Initially conceived as an all-white kitchen, an Art Deco home received an inspiring and warm open plan design that is anything but white, yet with all the function and durability a family kitchen needs.
Looking at the interiors of this original Art Deco home in Elwood, it’s hard to see it being anything other than the warm and inviting space that now sits comfortably here, but as Carmel Wylie, Senior Designer for GIA Renovations, explains, “a friend of mine told me about [the home] and that they we’re having a bit of a freak out that their [original] designer was pushing for an all-white space. And they’re anything but white!”
Armed with this information – and cutting to the chase – Wylie and GIA Renovations inherited the project and presented something else, entirely different.
The kitchen in this Elwood home features a confident collection of curves and arcs, with a mix of materials and details sympathetic to the original home. In fact, Wylie notes the radii and legs of the island and rangehood panels are a direct reference to the architectural period and its forms. Yet, once in the kitchen, other ideas and movements spring to mind creating a wonderful, and complementary, blend of eras and shapes.
There’s a playfulness to the combination of colours and the way a densely packed, yellow based terrazzo from San Marco works with the full height Laminex Pale Honey cabinetry. On this wall, the drawers feature ball handles (the tall cupboards have matching Laminex handles) while the galley and the kitchen island, in Laminex Moroccan Clay AbsoluteMatte® get bar handles. It’s a subtle difference, but the choice to spurn the traditional application of consistent hardware throughout doesn’t leave you confused, but instead, this little tongue in cheek detail raises a smile.
It conjures the Memphis Design and its Post-Modern mischievousness. The 1980s movement was explicitly decorative just as the Deco era was, yet avoided the seriousness of its predecessors by employing humour and irreverence, mixing Art Deco geometry with Pop Art colour and classic Italianate influences.
Take the splashback and bulkhead in Dulux Venetian Plaster in Clay Pipe, a beautifully soft pink to compliment the Decton benchtop in matte Umber and the Laminex Moroccan Clay in AbsoluteMatte® finish below – a demonstration of textural prowess. Overhead, the rangehood has been treated with Metal Coat, a spray with a unique look and feel, its gentle curves absorb and move light in charmingly supple ways. Either side of the rangehood, peach-pink sconces with scalloped shades radiate warmth and wit. Already, in just this introduction to the space, tactility and visual interest is a central theme, but whereas Memphis Design could be overbearing and for some, overwhelming, Wylie’s handling of the space is anything but.
The kitchen has been designed so everything has a zone, but more than that, the clients have young kids, so [the island] was designed so they could sit at the table end and do craft and not interfere with the dinner prep,” says Wylie of the pragmatic elements of the kitchen’s design.
“Like the coffee area too,” remembers Wylie, “where they can come in, make a coffee and not be in the way. So, everyone can get something done at the same time.” Something that will come in handy as the kids grow or when entertaining.
Choosing to use Laminex, Wylie explains that it’s qualities such as durability and stain resistance that sees her returning to Laminex time and again, but ultimately it’s the colours that make it work. “We use Laminex for the colours. I see them all as neutrals; they can be in the background or in the centre.”
On certain days the pool, just in front of the island, sends rippled reflections to the ceiling. As the dappled light dances away, the calm and warmth of the interiors, coupled with textural choices never loses its appeal. Even softer inclusions like the hand turned legs in pine make their claim. Washed to match the ash floors, their dome-like tops lighten the visual weight of the tabletop completing the detail.
White can be an easy solution, a default even, but it’s rarely the one size fits all solution many purport it to be. Counter-intuitively white can date a home; the very thing it’s meant to combat. Using colour should be neither scary nor difficult - and your kitchen, bathroom or laundry isn’t about to turn into a set from Play School as a result. Wylie’s emphasis on the Laminex colour range is a great piece of advice. Treated as neutrals, an ideal palette of tones and textures can be created, but, alternatively, treated as a highlight, homes and rooms can take on whole new meanings and personalities.
Whichever direction you take, the goal is the same; connect to your home, find the colours and hues that speak to its character, surrounds and your tastes. Laminex’s Colour Collection and extensive range of finishes allow colour to be a part of your life without sacrificing durability or quality. Looking at Elwood House, it’s hard to imagine it any other way.
Learn more about Gia Renovations and their award winning design and construction services on their website.
Products used within Project Elwood are Laminex Moroccan Clay in AbsoluteMatte® finish and Laminex Pale Honey.
Credits:
Design & Build: Gia Renovations
Photographer: Twinewood Studio
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