Design by Wai Mihinui – Kitchen Studio Wellington
DESIGN BRIEF
The existing kitchen footprint of this family home was already generous, but the clients still felt they lacked storage and the kitchen didn’t function as well as it could for a busy family of 5.
It didn’t surprise me when the client stressed that a clean monochromatic aesthetic with some areas of interest was one of the important must haves for their new kitchen. The home was already immaculately presented and styled.
Client Requirements:
Increased storage capacity
Bar seating area for 3 people
Tiled breakfast bar back to create a feature in the kitchen
A clean black and white aesthetic
Reduced clutter out on the bench
Client did not like revolving mechanisms and preferred corner cupboards to store bigger items
Good drawer storage across the kitchen including in pantry
Areas to display cookbooks and something interesting on the blank wall by the bar seating area
Design Solutions:
Utilising the existing 2.7m stud height by taking cabinetry to the ceiling increased storage capacity across the kitchen and achieved a clean finished look.
The custom 1300 wide bi-fold bench pantry was designed for the specific need to hide away those unattractive small appliances in a family kitchen such as microwave, toaster and blender but allowed them to be easily accessible for everyone. The black pantry design meant it would blend into the kitchen design when kept open and in use.
A series of open display boxes strategically placed throughout the design created visual interest, improved access to the wall unit to the right of the power pack and gave the client areas to display objects and cookbooks.