Open-plan living has been embraced as de rigueur for the contemporary lifestyle and there’s no denying the easy flow between spaces both indoors and out certainly fits in well with our temperate climate and love of the outdoors. Architecturally, a life without walls does bring its own challenges.

Kitchen designer Hayley Dryland was tasked with creating a sleek and stylish kitchen that blended seamlessly with it surroundings while being able to cater to day-to-day requirements and for extended entertaining.

“For this project, the homeowner wanted to inject a Balinese feel into the otherwise contemporary architecture. Traditional Balinese homes are a collection of individual, largely open structures with a high-pitched roof; this resulted in a light voluminous space open to the outdoor entertaining area and pool at one end and with a rear wall ideal for siting the kitchen,” says Dryland.

“My first consideration for any kitchen within an open-plan environment is creating a space that draws the eye, but for aesthetic reasons rather than for it noticeably being a kitchen.

“A neutral base palette had already been specified to better emphasise the architecture, so I chose a similar colour for the cabinetry to achieve a cohesive, unified space. The stone tile splashback then injects the requisite level of drama to capture one’s attention.”

Lighting in the kitchen area was kept deliberately minimal, with the designer specifying integrated downlights rather than pendants.

“The architecture and the sense of spaciousness that it achieves is a really big part of the liveability of this home. To maintain the clean-lined aesthetic that the architecture sets up, I felt integrated lighting was a much better option. Directional fixtures mean the lighting can still be delivered to specific areas to create task lighting as well as general
ambient lighting. ”

An accent palette of dark, mid and light tones across a range of natural materials was incorporated into the scheme to complement the neutral base palette.

“French oak flooring provides the mid-tone accent, while both the tiled splashback and woven flax showback, which also references the Balinese influence, express all three tones,” says Dryland.

A stainless steel pelmet above the splashback provides a horizontal counterpoint to the pitched roofline and is echoed in the negative detail element of the island bench. A butler’s pantry, or wet kitchen as it’s known throughout Southeast Asia, provides additional storage and preparation areas.