At the end of 2019 we finished a renovation project that we had spent a good part of the year working on. Our clients, a young family of seven (dad and the two boys not pictured below), live in a beautiful big historic home on Napier hill. The house had amazing bones and character but was definitely in need of an update. Nicki and Scott hired us initially to design their kitchen, and when we realised there needed to be a lot of structural work we called in our friends at Architecture HDT.

As is common with houses of this era, there were a lot of smaller rooms, and the kitchen was tucked away at the back. With a busy household of five children, Nicki and Scott wanted to take out a wall to create a large open plan space so that there was a connection between the kitchen, dining and living rooms.

The windows above the old kitchen bench were replaced with French doors out to the courtyard and the kitchen was completely removed and a new one was placed perpendicular to the original one.

The floor plan below gives you an idea of the final layout, although it did change slightly. The main difference was the pushing out of the external wall beyond the end of the fridge to make room for a small day pantry. Nicki and Scott’s builder, Brendan Grant of Grant Property & Construction Ltd, worked tirelessly on the renovation throughout the year.

It’s normal for there to be a few tweaks and changes to our initial design, but on the whole the finished kitchen has stayed pretty true to it. We wanted the kitchen to have a classic feel to be in keeping with the traditional home, but with a modern, sleek twist. Navy and white are classic and timeless, and we were so thrilled that Nicki and Scott went with the herringbone floors. A patterned tile in the laundry/butlers pantry helps to zone it as a seperate space whilst still complementing the wooden floor.

So much time and thought went into the layout, storage and practicality of the kitchen. The huge island houses the dishwasher, rubbish bins, plenty of drawers and cupboard space as well as room at one end for barstools. At the other end the bench top waterfalls down creating a beautiful feature from the living and main dining area.

The butlers sink and tap are a nod to the traditional style of the house. We chose a brushed nickel finish for the taps and handles - timeless yet again and so elegant.

The day pantry is one of my favourite features. When closed it’s very discreet and the pocket doors open and slide back into the wall so as not to block the access into the laundry. It’s the perfect space for tea, coffee and breakfast foods.

We kept the top cabinetry handleless for a cleaner, less fussy look. All of the joinery is by Sydaz Joinery.

The wall between the old kitchen and the living room was removed to allow more space, more light and much better flow. Because the ceiling heights were different in these two areas, it was really important to keep the flooring consistent throughout. The old kitchen had cork tiles on the floor and trying to match the existing living room floor boards was near impossible. We are totally in love with the new herringbone flooring that replaced the old floors, so happy days!

Those of you who have followed us for a while will know we are big fans of dining nooks and banquette seating, and this corner next to the new kitchen was crying out for one. It’s used for casual dining, whereas a large formal dining table is being custom made to fit in between the kitchen and living room.

The laundry also has extra storage for kitchen overflow, like larger appliances. It’s essentially in the same position, but that’s the only similarity with the old laundry. The access to it has changed and we completely redesigned the layout and fitted it out with custom joinery, tiled the floor and splash back.

The entrance to this beautiful old house got a makeover too. The concrete shelf (below) was removed and the wall opposite the front door was extended. A gorgeous new window was fitted to let in more natural light and provide a view from the dining nook, and a large custom door replaced the old door.

The new wall is just waiting for a beautiful console and either a mirror or a large piece of art - the perfect welcome into this amazing home.

Your front door and entrance creates the first impression for your guests, so this newly renovated home needed a special entrance. The doorway was enlarged for a new, very smart custom door painted in glossy black. The brushed nickel hardware echoes the hardware in the kitchen and laundry, and new exterior wall lights continue the modern traditional theme. The front door step is a work-in-progress and will be looking fabulous very soon.

Thank you so much Nicki and Scott for allowing us to share your stunning home. We are so happy with the outcome and wish you many happy times in the new space.