Trends New Zealand Trends Volume 32 No 6 New Zealand | Page 89

Labb extended the home’s artisanal, hand-worked feel to the kitchen island and a cabinet that connects the two spaces. Both the expansive island and the open-shelved corner cabinet have antiqued oak fronts, while the former also has a butler’s sink. However, the design is also about mixing the handcrafted aspects with more modern elements. For example, the island is topped with a clean-lined stone countertop, its extended cantilever supported by internal steel bracing and a sawhorse-like element. The long, deep cantilever can accommodate the whole family and is a popular entertaining spot in the home. In the scullery, Labb avoided overhead cabinetry that would have detracted from a splashback wall of pristine white subway tiles. A strip of recessed LED lights at the top of the wall highlights this surface. This area has something of a classic country kitchen flavour – seen in a second butler’s sink as well as the tilework. Smooth-operating hardware underpins the cabinetry while the wall opposite is taken up with additional open shelving. Facing page: Crafted meets contemporary with this entertainer’s kitchen island, one half of a linked kitchen and scullery fit-out by designer Robin Labb. Top: The scullery is nearly half the size of the front-of-house kitchen area just around the corner. The inner wall of the scullery separates it from an adjacent circulation corridor. Above: This countertop starts out in slender format at the cabinetry-end of the island and then deepens to a more chunky character at the cantilevered end. Steel underpins the structure. search | save | share at