Lock in your look
Create a design board for your kitchen — or, if you’ve created a board for your overall home, use that as inspiration for your kitchen. Choosing an overall theme gives you direction, so check out magazines, Pinterest and Instagram to identify your favourite designs and use the architecture of your home as inspiration.
Kitchen layouts
To choose the right layout for you, look at your lifestyle. How many people live in your home and how do they use the kitchen? Also consider the space. What kitchen layouts would work there? Are you prepared to take out walls and renovate to get the kitchen solution you want, or do you need to work within the current floor plan?
Social distancing
The work triangle is the distance between your sink, cooktop and fridge. About 1200mm between each area is ideal, and if possible no major traffic should cross through the working triangle. The sink should be in the centre of the working triangle as it’s the most frequently used. And no full-height cabinetry or appliance should be positioned between any two of the major work centres — keep them to the sides. Whatever layout you choose, mark the triangle out to make sure it’s not too big or too small.
Orientation station
Look at where the natural light and outlook is in your kitchen and orient the layout to suit. There’s usually a service zone including a large wall of cabinetry, cooktop and ovens — place this in the least desirable spot in the kitchen. Save the lighter, nicer spots for the prep and entertainment zones where you will spend more time and rather than hiding the sink away, position it facing the view you like the most.
Appliance science
Think about the relationship of each appliance to the other and make sure there’s enough access to them and space around them. You don’t want an oven and dishwasher colliding upon opening, or no prep and ventilation space around your cooktop.
Big beginnings
The largest areas in the space — benchtops, cabinetry, paint and splashback — will have the most impact, so choose these first. Get physical samples and create a palette you can keep adding to. You want them all to be complementary, so consider if the undertones and colours work together. Don’t be scared to make a statement!
Cabinet meeting
Cabinets can be finished in almost any colour and texture to be cohesive with your overall design, so choose a profile that suits your theme. Wainscoted suits a farmhouse chic look, straight panels look great in coastal homes, and simple fronts are ultra-modern. You can keep drawer styles clean and simple and use the finish and the hardware to ramp up the space, or use coloured cabinetry to make a statement.
Refine the eyeline
Standard cabinetry is 600mm deep. But if your dishwasher and fridge are deeper, you’ll end up with appliances jutting out and ruining your streamlined design. In this case, pack your cabinetry out so everything lines up perfectly.
Open shelving
Kitchens need to be so hardworking that they can often end up looking utilitarian. Using open shelving to display ceramics, plants or cookbooks creates a design moment, adds different textures, and breaks up large areas of cabinetry. Only bother if you’re up for the styling challenge, though — otherwise you may end up with clutter and dust being the main feature.
Light it right
Use layers of lighting to make sure there’s sufficient light for all kitchen tasks. A combination of downlights, pendants and under-cabinet strip LEDs works well.
The pointy end
Not having enough power points in the kitchen can be a big frustration. Mark them out on a sketch or plan of your kitchen, taking into account your appliances, habits and daily needs. Make them double power points where possible, and try to sneak in a few hidden ones — using a shelf in the pantry as an appliance cupboard can be a great bench-space saver.
The ultimate island
Islands are a brilliant kitchen design feature because you can make them a work of art that creates a focal point for the entire living space. Here are some of my favourite things to do with a kitchen island:
• Clad it in stone
• Curve it!
• Add fluted timber panels
• Give it legs!
• Show some metal
• Add "waterfall" ends, so the stone is featured on the top and sides.
Be complementary
Look at your interior colour palette for clues on what benchtop to select. Gather samples of flooring, carpet, curtains, paint and tiles, and take them with you when looking at benchtop samples to see at a glance what ties in. Rather than looking at samples on a screen, visit the stone manufacturer —you get an instant feel for what you like, and there’s expert help on hand. Take stone samples home and view them in different lights and times of day in your kitchen.
Price it right
The benchtop is often the hero of your entire kitchen, so it needs to have wow factor. However, for most of us, budget defines our choices. The great news is there are lots of statement benchtop materials available in every price range, from cost-effective laminate to mid-range engineered stone and high-end natural stone. Figure out a realistic budget before getting your heart set on a material. Remember, additional to the stone you will also need to pay the fabricator (the company who cut and install the stone). The following list shows some popular materials in order of their relative cost.
$$$$ Quartzite
$$$ Marble
$$$ Granite
$$ Stainless steel
$$ Engineered stone
$ Laminate
$ Timber
Remember that size matters
If you have a long kitchen, opt for a large slab size to avoid seeing too many joins in the stone (a key detail when you have a defined pattern). Stone and engineered stone slabs come in different sizes, including jumbo (3.2m x 1.8m), so it pays to compare the benchtop size you’ve planned to the size of the slab you want.
Ensure durability
Choose benchtop materials that are durable and easy to clean with minimal join or grout lines to create a smooth and easy-to-clean surface.
Use the whole slab
If you are using natural stone, it comes in slabs and there are often offcuts. Ask the fabricator if they can cut the stone in the most efficient way to allow for offcuts. These can be used as bar benchtops, tabletops or even open shelving.
Save with standard
Stone comes in standard thicknesses, the most common being 20mm. Any wider and pieces need to be cut separately and mitred together to create a block of stone. So, if you’re on a budget, keep labour costs down and opt for standard-width stone.
Tips
Drawers fit more stuff! Use them for all your below-bench-height storage, including dinnerware and serveware. Adding smaller inner drawers within the main drawer gives you a slimline solution for cutlery without affecting the outward look of the cabinetry.
Taking cupboards right to the ceiling not only makes a space feel larger and more seamless, but also gives you more storage space. If you have a very high stud, pack out the space between the top of the cabinetry and the ceiling with a bulkhead — this is a boxed-out wall to join the two spaces.
If everything in your kitchen is a solid white, the effect can be cold and flat. Add interest and depth by incorporating subtle texture. While cabinetry may be white, adding a veined marble-look stone, brass tapware, fluted glass upper cabinets or Lucite handles creates dimension, reflects light and demands attention.
Invest in quality hinges and other hardware if you can. While they’re not seen, a drooping cupboard door will be! Smooth-closing drawers and cupboards help to avoid noise and hurt fingers, and the strength of the hinges keeps the cabinetry you’ve invested in streamlined.
If you can’t fit in an island, a mini-island or butcher’s block is a great way to add storage while saving space.
You can mix metals! My rule is to mix what I call "dirty" metals, such as brass, bronze or gunmetal, but to avoid mixing shiny metals such as brushed brass and chrome. And I don’t mix dirty and shiny together.
The drain and basket waste surrounds will come with a standard stainless finish on your sink order, but it is possible to get them in various metal finishes to match your tapware, so shop around.
Place your bins close to your main prep area, away from fresh food storage and close to an exit for disposal.
Store regularly-used items between eye and hip level.
The book
This is an abridged extract from Live Luxe by Shelley Ferguson. Photography by Helen Bankers. Allen & Unwin NZ. RRP $45.
