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Room Of The Week
Room of the Week: Beach House Kitchen With a Laid-Back Luxe Vibe
Warm American-walnut joinery and a minimalist white backdrop set an elegant yet casual tone in this beach-house kitchen
In a Q&A format, we talk to the designers – and examine the creative thinking – behind some of Houzz’s most loveable rooms.
Brief
Kennedy: This Coogee, NSW, beach house was in desperate need of a makeover. The brief was to introduce a playful and contemporary style that fitted the client’s beach lifestyle and see the house reach its full design potential.
Ruffé: We worked closely with Cressida to create a space that was equally elegant and functional. Being a family home at the beach, the brief was for modern classic. It was essential for the joinery detailing to reflect that: a look and feel that pays homage to heritage methods while giving it a contemporary edge. This approach was carried throughout the house, to build a cohesive and fluid living space.
Kennedy: This Coogee, NSW, beach house was in desperate need of a makeover. The brief was to introduce a playful and contemporary style that fitted the client’s beach lifestyle and see the house reach its full design potential.
Ruffé: We worked closely with Cressida to create a space that was equally elegant and functional. Being a family home at the beach, the brief was for modern classic. It was essential for the joinery detailing to reflect that: a look and feel that pays homage to heritage methods while giving it a contemporary edge. This approach was carried throughout the house, to build a cohesive and fluid living space.
What were the clients’ must-haves?
Kennedy: They wanted to create a house that had a strong design direction but was still a liveable family home – not too perfect – somewhere the kids could come straight from the beach and feel relaxed about using furniture and fixtures.
What was on their wish list?
Kennedy: Marble, solid-timber joinery and open display space for their personal pieces.
Kennedy: They wanted to create a house that had a strong design direction but was still a liveable family home – not too perfect – somewhere the kids could come straight from the beach and feel relaxed about using furniture and fixtures.
What was on their wish list?
Kennedy: Marble, solid-timber joinery and open display space for their personal pieces.
We’re loving the curved kitchen island – tell us about it
Kennedy: I always like to soften rooms to give them warmth. Plus it made sense to curve the kitchen island bench because it is a high-traffic area – it meant fewer sharp edges that could have been a safety hazard for the kids.
I liked the idea of relating the curved island back to another element in the kitchen, which became the range hood. This back wall of the kitchen with the curved range hood is a real focal point as you enter the house.
Ruffé: There’s no denying the luxury of curves. They are harder to create than square edges. All the curved elements here have been custom-made by hand and took a significant amount of time.
Kennedy: I always like to soften rooms to give them warmth. Plus it made sense to curve the kitchen island bench because it is a high-traffic area – it meant fewer sharp edges that could have been a safety hazard for the kids.
I liked the idea of relating the curved island back to another element in the kitchen, which became the range hood. This back wall of the kitchen with the curved range hood is a real focal point as you enter the house.
Ruffé: There’s no denying the luxury of curves. They are harder to create than square edges. All the curved elements here have been custom-made by hand and took a significant amount of time.
What was your thinking behind the arrangement of furniture and fixtures?
Kennedy: I needed to maximise storage in the kitchen design to allow for an opportunity to do the open marble shelving on the back wall. I did this by tightly planning the tall cupboards to include a super-organised pantry and appliance cupboard.
Kennedy: I needed to maximise storage in the kitchen design to allow for an opportunity to do the open marble shelving on the back wall. I did this by tightly planning the tall cupboards to include a super-organised pantry and appliance cupboard.
How else did you add storage?
Kennedy: The timber buffet in the dining area to the left of the kitchen is really an extension of the kitchen and stores many kitchen items. This meant I could design the open marble shelf along the back of the kitchen without sacrificing cupboard storage.
Kennedy: The timber buffet in the dining area to the left of the kitchen is really an extension of the kitchen and stores many kitchen items. This meant I could design the open marble shelf along the back of the kitchen without sacrificing cupboard storage.
Tell us about the exquisite joinery
Ruffé: The beauty of this joinery is that it’s highly functional. It strikes the perfect balance between kid-friendly, cleanable and durable while also being sophisticated.
Kennedy: I wanted to maximise the abundance of natural light in the house by keeping the envelope a fresh white. This put the focus firmly on all the joinery and furniture pieces that sat within the space. The joinery therefore had to be an elegant design with artistic elements and fine details. I chose American walnut – the ultimate, classic timber – for the solid-timber elements.
And the beautiful handles?
Ruffé: Handles are just as important as the cabinetry. Cressida asked us to create a custom, solid American-walnut handle that would complement the rich detail of the timber doors. These ones feature a subtle radius curve that contrasts beautifully against the strong square lines of the Shaker trim.
