Lexi & Pete’s Kitchen + Mudroom, Ashfield
Shortly after moving into their new home in Ashfield, Lexi & Pete felt that the existing layout of their kitchen restricted and under-utilised the space. The elephant in the room being a large wall divider that hindered light and access to the kitchen. To mend this we replaced it with an island bench, along with adding new doors to their existing cabinets and installing a mudroom, vastly improving their storage capacity.
Blackbutt cladding runs along the island beneath the bench, adding detail and texture to the kitchen. It seamlessly blends the curves of the kitchen together and pairs itself perfectly with the tiles chosen by Lexi.
The existing cabinets and stone were recycled in the kitchen, however new doors and shaker panels were added, along with smart cabinet fittings from Peka to modernise the space.
Resene ‘Coast’ painted American Oak veneer lines the interior walls of the kitchen. The grain prominently on display, adding more complexity and detail to the space. Above, Blackbutt shelves provide further storage and provide warmth to what used to be a cold and stark area.
Pill style door handles were used in both the kitchen and mudroom to tie both spaces together. Here the pantry handle stands proud of the Blackbutt for ease of use.
The island now provides more space for the family to sit and enjoy meals, whilst letting light and air into an area that was previously under-utilised in the home.
Lexi and Pete approached us looking to renovate their kitchen as they were experiencing a lack of functionality and storage with the existing design. Their Ashfield home was built back in the 1930’s and was renovated at the turn of the century by Rachael Neeson from Neeson Murcutt Architects. The renovation added large glass doors, skylights, extensions and blackbutt cabinetry throughout the house. These features modernised the house at the time, however were now in need of some redesiging to bring the house to modern spec.
We chose to deliberately reference the era of the house by adding curved panels and shakers to our cabinetry to match the art deco designs of the 30’s with a modern twist. Throughout the home white predominantly stands out with touches of blackbutt, so we chose to bring some more warmth and colour into the kitchen with Blackbutt Veneer and Poly sprayed blue American Oak Veneer. For the mudroom we chose to blend it into the wall to hide the additional storage space it provides. Inside the pocket doors is lined with Blackbutt Veneer also. The whole space now feels open and unhindered with the low kitchen island becoming a feature unit, whilst gaining storage that was previously non existent in the home.