The Kitchen Corner

One of my favorite design tricks, and a feature that pops up again and again in my kitchen designs, is to treat an end corner as a special area. Most kitchen designs have open sides, where a run of cabinets will start at a wall but then the end opens to a room. Sometimes there is a walkway there, either heading down a hall or into another room. Sometimes there is a window at the end so the cabinets don’t head all the way to the wall. Sometimes the lower cabinets continue along one side while the uppers stop. Whatever the room or cabinet layout, I always try to finish an end with something interesting. And interesting to me usually means open shelves where the owner can make a personal statement. Some examples:

Here we have a glass fronted cabinet that balances one of the same size and design on the other side of the hood, with a little wine cubby alongside, then open shelves at the very end. Open to a window at the side, and with a counter continuing along in front, this configuration adds interest and draws the eye the way another plain glass fronted cabinet would not.

Here a much simpler version. This kitchen has glass fronted doors on all of the upper cabinets, and with a window so close to the end run, plus window trim that would interfere should the cabinets run straight to the wall, I have held the last cabinet away from the wall by just a few centimeters, and added a narrow open shelf. Again it serves to draw the eye, adds interest and allows the owner to display something personal, in this case her collection of antique cookbooks.

Beyond the sink, to the right of what is seen in the photo, is a window on the side wall, next to a door that goes to the garden. In this layout, it was decided to not run overhead cabinets above the sink. The result is a wonderful feeling of openness in a long, narrow kitchen with nothing to interfere with the natural light that streams in. But a regular cabinet, with a flat side at the end run would not only look plain, but feel claustrophobic. A narrow shelf cabinet, open on two sides, solves this nicely. It contributes to the open feel and gives the owner a place to display some of her Italian ceramic dishes.

And here something entirely different! There are almost no upper cabinets in this large kitchen, except a few at the far end of this counter that are small, boxy and discreet, similar to this display box, but with glass doors. To the left and right of these shelves are windows. But the end of the counter still has something different and something interesting. Rather than end the run with a simple squared off counter and cabinet side, I have extended the granite benchtop with an overhang for a chair, and added an elegant curve to the counter to soften the hard, straight lines running throughout the cabinet design. This is a comfy little space to make a phone call, pay the bills, or just have your morning cuppa! BTW, I just love the colours here, and look closely at the splashback design. This is a great kitchen! Check out the rest of the photos here.