Southern Beauty

Guest kitchen design expert, Sandy Eagle, recently completed a fabulous kitchen for a family bach in Tarras, Central Otago. Here she tells us what went into achieving the stunning look, and superb functionality.

Working alongside clients and seeing the vision for their kitchen come to life is such a pleasure, especially when it is in their beautiful holiday home. For the bach in Tarras, we focused on creating a kitchen that was highly functional, simple and stylish.

Great kitchen design is all about how you want your kitchen to look and, even more importantly, how you want it to function. Easy to use, accessible storage is a must-have, and in the Tarras kitchen, I specified a fantastic Blum storage solution, the Space Tower pantry system. Superbly flexible in terms of size and configuration of storage, the Space Tower can be designed in any size to fit the space you have and offers optional solutions like drawer dividers for organising your pantry items. With full extension drawers, you can see exactly what’s there and access what you need from any angle, an excellent solution that looks great.

The benchtop is such a key feature for aesthetics plus practicality and for these clients, contrasting with the natural beauty of the wooden joinery and features, we used a 5mm stainless steel plate, manufactured and installed by Stainless Kitchens. The plate sits on top of the cabinetry and is then wrapped in a waterfall over the end of the kitchen island; a striking yet simple effect that looks stunning.

Offering flexibility, stainless steel is now available in several elegant, modern finishes including the brush finish (as seen in the Tarras house), linen or mirror finish. A note though, New Zealanders’ love the connection to the outdoors, but if you’re considering stainless steel, it’s important to think about sunlight as the surface can reflect into your eyes. The textured linen surface can work in high sun areas as it’s less reflective. Stainless Kitchens have a wealth of knowledge and will work alongside your designer and joiner to deliver the look you want.

The importance of a kitchen that is easy to work in cannot be overstated and in this case, with the clients and our suppliers excellent products, we were able to achieve exceptional functionality as well as a truly stunning look.

027 710 6900  |  sandyeagledesign.co.nz