Entertainment Focused Kitchen with Laminex and GIA Renovations.

Join/Login

Prioritising its access to outdoors and a uniquely positioned pool, Gia Renovations and interior designer Olivia Cirocco, transformed a home with early millennium design touches into a contemporary delight.

The quicks and idiosyncratic touches of late 90s, early thousands design is not something we’ll easily forget, and the kitchen of this Beaumaris home laid claim to quite a few. Think bullnose granite benchtops over honey coloured timber cabinetry; complete with nickel finished slim-line bow handles, triangular skylight, semi-circular sconces with frosted glass and diamond pattern terracotta floor tiles.

Yet for all these era-specific trappings, there is one thing about kitchens built during this time; they were well built, and the bones, more often than not, were strong.

“Our primary goal was to create an "entertainer's kitchen" that served as the home's gathering place, capitalizing on its unique, direct access to the pool,” says interior designer for Gia Renovations, Olivia Cirocco.

And it’s the natural light, entering through an entire wall of glass doors and the aforementioned skylight, that Cirocco knew would make this project work. That, and of course the entirely new palette and design language that slides into the existing floorplan with comfortable elan, while retained features – limestone columns and skylight - find new life in and amongst the warm tones of the final scheme.

Kitchen cabinetry in Laminex Kalamata and Laminex Peruvian Clay.

It began with Laminex Kalamata and Peruvian Clay, two warm tones that feel classic, contemporary and – after a visit to EuroCucina, the International Kitchen Furniture Exhibition in Milan – right on time.

“Kalamata is probably one of my favourites,” says Cirocco of the bold, heavily blackened red from Laminex, “I guess you would call it a rich colour, but I really wanted to implement earthy tones in the space and create a juxtaposition between the amount of natural light that comes through and the tones of the kitchen. [To create something] really contrasting, which I think is achieved nicely.”

Laminex Kalamata has been used as the dramatic foil to the red based, mid-tone grey of Laminex Peruvian Clay. It grounds the island and the central cabinetry of the galley, and with great effect as tall handles on the seemingly unlimited expanses of cupboards and storage. The other side of this partnership, Laminex Peruvian Clay, is calming and peaceful, working with both the deeper tones and natural light of the area. Splitting the drawers underneath the ovens is a rebated brass lip, that avoids any matchy-matchy feelings and adds a high-end texture without gilding the lily.

It’s hard to talk of the kitchen and skip over the Arabescato Rosso benchtops and splashback. Generally, a stone with such strong natural markings and colours would be the mood board hero, a beginning and something the Laminex Colour Collection is very comfortable building around, but in this case, the reverse was true.

The other side of this partnership, Laminex Peruvian Clay, is calming and peaceful, working with both the deeper tones and natural light of the area. Splitting the drawers underneath the ovens is a rebated brass lip, that avoids any matchy-matchy feelings and adds a high-end texture without gilding the lily.

“Originally, we were looking at red travertine, and we were going to pull the colours for the joinery from that, but when it arrived it broke when lifted off the truck, so it became a happy accident,” remembers Cirocco of her changing tactics.

Keeping in line with the entertainment theme of the house and project, a Bora downdraft cooktop - with extractor built in – maintains clean lines and uninterrupted views of the pool, kitchen and living room, avoiding sightline blocking rangehoods. The legs of the island were stained to match the floorboards and give the space a subtle design cue to hang its hat on.

“We really wanted to just introduce something a lot warmer. The client was mostly interested in just doing something a little bit different while creating a statement kitchen that they can use and love every day and not get sick of, because I think white kitchens, you can get sick of a lot quicker,” poses Cirocco.

Not that there’s a lot of to get sick here. Immediately off to the side of the kitchen is a pool and a remarkable detail that feels a relic of a less litigious, security driven past.

“You basically have doors from the kitchen that you can just open and jump straight into the pool. We wanted to make sure the kitchen remained in that area and was a real entertainer’s kitchen and gathering place of the house, so we made sure those doors stayed and it could be an amazing inside-outside space,” says Cirocco.

With that in mind and the nature of the home and space, Laminex felt like the perfect choice for Cirocco and the Gia Renovations team.

The material selection seamlessly extends throughout the home, yet Laminex Kalamata takes on distinct personalities in each space. In the kitchen, it delivers a punchy palette, while in the ensuite, it has a subdued sense of elegance and serenity.

“The variety of colours is really exciting, especially because Laminex is a lot more durable than two-pack. Any opportunity to use Laminex, especially for a family kitchen or an entertaining kitchen that gets worn hard, it's a lot more practical and I just love the variety of colours. I feel like there's always some great options that I can tie in with the natural stone that I typically use in my projects,” explains Cirocco.

Imagining Beaumaris House and its kitchen full of family and friends, inside and out, wet footprints on the floor and plenty of food on the island is probably better than any styled photograph or choreographed shoot could ever provide. The gentle warmth and punchy palette deliver drama with the confidence of usable, practical and durable materials, never sacrificing one for the other.

And not a frosted sconce in sight.

Learn more about the project and explore Gia Renovations portfolio on their website.