These homeowners wanted a contemporary kitchen makeover with a simple and classic colour palette, keeping in style and feel of a social Italian kitchen. The premium Melamine Matt Walnut cabinetry is a warm contrast to the coolness of the stainless steel used for the grooved handles, plinths, splashback, and front of the island. All these are complemented by a quartz Taj Mahal 60mm thick benchtop.

Three harmonising tones were chosen to complete the organic appearance of the newly modernised kitchen renovation.

Stainless steel was strategically designed to be incorporated on the back-wall benchtop, splashback and shelf, while the Taj Mahal quartz was selected due to its hard-wearing and minimal staining properties, along with its ability to create a thick profile. The owners have never used a steam oven before but were impressed with the functionality and food quality it produces – this was an added extra to their conventional oven and warming drawer.

Addressing the owners’ personal cooking style, a gas hob was mounted onto the island benchtop with a flush downdraft behind for extraction. Double fridge/freezers and a dishwasher are integrated to complete the seamless appearance. An under-bench wine cabinet with stainless steel shelves and glass-framed doors housing 18 bottles of red wine sit at the front of the island for ease of access when entertaining.

Three large pendants have been used to support the scale of the 4.6-metre island length, with the gold colour opposing the stainless steel. New double spotlights were also installed throughout the house, this was a decision made to modernise the kitchen along with every other room in the house.

An organic, natural and wide plank French oak floor was selected due to its texture and warmth. The floor was custom finished, stained and colour matched to the Melamine Matt Walnut cabinetry to achieve a successful mix of tones. The decking area adjacent to the kitchen was stained the same colour to create a sense of indoor-outdoor flow.

The kitchen was purposely designed to centralise the back wall and break up the floor to ceiling Melamine Matt Walnut units, recessing the cabinetry into the wall with stainless steel allows reflection to bounce off the space. Recessed units under the full depth ceiling cabinets have protruding doors instead of handles and built-in LED strips that accentuate the stainless-steel shelf and benchtop.