Coming to you with the second part of our Southport House tour – and this time we’re taking you upstairs to show you around the beautiful new kitchen!
Set in the seaside neighbourhood of Southport on the Gold Coast, this home is a large two-storey home featuring a 6-car basement garage, multiple large living and dining areas, 5 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms and a generous master suite including walk-in robe and ensuite.
A complete redesign of the kitchen was carried out to help modernise the space and improve the day to day life for the clients and their busy family. The existing footprint of the kitchen had to be maintained due to the existing stained timber floors which were going to remain, as well as the central structural wall in the middle of the space. So this set our first parameters for the layout of the new design.
We also wanted to ensure we paid homage to the existing architecture of the home – so we needed the renovation to not only met all the clients needs and wants, but also sit seamlessly within the Cape Cod style home. The house is filled with ample amounts of natural light so this also came into consideration when selecting colours, textures + benchtop materials.
In terms of function the clients wanted a generous island with plenty of storage solutions throughout the kitchen and scullery. The usable bench space was increased, and the addition and organisation of all drawers / cupboards improved in the way of Blum inner drawers, drawer inserts, and organisational accessories like spice racks and foil dispensers to cater to the client’s needs.
A mix of closed and glass fronted joinery was designed to provide solutions for the client’s extensive cookware collection and decorative items. The introduction of the cathedral glass joinery fronts also allowed us an opportunity to create a unique design detail in this kitchen. Which we did in collaboration with Farmers Doors, creating a custom profiled joinery front with oak timber lattice work in a vertical / horizontal lay with the cathedral glass set in behind. All the other joinery fronts within the space reflected the same profile surround detail in a solid 2pac front. The client’s desired a light and bright kitchen, so we opted for a two tone colourway with the bottom joinery units in Porters Paints ‘Mist’ and the rest of the taller and overhead units in Porters Paints ‘Popcorn’.
Throughout the kitchen, new high end appliances and fixtures and fittings were specified to tick all the prep, refrigeration and cooking needs. Appliances in the new kitchen consisted of a Gaggenau 400 series oven and combination steam / microwave oven, zoneless induction cooktop and rangehood, as well as a new Liebherr integrated column 750W fridge and 600W freezer with ice maker and X2 new integrated dishwashers. Two small integrated fridges were also introduced under bench, one in the island and the other in the scullery for the clients everyday items like milk and butter.
The new finishes throughout the kitchen were specified to suit the existing home, the clients taste and the new colour palette proposed by us to help create a more traditional, light and airy space. The couple expressed they were open to our suggestions however love the look of modern American style kitchens specifically from the Newport area and liked the look of a soft two tone combinations. Injections of natural texture were incorporated through the use of handmade zellige splashback tiles, cathedral glass, whitewashed oak timber, nickel metal highlights and the Dekton ‘Entzo’ porcelain benchtops.
The unique details really set this kitchen apart – with the custom joinery doors, nickel + brass metal capped feet detail on the island, the Restoration Hardware nickel joinery handles and pendant lights imported from the US. It all sings together to create a timeless kitchen, with depth, practicality and personality at its core.
In addition to that, a butler’s double sink with English Tapware Company pull out tap in brushed nickel was specified on the island, with a second sink and dishwasher space added in the scullery area for cleaning overflow. The scullery was designed to act like the main prep hub for the family – somewhere to make breakfast, for the kids to grab a snack on the go and to hide all the small kitchen appliances out of sight. The walk around layout with the two entry points either side, that also connect to the laundry and study nook beside meant that the space flowed and functioned with ease.
Sets of whitewashed oak timber open shelves were added to the scullery to visually balance the rest of the tall and overhead joinery, plus they created a perfect place to style up and display some of the clients beautiful ceramic pieces. Ample amounts of power points where also added to the scullery to create that hidden ‘working’ space for the busy family of 5.
More on our Southport House to come – next up: the Living spaces…