Ruffé: The beauty of this joinery is that it’s highly functional. It strikes the perfect balance between kid-friendly, cleanable and durable while also being sophisticated.
Kennedy: I wanted to maximise the abundance of natural light in the house by keeping the envelope a fresh white. This put the focus firmly on all the joinery and furniture pieces that sat within the space. The joinery therefore had to be an elegant design with artistic elements and fine details. I chose American walnut – the ultimate, classic timber – for the solid-timber elements.
And the beautiful handles?
Ruffé: Handles are just as important as the cabinetry. Cressida asked us to create a custom, solid American-walnut handle that would complement the rich detail of the timber doors. These ones feature a subtle radius curve that contrasts beautifully against the strong square lines of the Shaker trim.
What challenges did you work around?
Kennedy: Making the kitchen island work, as there was limited space, and wanting to maximise its length so it looked in proportion with the rest of the kitchen.
Kennedy: Making the kitchen island work, as there was limited space, and wanting to maximise its length so it looked in proportion with the rest of the kitchen.
How did you create a sense of flow between the kitchen and adjoining living and dining areas?
Kennedy: By carrying through a similar design aesthetic in all the fixed joinery, including a solid eight-millimetre timber edging on all the American-walnut joinery doors.
Ruffé: Similar colours and details have been continued throughout the home with intention. This strategic placement of finishes marries each room to the next and creates a sense of cohesion.
The clever parts are the little tweaks in the joinery – each piece is unique unto itself.
Kennedy: By carrying through a similar design aesthetic in all the fixed joinery, including a solid eight-millimetre timber edging on all the American-walnut joinery doors.
Ruffé: Similar colours and details have been continued throughout the home with intention. This strategic placement of finishes marries each room to the next and creates a sense of cohesion.
The clever parts are the little tweaks in the joinery – each piece is unique unto itself.
The buffet in the adjoining dining room
Key design aspects
Colour palette: White, natural timber and pale grey. Paint colour used: Dulux Whisper White.
Key design aspects
Colour palette: White, natural timber and pale grey. Paint colour used: Dulux Whisper White.
The new ground-floor plan
Materials palette: French-oak flooring, solid American-walnut timber with a matt oil finish for the floor-to-ceiling kitchen cupboards; polyurethane grooved panels painted in Dulux Whisper White for the lower kitchen cupboards; Artedomus Statuario Corchia honed marble for the benchtops and splashback; a custom-designed range hood with a brass trim.
Materials palette: French-oak flooring, solid American-walnut timber with a matt oil finish for the floor-to-ceiling kitchen cupboards; polyurethane grooved panels painted in Dulux Whisper White for the lower kitchen cupboards; Artedomus Statuario Corchia honed marble for the benchtops and splashback; a custom-designed range hood with a brass trim.
The new kitchen floor plan
Key pieces of furniture/fittings: Nickel tapware from The English Tapware Company; custom joinery handles from Bondi Kitchens; brass linear pendant from Rakumba lighting; Archier sink; Schock double sink from Abey; Cassina Cab leather bar stools from Space Furniture.
Key pieces of furniture/fittings: Nickel tapware from The English Tapware Company; custom joinery handles from Bondi Kitchens; brass linear pendant from Rakumba lighting; Archier sink; Schock double sink from Abey; Cassina Cab leather bar stools from Space Furniture.
Why do you think this kitchen works so well?
Kennedy: The combination of solid American-walnut timber and the more coastal feel of the white grooved polyurethane lower cupboards works well. I also think specifying the proportions of the grooves to be a bit tighter than normal gives the kitchen a more contemporary look.
Your turn
Do you love this kitchen as much as we do? Tell us in the Comments, like this story, save the images and join the conversation.
More
Missed last week’s Room of the Week? Catch up here with Room of the Week: An Open Kitchen That’s a Lesson in Layering
Kennedy: The combination of solid American-walnut timber and the more coastal feel of the white grooved polyurethane lower cupboards works well. I also think specifying the proportions of the grooves to be a bit tighter than normal gives the kitchen a more contemporary look.
Your turn
Do you love this kitchen as much as we do? Tell us in the Comments, like this story, save the images and join the conversation.
More
Missed last week’s Room of the Week? Catch up here with Room of the Week: An Open Kitchen That’s a Lesson in Layering
Answers by Cressida Kennedy, interior designer and director of Space Control Design; and Chris Ruffé, director of Bondi Kitchens, the company that did the kitchen joinery
Who lives here: A couple and their three children
Location: Coogee, NSW
Room purpose: An open-plan family kitchen that leads to a living and dining area
Room size: The kitchen is approximately 18 square metres. The combined kitchen/living/dining area is approximately 63 square metres
Budget: Approximately $35,000 for the kitchen