ALL CHANGE

from Bunnings Nz Magazine Winter 2022

by Bunnings

LUXE FOR LESS

Before

r ine, homeowner Cath e

OPENING UP WHAT WAS A SMALL, DATED KITCHEN BRINGS LIGHT AND COLOUR TO THE HEART OF THIS HOME

Words and styling HOLLY BYRNE Photography ANNA ROBINSON

Aplain white kitchen was never on the cards for homeowners Catherine and Josh. After moving into their 1950s brick home, they wasted no time in planning their dream cook zone. Catherine wanted colour and character – and a more open-plan layout for keeping watch over their young daughters, Billie and Bobby – but didn’t want to over-invest, so the couple worked with Kaboodle Kitchen to bring their plans to life.

The original kitchen was enclosed and uninspiring, but removing a wall and replacing the white cabinetry with a sophisticated colour scheme has transformed the room

Measure, plan, check

After the northern wall was removed and the kitchen opened up to the adjacent dining room, the couple called in some planning help from Bunnings. “Luke from the Kitchen Design Service team measured the entire space, then within two hours he’d fully drawn up the design,” explains Catherine. “I triple checked everything by putting masking tape all over the floor and walking around the kitchen, making sure that I’d allowed enough distance between the cabinets and the island.”

Colour me happy

“Everyone does a white kitchen, which can be beautiful, but I wanted something with more depth and character,” says Catherine, who made multiple trips in store to see products up close and to scale before locking anything in. “That was really important, because sometimes a swatch alone can be misleading – you want to see a panel of it to see how the light plays with it.”

One of her visits even led to a last-minute switch of benchtops.

Catherine and Josh are thrilled with their new family-friendly space

FLOOR PLAN

STOVE

SINK

D/W BIN

ISLAND FRIDGE

PANTRY

“I just had this feeling, so I went into the store and saw it on a large scale, and realised the vein was too intense,” she recalls. Their final selections included a more understated marblelook engineered stone on the benchtops, splashback and shelving, paired with premium thermoformed Alpine profile cabinetry in Grey Fig.

TOP CENTRE Kaboodle Kitchen 2 x 38L side mount pullout bins in Grey, $397, I/N: 0220934 (available mid-late June). TOP RIGHT Mondella ‘Resonance’ WELS 5-star 6L/min curved sink mixer in Stainless Steel (suitable for unequal/mains pressure), $170, I/N: 0204805. All other products, stylist’s own. Some products are not available at all Bunnings stores, but may be ordered. Always engage licensed trades to carry out plumbing and hardwired electrical work.

Island life

Opening up the space and creating a functional kitchen island was essential. “The square shape is something different, because people often go for a rectangle island, but it also adds to the storage underneath,” says Josh. The pair opted for back- to-back 600mm base cabinets with push-to-open cupboards on one side and a pull-out waste bin and drawers on the other, forgoing the counter overhang they had planned. “We had the cabinets set up, and our toddler was running around the island one day when we realised that the overhang was perfect head-height for her to hurt herself,” says Catherine.

“I not only wanted a beautiful kitchen, I wanted it to be extremely functional, which it is. I can’t believe how perfect we got it”

Catherine, homeowner BELOW Kaboodle Kitchen 150mm 2 tier soft close pullout basket, $117.98, I/N: 2667713, and ‘Plaza’ 96mm kitchen handles in Matte Black, $8.28 each, I/N: 0175953†. All other products, stylist’s own.

Planning perfection

“The absolute non-negotiable was a pull-out bin, because I grew up in a household where the bins were always sitting inside a cabinet, where they got messy and would always smell,” explains Catherine. “We did not want that! So with the pull- out bin, I can chop my food and scrape the scraps straight in. It’s unbelievable!” A dishwasher was strategically placed just a step away for a streamlined scrape- and-stack process, and concealed with an integrated cabinet panel. On the opposite side of the island, soft-close pull-out wireware has levelled up the organisation and storage capabilities in the family pantry. “The pantry pull-out baskets are the thing we didn’t know we needed!” says Josh.

Kaboodle Kitchen 900mm soft close pullout baskets, $130.85 each, I/N: 2667712†. Some products are not available at all Bunnings stores, but may be ordered. Stainless-steel appliances complement the modern styling of the refreshed space