SpaceCraft and the owners of this Wayville, Adelaide home are equally passionate about the powerful role of colour in kitchen design.
The owners’ existing kitchen was functional but lacklustre (‘It was plain and simple, the standard safe white kitchen’ says SpaceCraft designer Sarah Katsaros), so they came to the design studio seeing a more vibrant, positive, and playful space.
The first point of reference was the clients’ existing painting by Pia Gynell-Jorgensen, featuring soft yellows, pinks, blues, and greens.
The clients also desired some semblance of Danish mid-century design in the project, without sacrificing on colourful surfaces.
‘They didn’t want to include any timber in the joinery (which is quite unheard of when we think mid-century modern) as they thought the flooring would have enough of a timber influence on the whole space,’ explains Sarah.
Last but not least, the owners requested a dedicated record station in their kitchen. This area needed to be integrated into the joinery, but appear as a separate piece of furniture.
SpaceCraft selected a pastel brown meets pink (Dulux Primal) for the two-pack joinery, complemented by yellow melamine surfaces reflective of the clients’ sunny disposition!
‘The clients had such vibrancy about them, I wanted that to shine through,’ says Sarah.
Using melamine was effective in keeping costs down, as it reduced the amount of two-pack (custom painted) surfaces required. ‘We only used this [yellow] colour in two-pack where we needed, such as the tile trim and the cylindrical leg,’ explains Sarah.
White matte tiles laid with caramel grout and terrazzo benchtops (Fibonacci Carmelita) help to ‘neutralise’ the palette, and balance the space with texture.
The practical elements of the kitchen are just as considered, ensuring ample food preparation space, and record storage that doesn’t compete with the kitchen. ‘The separate bench area to the record station works well — specifically designed at a different height to define the two different areas,’ says Sarah.
Guests can now easily mingle around the terrazzo island bench, or take a seat at the tiled table extension, while taking in the fizzy colours of the new interior.
Sarah says, ‘It is such a bright, happy space, with curves and colour melting into each other in all different areas.’
