Before + After: Why This Stainless-Steel Kitchen Was Designed To Stand Out
Interiors
The new kitchen is a deliberately modern addition to an old worker’s cottage.
Green tiles take inspiration from the bushy landscape.
All the new shelving was precisely fabricated from stainless-steel plate.
Custom handles and floating shelves enhance the contemporary fit-out.
A new opening with overhead storage was created to connect the kitchen with the living room.
The stainless bench top is durable enough to withstand the mess of daily family life.
The view into the kitchen from the living room.
The space is unrecognisable before the renovation!
When it came to renovating the kitchen inside an old workers’ cottage in the Northern Rivers, designers Occupy Studio decided to go against convention.
‘Although only ten minutes from Broken Head Beach, Newrybar feels more like a country town than a coastal one,’ director Scott Wilson says of the neighbourhood and the surrounding topography.
The house sits amongst gum trees and looks out across a tree-lined valley, but the owners felt the original cottage was in need of a multi-stage renovation — starting with the run-down kitchen.
‘The existing kitchen was a white and timber IKEA installation that had suffered significant water damage and rot,’ Scott adds.
‘Spatially, it was poorly connected to the rest of the house, separated from the living area and blocking both views and natural light from reaching deeper into the plan.’
Initial discussions with the clients outlined their dream kitchen as a more modern space that would deliberately contrast against the rest of the house; somewhere durable that could withstand the constant mess and wear and tear from a young family.
‘Respecting the authenticity of the original workers’ cottage was central to the project, as was contributing a new layer to the ongoing narrative of the house,’ Scott says.
‘The original house is a timber and tin workers’ cottage, rich in character but inherently irregular: floors slope, ceilings dip, and very few walls are straight. In direct response, the new kitchen is intentionally restrained, minimal and precise.’
Stainless steel was selected as a key material, both for its sturdy and practical qualities, while also setting the tone for a minimalistic palette that Scott describes as ‘a conscious move’ away from any clichéd coastal or country aesthetics.
All drawers, shelves and cabinet fronts were fabricated entirely from stainless-steel plate. This aided the project in minimising material waste, but working without conventional chipboard also brought technical difficulties that required extra precision and problem-solving between the fabricator and designers.
‘Whilst challenging, this approach saved time, money and gave us a much better result,’ Scott notes.
Dark green wall tiles now line the splashback, drawing inspiration from the outdoor environment. On the opposite wall, an existing partition was removed to make way for a sleek island bench with new open shelving above — offering a much-needed connection to the living room.
Rather than blending into the existing building, the new kitchen is unapologetically modern and successfully sets the tone for the next chapter of the worker’s cottage, customised for modern family life!