As a designer, working on your own house is usually a challenging project. We've seen too much! However, I was crystal clear about what I wanted to achieve in this space, so this project was a breeze.

To give you some background info, here is our list of challenges and issues that we absolutely had to address:

1. The existing kitchen didn't take advantage of the available space.
2. Storage was extremely limited, so we generally had boxes of Weetbix balancing on vases on any day of the week and just too much "stuff " on display.
3. I'm a keen cook, I hankered for a larger oven, plus a secondary oven for those times when my apron is firmly strapped on and I'm bashing out multiple courses.
4. It was a dark and gloomy space, so I needed to use every trick in the book to lighten the space up.
5. The island bench wasn't big enough to accommodate all five us for casual dining, chatting, prepping, sipping wine etc
6. The flooring was the original Cypress pine complete with deep honey tones and knots knots knots.
7. The existing study nook in the corner wasn't necessary as we have a home office, it was an absolute magnet for gathering junk, so I was keen to eliminate it.

So, a clean sweep of fresh materials and well designed storage and here we are. But.. are you happy? I hear you ask. That's a hard yes from me.