area to have a cup of tea for two
Neat idea in end of kitchen to hang up stuff
Window arrgt - shelving to sides, cushions sloped, overhead window - could have open sash at top.
Vinyl flooring by Tarkett
The single depth wall of cupds and the idea of being able to access stove and fridge etc from behind.
Studio Ben Allen used brightly coloured concrete to create structural walls and decorative details throughout this refurbishment of a Victorian terraced home in north London.
make the benchtop deeper than normal so you’ve got plenty of space to prep and leave appliances out. Here, the benchtop is 800 millimetres, which is 200 millimetres deeper than standard.
Laminex AbsoluteMatte is a super-matte and intriguingly tactile surface that is ideally suited to benchtops and cabinetry. Thanks to its advanced technology, it is not just fingerprint resistant, but scratch-, wear-, stain- and moisture-resistant too. It also features added antimicrobial protection with Protec+® embedded into the surface so you know it will stay hygienically clean. And to give you extra peace of mind, it comes with a seven-year limited warranty.
When you’re creating a room, it’s those little moments of surprise that can add magic to the space. They can also help draw attention where you want it and away from where you don’t – in this case, your kitchen’s compact dimensions. Bold colour contrasts are an easy way to achieve it. Here, the designers lined a single drawer with bright red Laminex Pillarbox and installed a custom-coloured Volker Haug wall light, bringing instant fun and flair to the space.
Bedroom layout of the same place - note dressing room layouts
powerpoint on side of bench instead of on wall?
An idea to have an upstand for herbs or plants on the kitchen bench? might work but would need to be able to swap out the plants themselves when they tire.
A triangular skylight is set into the sloped corner of the extension Large, light grey floor tiles extend from the kitchen to the adjacent patio, creating a sense of cohesion between inside and outside. The cabinets and drawers are from Ikea, which freed up some budget for premium details such as the kitchen island and a custom-made aluminium-framed dining table.
The timber is teamed with copper surfaces and duck-egg blue cabinetry The brief for The Quarter Glass House called for warm and textural materials, so the interior combines exposed timber with muted copper surfaces and cabinetry painted a duck-egg blue. The ceiling soffit is constructed from Douglas fir that is complemented by the copper-topped, birch ply kitchen island and the pale-pink microcement that was used as a wall finish and splashback.
Peaceful space
Nice Colour pallette
ISLAND BENCHES Some key measurements to follow are: You want a minimum clearance of 1,000 millimetres circulation space around the island. The overall height of the island should be between 920 and 940 millimetres. The minimum island width would ideally be 900 millimetres and length would be 1,200 millimetres. The benchtop between 20 and 80 millimetres thick. If you want to include bar stools around the island, you’ll need 300 millimetres of under-bench space. Make sure power outlets and appliances are well-placed so they do not dominate the appearance of the island bench, are easily accessed and make the functionality of all sides of the island bench work really well. Think about how both sides of the island can be ‘working’ sides and not just the ‘kitchen’ side of the bench. There’s nothing worse than a beautiful piece of stone ruined by ill-considered power outlet locations. Think about what will be plugged in – it probably won’t just be hand mixers, but phone chargers, laptops and the like. A charging drawer for items such as these can be a smart inclusion. Think about whether the sitting area needs to be closer to the fridge and pantry – this is another way of managing who...
Pull-out, pull-down and fold-up benchtops are great at creating instant prep space in a tight kitchen, and thanks to integrated and concealed options, they now look better than ever.
4. Bin it Similar to sink inserts, pull-out working zones that fit over your bin provide concealed bench space as well. Some come with a handy hole so you can scrape food scraps directly into the bin without touching it, while other designs fit bowl inserts or are made purely as chopping boards.
copper pipe and hooks
Handmade Moroccan tiles to the splashback.
Pantry in corner next to fridge keeps fridge clear of walls - easy to clean behind, pull out etc
American oak cupboards with black stain. Reeded glass infills. Super White dolomite benchtop. Handmade Moroccan tiles to the splashback. Timber veneer open shelving. Black metal handles. Brass hanging rods. Oak tongue-and-groove flooring.
might have one or two small deep ones
shelves
floor and stair details
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