Kitchen of the Week: Stunning kitchen has a secret wine cellar under the floor
One of the owners of this large Epsom bunglalow was, at first, less than impressed with the suggestion of a wine cellar under the floor. At the time he described the idea as “crazy”, and then he had a rethink and a look at the plan and completely changed his mind.
“This is amazing; it will be real showpiece,” he told Abi Wisnewski of Karlek, who was commissioned to do an entire makeover of the home just before Auckland’s major lockdown in August last year.
As it happens, the beautiful rimu-lined cellar has been so successful, Wisnewski says people go in there, have a couple of drinks and never want to leave. “It is truly mind-boggling. You can’t walk past – you have to go down there, and you’re not going to want to come back up.”
The designer is referring to the large, solid glass door to the cellar that is set flat on the floor near the kitchen – you can see the stairs and cellar below. To enter, you simply push an automatic button and the heavy door lifts up, and down you go, to a whole new world.
“There was already a trapdoor in the floor, which opened to a reveal a rickety ladder down to the earth under the house, Wisnewski says. “It seemed logical to do something with that space, especially as the owners love to entertain.”
And that love of entertaining has determined the entire makeover. The kitchen has been moved along to the left, so it is closer to the heart of the home.
“The house had been renovated about 15 years earlier, by different owners, but there was no real cohesion between the old bungalow part and the new family space, which had a 12ft stud. If anything, it was too large.”
‘Will we stay or will we go?’
The owners requested a “hybrid makeover to sell or keep”, and the designer says this has become common among clients.
“Covid changed things, and people have become unsure about selling – they want the option to stay and be able to enjoy the renovated house, while at the same time knowing that should they decide to sell quickly, it’s ready to go.”
Wisnewski says the whole theme of the makeover was to make the house like a resort, especially since travel was out of the question for such a long time.
She specified a crisp white kitchen with cabinets lacquered in an Aalto paint. “I just wanted it to be a nice, fresh shell-like white that would hold up to all the other colours and textures in the living area.”
There are many beach references in the materials – the composite stone island benchtop has a black veining and a look of sand. And the large herringbone tiles on the splashback also bring a hint of movement and texture on fresh, white sand.
The kitchen is large – it needed to be oversized to work with the dimensions of the large house and living area, and it means five people can sit along the island.
“I know I’ve done my job if I stand in the kitchen and I feel small,” the designer says. “There is heaps and heaps of storage. I find original bungalows and villas don’t have a lot of storage, so we always need to fix that.”
‘No more open cupboards’
The new scullery has solved what was a major annoyance in the original kitchen. “When I first met the owner she was always closing the kitchen cupboards, because she didn’t like them being left open,” Wisnewski says. “So we wanted to create a scullery that would avoid the need for that. We could make it elegant, but also practical and useful.”
Wisnewski tucked the “working elements” of the scullery around the corner, so they can’t be seen. What can be seen is a sleek, attractive glass display cabinet lined with rimu. And she added a full-height cavity slider. When the slider is open, the scullery just appears as an extension of the kitchen.
She also introduced a light charcoal colour to the cabinets to help them recede visually into the background.
Rimu veneer makes an appearance throughout the living area – there are tall fins that form a screen at one side of the kitchen, separating the informal living area. And the same material lines the interior of display niches or boxes either side of the main fireplace, and also alongside the stairs leading down to the cellar.
And because it is a resort-style house, the huge living area flows outdoors to an outdoor kitchen with its own barbecue, sink and cabinets – this was part of the earlier renovation.
Wisnewski had a new deck laid with wide Vitex boards that run in the same direction as the kitchen flooring and outdoor louvres, extending the sightline out to the pool landscape beyond.