A KATOOMBA COTTAGE RECEIVES A NEW KITCHEN & LIVING SPACE
The unique design opportunities a Mountains cottage has to offer when it comes to designing kitchens, not only encompasses the character of the house, but also the style of the family that live there. This is why we at Thornton & Blake steer away from following ‘trends’ as such, rather we seek embrace the opportunity to design a space that is not only timeless, but more importantly, reflects the client, in how they choose to live in the space, the colours, patterns and textures they are drawn to as well as considering the style and period of the home, with the pure intention of creating a ‘Home that the client truly loves’.
Today we visit an interior and kitchen design project by Director of Design & Decoration, Anne Hogarth in Katoomba, which expresses the quintessential Blue Mountains character cottage. Filled with warmth, texture, pattern and colour, along with the details which were important to the client, in this case, creatively displaying the interesting and useful pieces that hold value for them, including a collection of tea pots, vintage plates and lots and lots of books.
We begin in the kitchen, where a free standing Falcon Classic Style Cooker in neutral cream takes focus. In keeping with the traditional charm of this functional feature piece, Anne commissioned custom shelving for either side of the hidden range hood, including plate racks and shelving for the clients tea pots.
The balance of the kitchen cabinetry was finished in Dulux ‘Toad’ to give warmth and colour to the space. The choice of Caesarstone in ‘shitake’ for the bench tops not only provides a quality finish, but also, pairs beautifully with the cooker.
Hepburn Hardware handles and knobs in acid washed brass give an aged finish, sympathetic to the age of the house.
Above the kitchen windows, much consideration is taken for the wet area when selecting window coverings. In this case the choice of a translucent roller blind that can be wiped clean is important. A roman blind custom crafted from Mokum ‘Azulejo’ fabric ties in the window furnishings in the rest of the space, ensuring continuity. It also provides an opportunity to thermally enclose the western facing, original cottage window when required.
Throughout the rest of the space, the floor to ceiling windows are dressed with pure linen, blockout lined curtains. As the whole space is at the southern end of the house and original timber windows can be prone to drafts during the colder mountains days, it is important to invest in blockout lining to help with the thermal control. Sizing the curtains is equally important in such circumstances, ensuring the length of the pure linen drape allows for the change in height that occurs with changing climate humidity levels with some natural fabrics. It was also fortuitous that this particular client loves the dramatic style of a drape which reaches the floor.
The floors were stained with a dark-japan to give a richer finish whilst complementing the paint palette.
Working with a colour palette in a cottage gives a wonderful opportunity to play, in this case with a complimentary range of greens and blues. For this space, an open room encompassing a kitchen, lounge space and dining area, colour was used to provide the impression of ‘rooms within a single room’, using the softness of Dulux ‘Toad’ on the kitchen cabinetry, then choosing to dominate the eastern wall with Porters ‘Whale Watching’, on the custom made shelving. In this case, the application of paint was thoughtfully applied with a brush, so that the cabinetry could be repainted down the track in a different colour, should the client wish to change the mood of the space.
Elements such as the clients own dining table light shade, the curtains and blinds and carefully chosen William Morris wallpaper provide a bridge between the contrasting darker indigo of the shelving and earthy green kitchen to tie the contrasting elements together.