Kitchen renovations in Sydney for seaside comfort

This beachside Sydney kitchen renovation is generous in space, with a breezy style to complement its ocean outlook. A 'room with a view' is what this kitchen remodeling project aspired to, and achieved, with a modern open-plan design.

With only one stove hotplate working, cupboards warping and falling off, and bad watermarks, 'dodgy' is the description home owner Linda uses for her original kitchen. "Anything would have been better," she laughs. "After living in the house for two years, we decided it was due for a revamp."

It was also time to rearrange the space. Walls were removed to open up the area and incorporate the lounge, dining and entertainment area with the kitchen. Even though the kitchen remodeling left the eating area occupying the same position, the new L shape is clearly a better configuration.

Kitcheners Kitchens offer kitchen renovations in Sydney. Director, Michael Kitchener, says the young family put 'ease of access' as their desired focus. "We went through a Dynamic Space design process, which involved breaking the kitchen into different zones," he explains. "These included cooking, cleaning, preparation and storage."

Plenty of drawers were incorporated to store the different design elements. Even so, there's a surprising number, given the open-plan style. Their soft-close motion is kid friendly and kind to the contents. In fact, there are no overhead cupboards in sight and there are only two cupboards that aren't drawers.

"There's no wasted space with drawers; they're fantastic," Michael enthuses. "Unlike cupboards, they offer three shelves instead of one, and you can access all their contents, as they extend to 100% of their depth."

Attention to detail is obvious, with streamlined door handles customised to suit the different door and drawer widths. In popular polyurethane, the doors are flat with pencil-rounded edges. "It's a modern look that won't date," Michael explains. "The material is prone to scratching, but any potential problems are offset by the large, open space - there's plenty of room to move."

Being four metres long, the peninsula provides plenty of bench space for the busy family, and consistent with Michael's Dynamic Space design approach, the drawers are used to store consumables. "The idea is to move items to where you'll be using them," he explains. "For example, store your mixing bowls with food items like breadcrumbs."

The 40 millimetre CaesarStone benchtop delivers the desired stylish look, and a green-tinged glass splashback sets off the amazing sea views afforded by the kitchen's new 360-degree outlook. A final accompaniment that adds a touch of 'cosy' to the contemporary look of this kitchen remodeling is the floating shelves with a bracket lift system for displaying knick knacks and treasures.

Michael Kitchener, from Kitcheners Kitchens

What's your favourite feature of the kitchen?

The incorporation of lots of drawers in this open-plan kitchen. The drawers are Blum soft-close motion - ideal for the client's crockery and china. The only two cupboards that are not drawers are under the sink and the corner unit.

Why are there so many drawers?

Drawers offer three shelves instead of one, and because they extend to 100% depth, all their contents can be accessed. In this kitchen, Linda uses drawers in the centre for things like mixing bowls and breadcrumbs. This is part of Dynamic Space design. It's not a traditional pantry concept, but rather moving items to where she'll be using them.

Were there any challenges in the design process?

No, everything in our kitchen remodel went smoothly. The initial design brief was a three-hour process and then sketches were put on computer plan. The design didn't change much at all from the original.

Would you do anything differently next time?

Not really. Like any project, we could have added more bells and whistles with a bigger budget, for example a corner drawer unit. This would have added more to the total kitchen renovation cost. It's always a tricky balance between form, function and budget.

Linda, the home owner

What was the brief?

I had perused many magazines and knew what I wanted. My priorities were to remove a wall and let the ocean view into the kitchen, as well as create an open-plan kitchen and lounge room. I like to entertain, but didn't want a formal dining room, so the kitchen needed to be big enough for the purpose.

What guided your colour choice?

We live in a beach suburb, so I wanted something 'beachy' in terms of style and colour. We went mainly with white and a subtle green splashback ties in with the green tones in the lounge and bathroom.

Why did you go for bamboo flooring?

I love the look and the eco-friendly aspect. Bamboo is a renewable resource farmed in China. I chose the StyleBoard, as it's harder than most hardwoods and won't mark if things are dropped on the floor.

What's your favourite feature?

Originally, we were going to leave an extension on the CaesarStone benchtop for a breakfast-bar look. Instead, Gordon from Kitcheners recommended that we opt for a waterfall effect at the end, and I'm so glad I listened to him!

Were there any challenges in construction?

What started off as a new kitchen remodeling turned into a new kitchen, bathroom, ceiling and floor! There was a six-week deadline, so it was a tight schedule leading up to Christmas. Kitcheners worked hard to make sure everything was done in time, including co-ordinating tradesmen and even helping me to source a stove and fridge.

To get your kitchen remodel underway before Christmas, browse the range of kitchen renovators and designers in your area: