Japanese influence.

A lovely old villa in Devonport receives an extraordinary kitchen makeover, influenced by a family’s previous life in Japan.

It’s hard to know what you want if you don’t know where to start. This is the exact situation these homeowners found themselves in when looking for inspiration for their new kitchen. Then, through a friend, they were recommended to speak to local designers, Kitchens By Design.

In-house designer, Marianne Gailer, says the couple had never planned a new kitchen and were looking for guidance. “It’s not an unusual situation. That’s why we are here,” says the designer. “Once I met them and learnt about their family connections to Japan, I decided to draw on an Oriental theme by taking in their surrounding furniture and art.”

With the theme set in her mind, Marianne then had to address the size and functionality of the existing kitchen, which literally looked like a makeshift kitchen in the corner of the open-plan kitchen-dining-living space, she says. “It was about a quarter of the size of the new kitchen, which was way too small in terms of scale and functionality for the room and the family.”

The key to the design's success was Marianne’s inspirational choice of natural materials — a wonderfully grained Titanium Granite in a tactile, leathered finish for the kitchen island, paired with solid Tasmanian Blackwood cabinetry, crown cut and mismatched, to give a natural, organic feel. The combination is an explosion of grain, colour and texture and gives the kitchen its unique character.

“The colours of the leathered Titanium Granite were the starting point for my scheme,” she says. “The mitred island ‘block’ anchors the kitchen in the open-plan living space and also provides the required bench space.”

Centring the cooker within the cabinetry along the back wall balanced the fridge and bi-fold pantry/appliance garage nicely. Two additional space towers, one on each side, give ample food storage.

“A jet-black leathered splashback and black cooker help balance the central feature. Above, timber battens add to the texture and the Japanese feel. The inspiration for this slatted look came to me one evening when we were sitting in a Japanese restaurant — from the partitions between the seating.”

Apart from the cooker, all the appliances are integrated — a notion the owners weren’t initially on board with, says the designer. “But after I showed them a 3D walk-through of their new kitchen, with and without hidden appliances, they changed their minds.”

‘Beyond our wildest dreams’ was the client’s reaction to their new Zen aesthetic kitchen. Mum cooks, the daughter preps, and dad makes tea, all in their designated zones.

This kitchen was named Runner Up in the Auckland Chapter category at the prestigious NKBA Excellence in Design Awards 2022.

If you are wanting to transform your kitchen, get in touch and make an appointment with one of our designers.