People often ask us what kind of kitchen we’d build if there were no restrictions and we could let our wild imaginations off the leash. Well, wonder no more. Here, in our showroom at Strathalbyn, we’ve built this extraordinary display kitchen to challenge and inspire. Now, you might think it’d be easy to create something wonderful when you don’t have to answer to a five-page wish list and there’s a lovely big blank space in your showroom instead of a room the size of a postage stamp with three doors running off it. But, actually, it’s jolly hard. That’s why the first thing we did was to conjure a client to inspire this fantasy. And who better, we thought, than the world’s hottest movie star?

Her full name might be Barbara Millicent Roberts but, like Cher, Beyoncé and Madonna, you probably simply know her as Barbie. So, what kind of kitchen do you build for the woman who has everything? Unfortunately, Barbie was too busy promoting her movie to sit down and give us an actual brief. But our designer, Bre Tarca, was happy to step into her pink pumps and channel her style: a combination of retro Hollywood glam and mid-century Scandinavian chic.

In fact, it’s a fun, playful style that Bre absolutely adores and has helped to develop with Nathan Wundersitz’s masterful direction as a signature SpaceCraft design language. Is it the only style we do? Most certainly not. Nathan, the kitchen whisperer, prides himself on being a style chameleon, who can translate whatever’s in your head or on your Pinterest page. So, if you’re more into Victorian, French country, Bohemian or Bauhaus rather than Barbiecore, don’t worry: Nathan and the design team will get it and get you.

So, on with the brief. Let’s start with the colour scheme. Hmmm… no surprise here. But whilst pink was always going to be on the menu for this kitchen, it’s a tamer dusty pink than the rest of Ms Roberts’s retinue, teamed up with some burnt ochre highlights against a background of neutral white. After all, whilst she mightn’t look it, Barbie is now 64. So, a more ‘mature’ pink seemed like a good idea. And a great fit for the retro feel. The design theme itself was also informed by our client: curves. And lots of them, both concave and convex. (In fact, Mattel actually made a fuller-figured Curvy Barbie in response to questions of body image.) And seeing as she was born in 1959, we knew she’d love that curvaceous mid-century style.

Bre and Nathan had actually been thinking about this design for some time, even as far back as our old joinery in King Street. And as time went by, the ideas kept adding. But when we finally got to our new headquarters in Milnes Road, it was time to stop procrastinating and start prefabricating. The truth is that in that time, we’d established a lot of regular SpaceCraft go-to features and solutions, which made themselves obvious candidates for inclusion. The kitchen had to have lots of ingenious storage, a guest appearance from Tasmanian oak, a built-in dining table and Nathan’s favourite notch-out handles, natch.

The sizeable showroom made it easy to feature a linear layout, which also means it’s very accessible to anyone who wants to come and explore their options and be inspired. And while it may look big, it’s actually not. We definitely wanted to create some wow but we deliberately didn’t want to make it too overwhelming. Our nominal client is only 29 centimetres tall, after all.

With a doll for a client, of course the design was always going to be playful. But we also wanted to push the outside of the envelope to show our SpaceCraftsmanship, as well. This was a labour of love for our skilled workshop and installation teams, who – for once – didn’t have to leave homebase and could lavish every spare moment on perfection.

Let’s start with those every-which-way curves that dominate the landscape. The magic ingredient we found was an acrylic product called Staron, which, when heated, can be formed into smooth, free-flowing, seamless curves. This is what we used to create the block-end to the integrated dining table, which anchors the kitchen, as well as the open shelves above. The speckled neutral tones of Staron’s Bologna terrazzo also make a starring appearance in the integrated dining table that comfortably seats four and extends into the island back return shelf.

From that base, the curves recurred and were repeated right ‘round the kitchen, including: the block back to the wall bench, which has a recessed rack for the tea towels; the double-hit of Tasmanian oak half-round timber ribbing on the serpentine overhead doors (which also conceal the Ilve rangehood) and the feature plant nook; the dusty pink Penny Round splashback tiles from Cerbis Ceramics; the curvaceously retro Smeg fridge; the gooseneck mixer tap from ABI Interiors in crisp Matt White; and even right down to the Design by Them Bobby stools and the two-tone Dowel Jones pendant lights.

The one square element in the kitchen is its nominal ‘command centre’: the Silestone Arcilla Red podium with integrated benchtops, sink and island facing. You’d need to splash out on some serious crockery to be worthy of washing up in this set-up. A nice little surprise and delight is that when you open the pantry and its automatic light comes on, you’ll see the interior is lined in Laminex Red Ochre to play off the neighbouring sink unit. Is that something you’d be open to?

Like the Tardis, this kitchen may be modest externally but once you step inside, you’ll see we’ve really gone for the doctor. First, we’ve used soft-close drawers instead of doors for the island and the bench as well as inside the pantry, not only for their clean look but because they work so much better ergonomically. Instead of door pulls, we’ve also used Nathan’s notches with their exquisite Tasmanian oak veneer inserts. There’s a recessed chopping board, open wine storage, a trio of under-sink bins, a folding shelf from Blum (ideal for stand mixers or similar gadgets while they’re in use) and vertical tray storage to the right of the Ilve underbench oven.

In fact, there’s a place for everything and everything is in its place. Well, almost. As we said at the beginning, there is just one important thing missing in this kitchen, which probably wouldn’t be of much concern to most of our clients. However, if we really were working for Barbie, no doubt it’s something she’d definitely miss. Can you guess what his name is?