Catwalk cuisine
Fashion brand Diesel has partnered with Italian firm Scavolini to deliver a catwalk type of cool to the cuisine. Prices start from about €15,000 for a kitchen of about 9sq m. This Open Workshop style has mineral-green matt-lacquered doors, ribbed-glass accent doors and drawers, both with bronze handles and a Corian gravel worktop. The one pictured measures about 22sq m and costs from about €24,450 including VAT but excluding countertops and appliances. It is exclusive to newly opened Vita Italiana, a 5,000sq ft showroom based in Ballymount.
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Modular master
A leader in the development of the modular kitchen, Schiffini embodies the creativity and craftsmanship of Italian design. Founded in 1925, the firm is almost as old as the first fitted kitchen, the Frankfurt, which demonstrated the modernism of fitted units. Lepic is its latest collaboration with designer Jasper Morrison, and moves away from minimalism to focus on practicality. It is a modern, lived-in space with open storage for ease of access to pots, pans and foodstuffs, whilst the stainless-steel back panel, featuring machined grooves, allows you to add customised shelving. The handles, available in solid natural oak or cast-iron effect painted metal, are deliberately prominent, designed to, once again, hang dishcloths. Schiffini’s new showroom recently opened in London, and this design starts from about €22,760, ex delivery and installation.
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Thrills and grills
Dylan McGrath chose Blue Seal products for his new Shelbourne Road kitchen. Pictured, from left, is a salamander grill, €1,150, a two-portion char grill that lets you cook different foods at different temperatures on either of its sides, €2,700, and four-ring gas hob featuring burners that are three times more powerful than typical domestic ones, €1,900. To its right is a target-top range, a large flat surface that lets you simmer pots at its edges while boiling large stock pots at its centre, €3,200. These prices are ex VAT.
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Splash out on a splashback
If you’re fed up with metro tiles, a really simple way to update a kitchen is to change the splashbacks. The aluminium-based panels of AluSplash are grout-free, non-porous and easy to install. Steam and water resistant, its Elegance collection’s 10 rich hues offer an affordable and slick way to being a fashion colour into the space. Team with smooth marble worktops, modern cabinetry and abstract accessories for simple refresh. Ballincollig-based Office Interiors in Cork is the distributor, where it is stocked in sheets that are 4.1m long and 1.5m high. Prices start from about €150 per linear metre, but this is dependent on height, cut-outs required and so on, so is normally priced per job.
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Colour coda
Sinead Burke of Newmark Architects designed this simple galley kitchen for a property in Eden Villas, Glasthule and let its colour to do most of the talking. Fabricated by Brian Hennessey, the MDF unit doors have been sprayed a rich Grafton Port hue that contrasts with the warm timber used in the beams, dividing walls and window frames. The countertop is an oak butcher’s block with a lacquered finish. The kitchen costs about €12,000. The range cooker and matching hood are both Rangemaster.
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Floor show
Patterned floors are what make modern kitchens stand out from their earlier counterparts, and they can really help a contemporary design fit into a period space. Lapicida’s Comillas Natura, about €65 per sq m, ex delivery from the UK, is a refreshing take on the classic style of traditional Victorian mosaic flooring. It also offers the durability and ease of maintenance of a ceramic tile. It is ideal for those wanting a period look in either a residential or commercial setting with the ease of installation of a mosaic effect.
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Light fantastic
Natural light in a kitchen is important. When renovating a traditional Victorian house in north London, LBMV Architects extended out to the side and rear of the property in a way that remains sympathetic to its original style. A full-width skylight to the side helps bring in as much natural light as possible. By sourcing reclaimed wood and on-trend herringbone flooring, as well as designing custom storage solutions, the small extension allows for the inclusion of a kitchen island and additional worktops.
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Perfect perch
These simple four-legged Adelaide bar stools feel solid to sit on, and the moulded seats offer a certain level of creature comfort, providing a place to perch, to slurp a bowl of cereal in the morning or slug down the first cup of coffee of the day. They cost €379 each from Bo Concept and look especially good when teamed with a terrazzo counters and units – Concrete Design Studios is the place to get this kind of custom design. Blackened steel panels and bare brick add texture, colour and a touch of warmth.
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Door designs
Add a Memphis flavour to your cooking space with these new graphic Ytterbyn designs from Ikea. The door comes in six different sizes and five different prints that range in price from €25 to €60 per door. It’s a really smart and affordable way to update a tired kitchen and also allows you to come up with an infinite number of possible ways to customise a brand new design.
