Ingenious solutions for complicated spaces
We’ve designed an open-space kitchen with an island that opens to the dining room area (with a central table), followed by the living room area with a sofa and fireplace.
The space we had to work with to integrate the furniture looks both small and large. We’d say it’s a big space, but this amplifying effect was a result of the kitchen’s design equation.
There are approximately 5.5 linear meters of unfolded furniture + the island with another 2.2 linear meters x 1.5 m wide (including the snack table). The furniture itself is reduced to the essential minimum through a few design tricks that amplify the size of the space.
Wooden wall cladding
- To the left of the island, we have Noce Canaletto woodden wall cladding.
- The wall cladding looks identical on the surface to columns with wooden fronts, but in the center, they hide a door to the storage room, and on the sides, the panels cover the walls.
- The door to the storage room opens to the interior of the room by push action.
- This trick to hide the columns amplifies the space and hides the entrance to the pantry.
Columns: The glass fronts panel unit
- To the right of the wooden wall cladding, we have a furniture block with glass fronts.
- This glass block includes in the center area 4 Miele appliances with glass doors (compact steam oven, microwave oven, coffee machine, wine cooler) and in the upper and lower part we have glossy black non-transparent glass fronts.
- On the side of the appliances, we have integrated a showcase with transparent smoke glass with interior LED lighting and push opening. When the light is turned off in the showcase, the entire glass block becomes opaque and reflects the surrounding area.
The wall units: Optical effects to bring order into the space
- For the suspended units, we extended the Noce Canaletto wood theme, but with ribbed fronts to camouflage the modularity lines of the doors within the optical illusion of the ribs.
- We have two refrigeration units (fridge + freezer) integrated into the columns with a Metal Piombo finish, also the unit in the left column includes an ice machine.
- Columns include handles, and as a style hint for the future – we notice the return of industrial-inspired bar or pipe handles, so we started using them in the latest projects, alongside the minimalistic Gola type openings.
- In the corner between the left column and the showcase body, the furniture hides a support post, so it had to be hidden in a natural way.
- Base fronts and wall cladding are in Nero Greco ceramic with a slightly bluish vein, and the island fronts are made of the same ceramic to achieve a mirror symmetry effect.
- The bases integrate an 80 cm induction hob, and above, integrated into the suspended bodies, we have a hood.
The island
- The island is the star element of the kitchen, with a monobloc stone presence, with Nero Greco ceramic top and fronts, including a 70 cm sink built into the ceramic top for material continuity.
- To the right of the sink, the washing machine is integrated into the island.
- The Noce Canaletto wood snack table forms a bar and dining area with a Japanese-style kitchen view to the person working in the kitchen.
- The island is positioned up to the horizontal projection line of the storage door, so the space calibration includes another space-ordering landmark.
- In terms of dimensions, there’s a feeling that the island is as big as the base units, but this is an optical effect due to perspectives in space. In reality, the island is reduced in size to allow the movement of people in space.
Materials and aesthetic choices
- Left column fronts: Black glossy glass + Metal Piombo
- Center column fronts: Metal Piombo
- Base fronts and base worktop: Nero Greco ceramic
- Suspended cabinet fronts: Ribbed Canaletto walnut wood
- Wood cladding: Nero Greco ceramic
- Fronts and island top: Nero Greco ceramic
- Snack table: Canaletto walnut wood
What was our approach for the project?
This project is quite complex due to the restrictions of the available space and the elements that had to be mandatorily integrated: resistance pillars, 7 appliances, and a door to the storage room that “breaks” the space. We’ve worked with a destructured kitchen like a Tetris that was reordered in a logical system.
As in every MyKitchen project, the mission was to arrange all the elements in a logical and functional order, with geometry alignments that expand the perception of the size of the space.
On top of that, everything has to look great aesthetically, so we opted for a juxtaposition between modern and traditional materials – we have metal and glass versus natural wood.
Moreover, we worked on the first kitchen design with the new collection of metal finishes from Binova Cucine which will enter production in December 2022.
→ Andrei Gângă, Art Director MyKitchen Studio
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