Award Winning Kitchen design
We are proud to have received three awards at this year’s HIA Kitchen & Bathroom Awards. It’s the most extensive residential awards program in Australia.
- Winner New Kitchen under $45K – Designer – Matt Grieve
- Runner up Renovated Kitchen under $45K – Designer – Teresa Kleeman
- Winner Renovated Kitchen over $60K – Designer – Susan Cleveland
- Runner up Renovated Kitchen over $60K – Designer – Susan Cleveland
If you’d like an award winning kitchen on a budget or one with all the bells and whistles,
contact us today for your free in-home consultation.
About the Awards
The HIA Housing and Kitchen & Bathroom Awards represent the pinnacle of achievement in Australia’s residential building industry. They recognise excellence in the construction, design, innovation and technology of housing. Participation in this prestigious competition is a benefit enjoyed only by members of HIA. Judged by industry professionals, the Awards acknowledge the talent of builders, designers and building companies who plan and construct quality new housing and apartments, renovations and outdoor projects.
Winner New Kitchen under $45K
A former restauranteur, this client knew her way around the kitchen. She loves to entertain with family and friends and their events can be lavish affairs. The kitchen needed to be functional and versatile with high capacity storage and space.
Form was very important to the client as was her love of timber and organic feel finishes. The kitchen was to be the visual and functional hub of the living and entertaining spaces at the rear of the house leading to the Alfresco Entertaining Space, Pool and Garden.
In the brief were clear instructions to design something easy to clean and keep clean. High raked ceilings with high west facing windows were a significant feature as well as design constraint.
High gloss white cabinetry (Albedor True Reflections) reflected all available light keeping the space open and bright.
Use of Bronze softened this effect and creates a contemporary yet homey feel. As the colours were neutral, the kitchen blends well with its surrounds and complements the timber floors. The use of whites and neutrals allowed the client freedom in choice of colour scheme for decorating the rest of the house.
Winner Renovated Kitchen over $60K
This Kitchen contained a typical u shaped space with black granite and dull cabinetry. The clients were
frustrated with lack of storage and being trapped in the u shape. Being an apartment we needed to consider the existing plumbing. We maximised the tall ceilings with storage and extended the bulkhead out to the new overhead cabinetry. Taking the whole length of the far wall and finishing off with a buffet created with the new Albedor wave grain. This now defines the where the kitchen finishes and the dining and entertaining begins.
The clients want to sell in a few years and requested a safe colour pallet of mostly white with a sheen, this was matched with Cararra Smartstone, Corian Sage Brush and new bamboo floors throughout the dining and living area.
The apartment now reflects the New York City feel the clients are now enjoying.
Runner Up Renovated Kitchen over $60K
A young family with four children and very busy lives, this client loved the classic look of designs from the New Hamptons featuring a dark rich feel, roomy surfaces and light walls.
The old kitchen was a tired early 1990s space with a large corner pantry, laminate surfaces, floral tiles, lacking light and access to the dining room. The clients particularly wanted to be close by their children while they played around the house or ate at the table.
The Smarter team reorganised the walls to the dining room, and provided double doors, painted in black. We also opened up the wall to the playground area to install a long sleek window as a splashback. This extra space allowed for a functional full width island area, 3m x 1.200 wide. The new kitchen is packed full of storage in the dark laminate to withstand the rigours of four young children. Smartstone Carrara was used as an alternative to real marble for durability and less problems with staining, this was done as a thick 80mm waterfall. Appliances such as the 1200 wide Teppanyaki Grill, appliance unit for coffee sitting on the walnut floors make this a great kitchen to entertain their large and extended family. Another feature of this kitchen is the pendant lighting and led lighting for night-time which highlights the leather look panels to the front of the island.
Runner Up Renovated Kitchen under $45K
This elegant Carlton Terrace, tucked in a busy city street, was challenged by this dark, badly designed small kitchen space. Space was an issue and when they opened the oven door, they couldn’t get past or even stand behind it. The lighting was so bad that even the keenest eyed cook, could not tell when the toast was done. The bluestone looked well past its use by date, and instead of being a pleasant feature in this small kitchen, it was more of an eyesore.
The oven issue was resolved by using a NEFF “hide and slide” oven, where the oven door slides away under the oven when it’s open – a great feature for small kitchens where access and thoroughfare is a real issue. The dull bluestone was transformed into a feature by water-blasting it to bring back its natural lustre, and then applying and enhancer, which brought out the texture and colour of the stone.
The lighting was improved by cleaning the existing skylight and installing LED strip lighting below the overhead cupboards giving good task lighting. Further task lighting was achieved by installing a feature halogen strip which hangs in the airspace, flooding the dark space with bright light. The cupboards were converted to drawers, and the once small kitchen was now transformed into a mass of storage space and usability for even the fussiest of cooks.
The team at Smarter is so proud of these projects and wish to thank the clients for the opportunity and all the team who continually help to achieve the high standard of excellence we are known for.
Call us today on 1300 662 838 or arrange free in-home consultation for your award winning kitchen, no matter what your budget is.
Inspiration and advice
Inspiration and advice
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