Quite often, our tales of renovations recount how we bring homes kicking and screaming out of an Edwardian or post-war past into the cold, clear LED-lit present. But it’s not always so. In this case, the home was built in 1993. Young enough, you’d think, to fit a current lifestyle. But not every architect is so enlightened. Nor every client. And even if they are, the next owner may have completely different taste and needs. Indeed, it’s sobering to think that some of our kitchens could be ripped out and replaced at some point in the future. We hope not. After all, a bespoke kitchen that avoids the worst repercussions of being ‘on-trend’ and is built with great care to a purposeful layout is more likely to work and age well. But, who knows in this throw-away age?

Emma and Russell live on just under two acres in Strathalbyn with their two children, William and Olivia. As they operate the Automasters outlets in Norwood and Murray Bridge, life is busy enough. But on top of that, Emma took on the role of the merchandise manager for the Strathalbyn Football Club, where William plays. It’s through the club that we met this very popular and gregarious family.

One night after a match and over a convivial drink, we got talking about kitchens (as you do; well, as we do) and Emma started to open up about their home and how it also needed to open up. Despite having owned the place since 2007, they rented it out for a while before moving themselves in eight years ago. Over that time, they’ve worked out all its short-comings. Oddly for a modern home – and one that is placed on a considerable property – the kitchen space was small, dark, poky and disconnected from the main living and dining areas. Oh, and it was also sadly dated.

Emma had some ideas about knocking out some walls to create an open-plan living / dining area that would better serve their Sunday Sessions, at which they host a large circle of local mates for a few drinks while she cooks up a storm.

In the end, Emma and Russell bit the bullet and decided to sit down with Nathan and see what we could come up with. Nathan being Nathan, he politely heard them out and listened to what they had in mind, but inside his head he was buzzing with ideas that could deliver so much more.

The brief, therefore, was to open up the space for the enjoyment of their family and friends: a real entertainers’ kitchen, where the masses could congregate. It needed to be light and bright and, preferably, minimalist and modern. Emma also didn’t want too much timber as the door frames and doors are all solid timber. But a little was OK to blend in.

Apart from that, creatively, the family’s brief was fairly open-ended, which is always a blessing and a curse. Emma’s only real stipulation was to accommodate an oven tower she’d sourced from Spartan Electrical, incorporating a Miele oven, steam oven, warming drawer and microwave. She’d also chosen a Miele cooktop and downdraft extractor to avoid the overhead clutter of a rangehood.

In the end, Nathan came up with a design that Emma and Russell loved. And the job was on. They engaged local builder and close friend, Steven Ness, to do the hard yakka: remove the walls; rip up the cold slate floors throughout the house (which was a HUGE job); remove a bay window and replace it with a new servery to a new small deck (one of Nathan’s ideas); and install the new floating timber flooring throughout the home.

In the space thus provided, Nathan delivered a very clean, minimalist, monochromatic kitchen that still exudes impressive character. Aware of Emma’s concerns about too much timber, he responded with a couple of accents that link to the original features of the home and the new floating floor but don’t dominate. Beautiful American oak was the answer for floating shelves that give pride of place to prized possessions, whilst the herringbone backing to the island bench is cleverly echoed by the tiles on the splashback.

In comedy, timing is everything. And it’s no laughing matter when your timing is out on a kitchen build, either. Fortunately, the hold-up wasn’t down to us. But it didn’t stop us worrying like mad for our clients. And it’s all because of Christmas. (Ho, ho, ho or oh, oh, oh?)

It was late in 2018 by the time everything was ready to go and Emma and Russell were keen to get cracking straight away, understandably. We managed to install all the joinery just before the man in red jumped down the chimney. But the stone tops couldn’t be delivered until late January. Fortunately, this coincided with the family’s plans to get away for a spot of caravanning. So far, so good. Right up to the point when additional delays meant the family would come back to a still-unfinished kitchen. Fortunately, Emma and Russell are very patient people. (More than us.)

It must all have been worth it, as Emma tells us she loves her ‘new’ home, as it’s spacious, light, airy, inviting and can easily cater for a large crowd. Fingers crossed, we’re still on their list for an invitation to the Sunday Sessions and the mighty Strathalbyn Roosters will give us something to celebrate there.