Kitchen

A matte black kitchen makes a bold statement in this Auckland villa

After completing a glossy white kitchen in their previous home, this Auckland family decided to  go bold and created a seamless black kitchen for $40,000

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A matte black kitchen makes a bold statement in this Auckland villa

Who lives here?
Cam Miller, 46 (capital works manager), Martine Skinner, 44 (head of marketing), and Luca, 8.

Who designed the kitchen?
Evelyn McNamara, Evelyn McNamara Architecture.

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Design process 

The project
This sleek space was created as part of a villa’s renovation.

What were your design requirements?
Martine: We wanted the kitchen to be matte black with no visible handles and seamless lines. The cabinetry had to have the width and height to be in proportion with the 3.4m ceilings.

Were there any issues you wanted to fix with your new kitchen design?
The old kitchen was a third of the size of the new one and was tucked away in a corner of the house. We relocated the kitchen to the former main bathroom, which was ridiculously huge.

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How long did the renovation take?
Five months, from November 2014 to April 2015.

Reason for renovating?
The kitchen, dining room and lounge were very separate. We wanted to open the spaces up and enable more outdoor flow. This was mainly for entertaining and to ensure that if someone was in the kitchen they weren’t isolated from the rest of the family.

What inspired your colour choice?
We’d just moved from our freshly renovated townhouse in Avondale. The kitchen there was white gloss so we wanted to go the opposite way. The new kitchen had to be matte black with oak-coloured timber – we’d done the white kitchen already.

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The renovation

Best moment during the process?
Probably moving back in on completion after spending five months in a small sleepout.

Any major disasters along the way?
None of note. I think we got lucky with the demo, especially considering the villa is over 100 years old.

What’s your favourite feature of the new space?
The outdoor flow, especially in summer.

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Budget 

What was your budget?
We budgeted for $35,000-$40,000 and it came in at just under $40,000. This included all new Fisher & Paykel appliances.

What did you save on?
We probably didn’t spend as much on the Blum fixtures as we could have.

What did you splurge on?
The Vola tap and Monmouth Glass Studio pendant light.

Total: $40,000

Words by: Fiona Ralph. Photography by: Jackie Meiring.

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