Kitchen Design Brief

Leigh’s home had high ceilings with wooden beams and had an overall feel of a rustic cabin. A very modern design would have looked out of place and would have clashed with the rest of the home. “I wanted something that was modern but not too modern because I feel that very modern designs look too sterile” said Leigh about her initial though process for her kitchen design.

She was also not too keen on choosing a specific colour for her cabinets as she felt that they would not remain timeless. She felt that when it came down to it black would best suit her vision of a contemporary kitchen design.  Only black would have however, not worked for the look she envisioned so we decided to tone the black down with some wooden accents like her island. This wooden oak paneling also complemented the wooden beams of high ceilings in the living area for a cohesive open plan design.

Choosing the right Materials

Narrowing down the materials such as tiles can seem like a daunting task for most of our clients because of the abundance of choices out there. Our project managers often take an active role in helping our clients choose materials for their kitchen design. “I had a little look at Tile Depot, and I was flabbergasted, it was just too much to choose from and so Jin met me there, he helped me put some stuff out. We had all kinds of swatches, the benchtop, and paint swatches” said Leigh about Jin’s role in her selection process.

Every kitchen has a showstopper and in Leigh’s case it was definitely her splashback “I always thought I would end up with subway tiles but Jin talked me out of it and I am really glad that he did. But the different colours in benchtop as well we had to be careful that we didn’t find a splashback that clashed but actually matched. I am stoked and we have had so many comments about these tiles”.

Kitchen renovation Specifications

Kitchen Layout and Cabinetry

• There was no change in layout for the kitchen so no structural work was required
• Prime Acrylic black matte cabinet  fronts from Laminex – 18mm
• Prime wood grain panels used for panels for breakfast nook – 18mm
• Acrylic panels and wood grain panels are finger print resistant
• All cabinetry used BLUM’s soft close technology
• Hinges from BLUM
• Recessed Nose hook for cabinets with a no-handle set up giving it a contemporary look

Splashback and Benchtop

• 30mm stone engineered Matte benchtop with grey and black flecks
• Art Stone Painting grey Chevron 300 by 800 for splashback from Tile depot – They are popular art deco tiles which give a 3D effect creating a great dimension in design.
• The splashback was chosen to complement the grey and black undertones of the benchtop

Modern amenities and Storage

• Custom built pull out pantry for good in built storage
• Pull out rubbish bins
• Silgranit sink from Blanco – stain resistant, heat resistant upt0 280 degrees. scratch resistant, 37l capacity. Metra XL 6 matte black
• Matte silver large U bent tap with pull out flexible nozzle for easy cleaning

Flooring, Mood Lighting and Electrical work

• Anti slip 600 by 600 Lakey Grey Tiles from Tile Depot were installed throughout the kitchen. The grey matte tiles complement the grey undertones of the benchtop as well as the splashback for a cohesive kitchen design.
• A well designed kitchen has layers of light consisting of task lighting, ambient lighting, pendent lighting and recessed lighting.
• 6 downlight LED lights installed on the ceilings
• 3 pendant lighting were installed above the kitchen island
• LED strip lighting was installed below the cabinets to highlight the splashback which also double as task lighting
• Re-wiring was done throughout the kitchen

Small Ensuite – Before renovation

The bathroom layout was kept the same as it was not possible to change too much in this bathroom due to its narrow space. We used the same tiles for the floors, tiled shower and walls as the main bathroom downstairs.

The tapware used were also the same as the main bathroom with the only thing different in this bathroom was a smaller vanity and an insert sink.

Leigh’s overall experience 

At Superior Renovations we believe that most companies can renovate a home just like us and have the same expertise as us. However, what we strive to do is go above a beyond a renovation. We do not want our clients to just be happy with the end result but the journey they have with us through the renovation process.

When asked how her day to day renovation process looked like she said:

“The tradespeople were lovely. They worked so hard, and I was really impressed. On Christmas Eve I didn’t have an oven, and everything was right down to the wire. The plumber guy who lived all the way down in Pukekohe and he bent backwards and forwards for my place to get it done. He was just awesome; he was all good and they were all just pulled out all the stops. Nick was really good, they made it happen and I was so grateful, and I know that there are all these projects happening at the same time and due to Covid things were stuck in all the boats and I really appreciated it”.