This Castleknock home has been given a warm, laid back update that works for the whole family
This Castleknock home has been given a warm, laid back update that works for the...

Megan Burns

A seafront Skerries home has been given a luxe update with rich colours and hotel-inspired details
A seafront Skerries home has been given a luxe update with rich colours and hotel-inspired...

Megan Burns

Here comes the insane summer juggle
Here comes the insane summer juggle

Dominique McMullan

Nero Notte: ‘Success doesn’t happen overnight. It is a continuous battle’
Nero Notte: ‘Success doesn’t happen overnight. It is a continuous battle’

IMAGE

Level up your wine and cheese night with these expert recommendations
Level up your wine and cheese night with these expert recommendations

IMAGE

Take a look inside Graham Norton’s historic Manhattan home
Take a look inside Graham Norton’s historic Manhattan home

Edaein OConnell

This three-storey Dalkey home has the most beautiful sloping gardens
This three-storey Dalkey home has the most beautiful sloping gardens

IMAGE

The Pocketbook: Creative Director Robin Te McGonigle’s guide to Seoul
The Pocketbook: Creative Director Robin Te McGonigle’s guide to Seoul

Sarah Gill

‘Mobile gaming is a fun, engaging and far less draining alternative to social media’
‘Mobile gaming is a fun, engaging and far less draining alternative to social media’

Nathalie Marquez Courtney

Nine Perfect Strangers and Tom Cruise returns in Mission: Impossible – what to watch this week
Nine Perfect Strangers and Tom Cruise returns in Mission: Impossible – what to watch this week

Edaein OConnell

Image / Living / Interiors

How to design a small kitchen, according to this tiny terrace


By Lauren Heskin
30th Mar 2021
How to design a small kitchen, according to this tiny terrace

Storage is the key concern in a small kitchen, but without foresight and some clever design ideas, it can quickly feel cluttered and cramped.

See More Photos

In a small space, you have to prioritise quality over quantity. Yes, a giant L-shaped couch might be your dream, but if you spend your life edging around it to get to the kitchen, then is it really worth it? Would a comfortable, well-made small sofa and footstool not better suit the room, while only slightly reducing your ability to stretch out?

These were the questions asked by Whiting Architects and award-winning appliance brand Fisher & Paykel when they were brought in to design a kitchen for this tiny home in Melbourne, Australia. 

Wanting to balance functionality with form and space, the kitchen had to work both as a cooking and social room simultaneously. “The owners love to cook so they wanted high-quality, hard-working appliances. We wanted to play down the look of the kitchen. So the need for functional appliances that blended seamlessly into our design was paramount and Fisher & Paykel do this extremely well,” explains architect Steve Whiting.

All the necessary elements for a kitchen were seamlessly integrated into sleek, minimalist cabinetry. Black and white units contrast to make a statement while still keeping the room feeling calm and uncluttered. A matte grey splashback is brought to the tiny courtyard window, blending and bleeding into the concrete exterior, making the space feel bigger as a result.

Even the smallest details have been considered here. The dark glass of the oven door is perfectly in line with cabinetry and even its distance from the pale grey countertops is the exact height of the cabinetry doors, making for one clean line running the length of the kitchen. A minute detail that pays dividends to the overall effect.

Needing to pack not just a kitchen but a utility into this room too, the space under the stairs has been dedicated to a tucked-away clothes area and integrated fridge, leaving the kitchen itself free for cooking and food storage. When you look at simply, it’s like an assembly line. You start at the fridge, move to countertop, then to the oven and the sink and finally to the dishwasher, also neatly integrated to the end of the units.

Incorporating the necessities with an awareness of how the kitchen will be used allowed the layout of the kitchen to inform the design, resulting in a flowing, monochrome space that feels ample and comfortable

Photographs by Shannon McGrath

Popup Image