Here’s six of the best
Colleen Hawkes picks her favourites among the year’s best new kitchens.
We get to see a lot of eyecatching kitchens at Homed over the course of a year, but there are always standout examples that inspire us that little bit more.
And they’re not always the most expensive or extravagant designs. For example, a real favourite this year was a retro
50s-style kitchen in a bach that prompted a real tug of nostalgia.
The kitchen, by Mark Bruce of Beaver Kitchens in Whakatane, won the the Kitchen Distinction
2017 up to $25k award at the annual NKBA Awards. And it’s easy to see why.
Bruce says the kitchen was designed to complement the era of a 1950s bach at Lake Rotoma. ‘‘The bach had been butchered over the years, and one of the sins was the existing 70s kitchen. The family wanted a kitchen that would recapture bach living from yesteryear.’’
Beaver had previously designed
1950s furniture for the bach, with shark fin-edged tops in oak. ‘‘This provided the starting point for the design. I wanted the cabinets along the north wall to look like a piece of furniture, so I used white acrylic with shark fin edges to frame oak faces (to the cabinetry), and stood the unit on 300mm oak legs.’’
On the side, tall cabinets are set within a new wall so they are flush. Beaver says the use of shadow board (with the little holes) for the front of the fridge and pantry ‘‘sold the iconic Kiwi bach theme’’.
Another cool 50s addition is the raked overhead cabinet, which features round finger pulls in the shadow board, rounded shelves with a chrome pole, and reeded glass – it’s just as it would have looked ‘‘back in the day’’.
No list can be complete without the NKBA Supreme Kitchen winner, which was a highly contemporary kitchen by Glen Johns of New Plymouth.
The designer says his clients, who have a home in Mt Maunganui, requested a contemporary, minimalist kitchen with a ‘‘natural’’ look that would complement the views out to the iron sand beach.
Johns consequently specified sleek black cabinets with no visible handles, overhead cabinets in stainless steel, timber side panels and a timber ceiling. These materials are complemented by an iron sand concrete floor. Other special features include a floatingstyle island with a cantilevered stainless steel top and a scullery that’s completely concealed when not in use.
Another kitchen worthy of the big time is a stunning Karaka kitchen, designed by Shane George of Kitchens By Design, Auckland. This country kitchen was the sole Kiwi entry to make the finals of this year’s prestigious SBID International Design Awards in the KBB Design category.
To meet an expansive brief George created a large U-shape, cafe-style kitchen with a central island and wood shelves behind reeded glass doors.
‘‘This is a very hardworking kitchen, capable of accommodating a number of cooks at one time, with efficient flow in all the work centres,’’ he says. ‘‘It can also cater for large groups with ease, while still being a lovely family kitchen.’’
Another beach house kitchen that caught our eye was designed by architect Paul Clarke of Studio2 Architects. This kitchen, which commands a magnificent view of Hahei on the Coromandel Peninsula, teams American oak cabinetry with white Caesarstone benchtops.
It is not just the kitchen that appeals, but also the entire room, which features a long, comfortable window seat.
Our pick for the best classic kitchen is also the NKBA’s Classic Kitchen winner. Essentially two kitchens in one, this beauty was designed by Vicki Andrews of Christchurch.
Andrews says the kitchen had to be the ‘‘dominating factor’’ in the open-plan living space of a new house in Balmoral Hill, Christchurch. And it needed to be a traditional style, with a modern slant. ‘‘It had to be practical and visually stunning, especially at night,’’ the designer says.
To provide the right look, the designer specified warm white lacquered cabinets with deep recessed panel doors, Titanium granite benchtops in the main kitchen and Corian benchtops in Witchhazel in the scullery.
The division in the kitchen was created by a partial wall. On the main side of the kitchen the wall features a freestanding oven and large canopy extractor. The wall oven, microwave, cookbooks and tall storage units are all on the scullery side of the wall, along with two additional sinks and a dishwasher. The Icemaker refrigerator is conveniently positioned between the two spaces.
The sixth kitchen that caught our eye is by Christchurch designer Davinia Sutton, the NKBA Supreme Kitchen runnerup. Sutton’s clients wanted an uncluttered design that would be true to the modern architectural style of their home. ‘‘The kitchen needed to fit the scale of the surrounding space, and the owners wanted a sense of ‘rawness’ to the design,’’ Sutton says. ‘‘It also needed to have a working scullery and an island with seating.’’
‘‘The kitchen needed to fit the scale of the surrounding space, and the owners wanted a sense of ‘rawness’ to the design,’’ Sutton says. ‘‘It also needed to have a working scullery and an island with seating.’’