Carmel and Andrew are a professional couple who like to cook and entertain in their 1964 contemporary home in West Beach. But their un-renovated kitchen was a real bummer: dark, tired and badly laid out, with a doorway to the hall limiting their options. Carmel had some pretty cool ideas but the first couple of builders she spoke to freaked out and tried to talk her into something more conventional.

That’s when Carmel contacted Nathan and tentatively shared her thoughts. At last, she’d found the man with a plan to take her dream to another level. Their first problem, however, was how to maximise the layout in a limited and punctuated space.

Nathan’s thought was to block the extraneous door into the hall and cut the wall it was on back to a nib, which would not only create a completely useable kitchen space at one end but also open it up to the adjacent living area at the other. Right on!

To let the sunshine in and see more of the outdoor entertaining area, the windows were moved and rescaled. Carmel’s idea for the basic cabinetry was to give it a woodgrain finish to keep it warm and fit in with the rest of the home, but she also wanted pops of retro colour inspired by the ceramics she collects and wanted to display.

Nathan responded with the playful patchwork panels, sliding doors and open display boxes you see before you. Originally, the design included an overhanging breakfast bar. But, when Carmel and Andrew finally came to the conclusion they would never use it, we turned the bar into a cabinet to store their CDs and DVDs. (Sadly, no vinyl, however.)

After everyone’s hard work, this bright and happy kitchen is the highlight of their home, giving Carmel and Andrew the perfect place to cook and hang out with their friends. And to top it off, their kitchen won the Housing Industry Association 2015 award for a Renovated Kitchen up to $30,000.