Contemporary Kitchen Renovation – Duke Street

As this was the second kitchen renovation within the space of 1 year, we were determined to get it right as this kitchen was going to last us the next ten years! So sometimes to do things right, you just need to do them yourself.
Which is exactly what we did with the poured concrete bench top. We wanted to design the new kitchen area with a contemporary/industrial’ feel to it, and to do so, incorporated  certain elements such as raw concrete, timber and black sheet metal.

The old kitchen consisted of blue laminate bench tops and cupboards, with small white tiles on splash back and floor. We had 1 corner cupboard for dry food storage,and large areas of wasted space around the fridge and oven. The missing  rangehood seem to have a cream plastic exhaust fan in its place.  The overhead lighting in the kitchen was a single glass ceiling lamp shade with a pink floral pattern which reminded me of being at grandma’s house. Just lovely!

The proposed design was to open up the kitchen and dining room with a large concrete bench top with bar seating. We had floor to ceiling Blackbutt veneer ‘Blum’ cabinetry installed to encase the fridge, hide the microwave and allow for open shelving space above the fridge for our collection of Recipe books.
The old panty door became a well used blackboard for our shopping lists, and a custom designed black sheet metal splashback sits neatly behind our new black glass 5 burner cook top. It even has a great little folded shelf for bits and pieces

We replaced the sink for a stunning (yes, I said stunning) large black granite composite double sink.

After months…and months….of sleepness nights for my partner, he finally devised a system that would structurally support our new 800 kilo concrete bench top. We made the call to frame up and pour the bench top in place on site as we did not want any join lines through it.  This part of the design was so crucial as in if we got it wrong, it was going to be a very heavy mistake to get rid of.

We opted for a custom mix of grey concrete mixed with white sand instead of the usual yellow to give the bench top a soft grey colour as opposed to the darker,greeny, grey. We had to be careful after it was poured not to burn the concrete when screeding off, as this also can change the colour of the finished concrete.

4 wheelbarrows of concrete, and 3 cartons of beer later it was done. Then we waited…..

The waiting game was nerve racking as the concrete goes through several changes before it reaches it final finish. We only had to wait a few days for it to completely set and we couldnt have been happier with the finish.

We could then seal it in a ‘kitchen safe’ sealer, and the final touches began.

Overhead mood lighting overhangs the breakfast bar, and 3 super comfy custom designed bar stools, hand made in Montana, U.S.A, sit perfectly in their new space.

one day will will include a wine fridge, new oven, and hopefully be able to move the air conditioner…but for now, we think it pretty cool as it is