Wendy Moore shares a stylish kitchen design with personality
Wendy Moore shares a stylish kitchen design with personality
Designing kitchens is a great passion of mine - what better way to really understand how different people live and use their spaces than by crafting a room where they cook, gather with family and friends and enjoy the best things in life?
Kitchens are a great expression not just of our style but of our passions, and I love being involved in bringing them to life. So when Dominique from Provincial Kitchens reached out to me to share this stunning kitchen, I was thrilled to explore it - and knew immediately that the perfect statement for the owners was a brand-new Belling Colour Boutique 90cm Gas-Through-Glass Range Cooker in Thunder Blue, the jewel in the crown of this simply lovely space. I met with Dominique to discuss what makes this kitchen great.
A beautiful kitchen designed for practical living
The blended family living in this home is a particularly busy one, with each of the parents working professionals and a Brady Bunch-load of kids! Three of the kids live in the home full time but on the weekends, the house gets truly hectic as three more of the kids descend. Do the maths - that’s six kids plus the parents at any given moment!
The biggest challenge this family had was organisation, and they literally needed a place for everyone to sit, with the old kitchen a closed off room that simply wasn’t functioning. Home life usually centres around the kitchen - particularly when you have six snack-hungry children. The couple called upon kitchen designer Dominique of Provincial Kitchens, who devised a plan to transform this kitchen into a calming and practical area of the home.
“The way the kitchen was before was really dysfunctional and impractical, with the cooktop on one side, the stove on the other and a big island in the middle. It was a completely separate room to the dining room, really enclosed,” explains Dominique. “We had to knock out a wall to open up the spaces to a really beautiful view at the back looking at the water surrounding Hunters Hill and to let in a lot of light and a lot of air.”
Wendy’s five favourite inclusions in this clever kitchen
1. Gorgeous appliances that do the job
While Dominique was adding the final touches, she turned to Wendy for help, who suggested the Belling Colour Boutique 90cm Gas-Through-Glass Range Cooker Rangecooker in Thunder Blue as a central focal point. It was the perfect shade of blue to suit this modern provincial-style kitchen, adding a pop of statement colour that really brings the design together. The owner also loves the three independent ovens, perfect for entertaining as you can have multiple meals cooking - at different temperatures - at the same time. For a family of this size, a six-burner hob was essential, too. Forget entertaining - anyone with a fussy eater will appreciate this!
3. A clever small appliance cabinet
The owner of this home places a lot of importance on the types of food she is eating and making specific health choices, which means she is preparing a lot of food and using a lot of small appliances with different functions. Previously, a lot of the appliances were out on the bench as they were so regularly used. They are still regularly in use, but now they have a neat home with electrical points, a clever little appliance cupboard that lights up when the door opens. Dominique was sure to add some extra depth to the benches, preferring a 700 over a 600 depth. “Sometimes even 750, if I have space,” she says. “I just find it's a lot more generous to have that extra bench space where you're prepping food or plating up.”
3. A statement Island bench
Removing the wall meant the working spaces could be reconfigured and a new statement island bench could extend into the new space, with seating factored around the end to allow the kids to just pop in for breakfast or to serve up a casual dinner. “I had the stools recovered in leather just because of the fact that they’ve got children with sticky fingers,” says Dom with a laugh. “Everything's ‘ease of cleaning’, you know.” The island is a marvel that hides lots of extra storage (including dividers for breadboards) and a double dish drawer, a double bin, and a steamer.
4. Platter racks with style
“I love platter racks,” says Dominique simply. “Honestly, it's one of my favourite things to put in a kitchen because I consider platters as artwork.” No longer stashed at the bottom of a drawer, this narrow display area makes sense, as not only is it easy to access and remove these heavy items, it means guests can just jump in and help themselves. “They had 25 over for Christmas this year, and the owner said every platter was used!”
5. The bag drop zone
The first thing every kid does as they arrive home is enter through the door into the kitchen, so a practical area where they could drop their things was essential. An under stair area was utilised to make a cupboard. “They've each got a drawer and they can put their belongings into their own drawer so that there's stuff not just everywhere,” says Dom. It makes a real difference in keeping the kitchen presentable and tidy, and things don’t get lost - there’s even a place for everyone’s keys, letters and a noticeboard for the kids' school notes.
Delivering a great kitchen like this starts in the planning. For more inspiration, read my blog on How to Plan Your Dream Kitchen, check out @bellingau on Instagram and follow me @wendymooreedit.
Wendy Moore
Interiors expert Wendy Moore is renowned for her understanding of what Australians want from their homes. Wendy and her team at The Interiors Edit are focussed on achievable dreams, attainable style and leading trend development and evolution that works with the way we live.
Known across the country as the host of Selling Houses Australia, Group GM of The Lifestyle Group of Channels and Homes Editor at Australian Women’s Weekly, Wendy’s resume also includes a decade on leading trend forecasting publication Australian Home Beautiful, as well as a judge on Channel 7’s House Rules.