Rich Red Kitchen Makeover
This elegant new rich red kitchen, glowing in the warmth of the timber bench top, cornice, stools and trims is a far cry from it’s beginnings.
This historic cottage had had rooms added to it on a regular basis through time and most had never been completed.
It was definitely over due for a makeover and the whole home need to be pulled together to create a more harmonious and flowing ambiance.
The Design Factors:
The kitchen and dining area had major problems.
The ceilings were different heights and materials as well as being open in some places.
The home was not insulated and very cold.
It had recycled windows and doors, some aluminum and some timber, all at different heights and sizes and the exterior cladding was a mixture of finishes “tacked” over each other.
The new rich red kitchen makeover.
The pre makeover exterior view of the kitchen dining and bathroom.
Several different wall finishes in the kitchen made it look like patchwork.
Different ceiling heights in the original kitchen and dining areas.
It was a DIY nightmare.
Now look.
The Design Makeover Brief:
To provide a solid workable kitchen flowing through to the dining area. To be in keeping with the era of the house as well as including all of today’s modern features, i.e. dishwasher, microwave.
To provide some design impact and create a main feature for the small home as well as creating comfort and easy care.
The house is situated in a valley and surrounded by picturesque hills, these could be seen from the kitchen window and were required to be it’s greatest feature.
The most important item was that it was to be completed!
The intimate dining space now flows well from the kitchen.
The Design Method:
It was decided to make the kitchen window as large as possible and have it manufactured from timber. New French doors were added to access the outdoor terrace and large corner windows were added to the dining room. The view was now accessible, and the owner had windows and doors that matched!
The exterior was re clad in timber weather boards to match the rest of the house, at the same time the kitchen, dining and bathroom areas were insulated to reduce heat loss inside.
The kitchen was made of a pre finished melamine board, strong, durable and easy to clean.
A simple cream hue was selected to compliment the recycled laminated timber bench top and the natural warm glow of the cork floor.
This neutral selection allowed for last minute decision on wall colors. The client wanted red but didn’t know if he was daring enough. He was, and it paid off! The rich red contrasts well with the cream, enhances the warm tones of the natural products – timber and cork as well as highlighting the brass fixtures of the window and door joinery.
A simple black see through blind has been used to filter out the heat and sunlight whilst maintaining the view.
With the use of timber architraves and skirtings as well as timber capping on the kitchen joinery, the integrity of a home of this age is retained.
As all the wall and ceiling linings were replaced we were able to insulate, making the home feel much warmer. Now having a flush ceiling makes the space feel larger.
The Conclusion:
It is wonderful to see such time, effort and attention to detail being made on a renovation of a home that looked like the demolition yard was around the corner. Nice to see the project complete and achieve the client’s brief.
We can take inspiration from a job well done!
