A contemporary kitchen revamp

Georgio doesn't claim to be an expert in kitchen design, but he knew what he did and didn't like in terms of colour scheme and overall feel. He wanted to be able to give his designer some general design ideas and then let him take care of the job. 

"I wanted something modern and contemporary … but I didn't have any specific designs in mind," says Georgio. "I just wanted it to fit in with the rest of the house, and also to allow me to entertain my family and friends."

As for Dimitri, this was a designer's dream.

"To be allowed to explore ideas and do what I want with the space is like a breath of fresh air," he says. "Georgio just gave me a budget and an overall look he was going for, along with a few ideas about colours and so on, and then left it to me."

Dimitri opened the kitchen up to the rest of the living space, installing straight lines, drawers and storage cupboards right up to the ceiling in the rear wall - on either side of the stove and oven - and he placed a Caesarstone quartz benchtop island between the kitchen proper and the rest of the dining and living areas. 

He decided to install straight-edged metallic handles on the cupboards and drawers, which performed the double function of matching the style of the rest of the interior while  contrasting with the dark sheen of the wenge veneer finish on the cupboards. 

Dimitri is pleased with the way the kitchen has turned out, and to have met Georgio's expectations and budget. And Georgio, for his part, is pleased that the process worked out so successfully.

"He gave me the look that I wanted and came in on budget, which is important," he says. "I can honestly say it was all a really easy process for me, and I love the result."

Dimitri Ioakimaros

EPK Kitchens

What did Georgio ask you to do in terms of the kitchen design?

He wanted to redo his kitchen and make it match the rest of his house. He lives in a fairly modern house and wanted a modern, sleek-looking kitchen. He likes entertaining and wanted me to take that into account. He wasn't specific about what he wanted apart from that general look he was going for.

So he pretty much gave you free reign with the design?

Well he gave me a budget and of course it was important to come in under that. And he told me colours that he particularly liked and didn't like. But apart from that he allowed me to explore ideas and do what I wanted with the space. It was a designer's dream really!

And how did you go about designing the new kitchen?

The old kitchen was quite closed-looking and not quite right for the house. I opened up the kitchen and stuck with straight lines and put the benchtop island in to really give that feeling of openness and to allow for increased traffic flow. And I put storage cabinets all the way up to the ceiling.

What's the thinking behind that?

It means that you don't need to put benches and cupboards in around at ground level and block up all the space. Each end of the kitchen is opened up and spacious. We used a lot of drawers in this kitchen because you can store more in them than in cupboards.

The handles on the drawers and cupboards are unusually square and industrial-looking. Why did you do that?

I went for the most straight and sharp-edged handles I could find. I didn't think that anything curvy would be appropriate. And they really suit the space I think - the contrast between the handles and the dark-coloured wenge timber veneer is really quite striking I think.

Dimitri Ioakimaros

EPK Kitchens

What did Georgio ask you to do in terms of the kitchen design?

He wanted to redo his kitchen and make it match the rest of his house. He lives in a fairly modern house and wanted a modern, sleek-looking kitchen. He likes entertaining and wanted me to take that into account. He wasn't specific about what he wanted apart from that general look he was going for.

So he pretty much gave you free reign with the design?

Well he gave me a budget and of course it was important to come in under that. And he told me colours that he particularly liked and didn't like. But apart from that he allowed me to explore ideas and do what I wanted with the space. It was a designer's dream really!

And how did you go about designing the new kitchen?

The old kitchen was quite closed-looking and not quite right for the house. I opened up the kitchen and stuck with straight lines and put the benchtop island in to really give that feeling of openness and to allow for increased traffic flow. And I put storage cabinets all the way up to the ceiling.

What's the thinking behind that?

It means that you don't need to put benches and cupboards in around at ground level and block up all the space. Each end of the kitchen is opened up and spacious. We used a lot of drawers in this kitchen because you can store more in them than in cupboards.

The handles on the drawers and cupboards are unusually square and industrial-looking. Why did you do that?

I went for the most straight and sharp-edged handles I could find. I didn't think that anything curvy would be appropriate. And they really suit the space I think - the contrast between the handles and the dark-coloured wenge timber veneer is really quite striking I think.