Room recipes

Put these ingredients together to guarantee a kitchen or bathroom that hits the spot

KITCHENS AND BATHROOMS are the meat and gravy of the home-design menu – they put the guts into the design palette. As functional spaces, they take a lot of thought, but they’re also an opportunity to make an aesthetic impact.

We spoke to Rochelle Jackson from Kitchen Elements in Wellington and Leonie Hamill of Cube Dentro in Auckland to find out the latest moods and moves when it comes to these design-intentional spaces. F

LEFT This black and white kitchen by Leonie Hamill of Cube Dentro is an international award-winner with textural subtleties and luxe in full measure.

Black, but not as you know it

“Black kitchens are striking, but one issue is that black is more work to keep clean even if you use the best anti-fingerprint surface finishes,” says Rochelle. So, if you want it, you’ll have to give it a lot of love.

Rochelle often blends black with timber to break up the visual impact, mixing up the cabinetry and adding in, say, a metallic-toned island benchtop. An all-black palette can be overwhelming or even boring. She also uses textured glass in some cupboard fronts as a way to bring a lightness of being to the look while shielding any clutter from view.

Leonie, too, says texture is the key to unlocking the beauty of black. “It gives it a more organic feel.” In one Auckland kitchen, a 2021 winner in the Designer Awards UK held in London (see previous page), black cabinetry with a Timberland finish mimics the grain of wood. The sleek space has an heroic island bench in contrasting tones of black Dekton and white Primestone with big, bold veining. The black portion has a matte texture while the white side has a leathered finish.

Loving the luxe

There’s always a way to incorporate a little luxury in a kitchen or bathroom. That could be with just one superb tap in a metallic of the moment or an all-out luxe-fest using metals and stone. Raw, real materials are naturally awesome, but manmade engineered products are also pushing the boundaries.

Dekton is one brand having its time in the spotlight. It’s a combination of quartz, porcelain and glass, and is super strong. Rochelle likes to use it as a benchtop finish but also uses a veneer of real stone to front cabinetry; slicing the stone finely is technical and expensive, but worth it for those with a splash-out budget.

Leonie agrees the path to deluxe deliciousness is to mix up high-end materials. Even a single unexpected element can create a shot of sumptuousness. In one powder room, she used a chain-link aged-brass curtain to separate the wet zone from the dry. Large-format, marble-look porcelain tiles wrap the space from head to toe. “If the client has the budget, a full height, floor-toceiling tile is so much nicer,” she says.

Secret spaces

Hidden rooms, once the domain of the childhood fairytale, have moved mainstream with grown-ups rediscovering their charms.

In one David Reid Homes showhome in Pukekoke, a timber-panelled wall in the entrance hall gives no hint of what lies behind. First-time visitors are encouraged to push open the secret doorway to enter a powder room that is out of this world. With marbleised walls, minimal fittings in black and luxurious metallic tapware, it’s like stepping into an upmarket hotel. “The powder room is definitely a place where you can have fun with design and afford to be bold, combining textures or using elaborate wallpapers,” says Leonie. Expect the unexpected, then.

Secret sculleries are becoming de rigueur in upmarket kitchens, but Rochelle says a cupboard with a workbench and open shelving that can be closed off with sliding doors might suffice when you want your kitchen to become a showpiece. “In New Zealand, where we seldom have caterers or servants, and where kids often do their homework at the kitchen bench, this might be the better option,” she says. It’s more important, she advises, to make sure the kitchen is set up properly. “Design it how you will really use it.” In one David Reid Homes project, she created a ‘baking zone’ with easy-access storage for flour and other pantry items, small appliances and a big sink for washing up the bowls at one end while at the other end is a bar. “The adults can come in and make cocktails quite easily,” she says. “And the fridge is positioned to be accessible to both the scullery and main kitchen.” F

OPPOSITE Although this kitchen in a showhome in Waikanae is predominantly black, vertical surfaces in dark timber add interest to what could be a single-minded aesthetic. BELOW LEFT A secret doorway to a powder room is a feature of a David Reid Homes showhome in Pukekohe. BELOW RIGHT When planning a kitchen, divide it into zones with a coffee station for adults and perhaps a separate breakfast station for the kids.

ABOVE A brass chain-link curtain is an unexpected delight in this Pukekohe bathroom, and the slimline toilet seat is very in vogue. RIGHT Metallic taps have enduring style that will never date and can be teamed with other metallic accessories, such as a robe hook, for longevity.

Beauty & the bathroom

Small spaces are a real test of the designer’s skill, and bathrooms tend to pack a lot of punch per square metre. Either go for light and airy or dark and moody but make a clear choice: a room that falls somewhere in between won’t serve either purpose well.

It’s a bit of a juggling act between form and function, so set your priorities. For example, a wall-hung vanity unit will make a room feel more spacious and it’ll be easier to clean beneath it, but it won’t maximise storage.

Rochelle uses a couple of tricks in small guest bathrooms: a kickboard drawer for storing toilet rolls – “nobody would know it was there” – no handles on drawers to bump into, and she always adds a shelf for overnight visitors to put their toilet bag on.

Enduring style: Keep the design timeless with natural materials such as stone tops, oak panels or metallic taps.

Trend alert: Want to add a bit of colour? Consider one of the new freestanding basins that come in dusty pink, washed green or soft grey. Best bet: Specify the best you can afford because a bathroom should be fitted to take the knocks for many years and quality outlives cost. Leonie’s design, the 2021 winner of the Trends TIDA NZ Powder Room (above), has marble-like porcelain tiles laid floor to ceiling for a beautifully clean backdrop. But lighting also delivers enormous impact, with a backlit mirror seeming to float in the space and LED lighting that washes the rear concrete wall to bring out its raw appeal.

Touch of luxe: X-shaped wall-mounted tapware in textured aged brass mixes contemporary form with a traditional material.

Slim rims: When it comes to what’s new in the loo, slimline toilet seats keep the lines sleek and simple, and New Zealanders are increasingly worshipping at the throne of rimless pans (which are easier to clean). In decorative tile style, classic mosaics used to be the hippest kid on the block, but now art deco-influenced shapes such as finger tiles, hexagon rosettes, fish-scale and tessellated patterns offer unique options. F

8 quick-but-slick design guidelines

1. The kitchen could be considered an item of ‘architectural furniture’ that should tie in with the overall design of the house. Repeated elements, such as slatted timber features (on the front of the island bench to reflect, say, a dividing screen in the hallway), help achieve this. 2. If your designer talks about the

‘work triangle’, they’re out of touch – kitchens no longer operate between just a sink, a hob and a fridge: layouts are far more complex. 3. Custom-made is your best friend if you dream of a truly different space, whether you want a rangehood clad in stone or Frank Lloyd Wright-style brass legs to support an extended bench that acts as a dining table. 4. Wall-mounted vanity units make the bathroom feel more spacious and are easier to clean beneath. 5. Ditto wall-mounted taps, which save space on the vanity top (which might be limited). 6. Use a slab of natural stone (marble or granite) as a showstopper on an island bench and pick out tones from its veining to repeat in, say, the cabinetry. 7. Pull handles can make a small but mighty statement in kitchens and bathrooms. Metallics are the jewel in the crown and now come with textured finishes such as knurled, fluted, satin-blasted, rolled and hammered. 8. Drawers galore keep the space hyper-organised. In the past, kitchens tended to feature just two or three sets of deep drawers for pots, pans and dinnerware. Now drawers with multiple levels are the go, so you can store your oils and spices right where you need them.

TOP Kitchens feature multiple drawers (not just the pot drawer) so the cook can have spices and ingredients to hand rather than tucked away in a pantry. ABOVE Wall-mounted vanity units make a small bathroom feel more spacious.