Some people sure lead busy lives. Take Daniel and Jacquie. After Adelaide’s charms lured them from Sydney, they discovered a very cool mid-century, modernist home in the Hills to relax into with their three young kids. But then Jacquie passed her exams to practise law, while Daniel has the hot seat as head of the City Design & Transport department for the Adelaide City Council. Little wonder, then, that the kitchen renovation for this high-flying family was all about giving them an oasis of uncomplicated but stylish fun and a relaxing place to spend invaluable time together.

The first challenge for Daniel and Jacquie long before we came onto the scene was finding this home. What they had in their mind was something like the one owned by a family member, designed in the Sydney bush-style of mid-century modernism. These architect-designed homes were lean and clean with rooflines that mimicked the sloping bush sites they were usually built on. The movement created one of the early forms of Australian vernacular design.

Luckily, this 1970s home on a corner block in Belair ticked all the boxes with raked ceilings and late mid-century modern detailing still in place. It could have easily been built by the Sydney school. (But it cost a lot less being in Belair, we’re tipping.) Nice break! All it really needed was a bit of love from the 21st-century.

The second problem we all faced was finding the time to sit down together. Fortunately, they embraced the idea to use Pinterest, which we encourage our clients to do, and they fed us lots of inspiring photos that got Nathan’s mind whirring. What Daniel and Jacquie had in mind was a playfully unexpected but functional family space with a large kitchen island bench to give them somewhere to sit and entertain, as well as a place for the kids to do their homework. They seemed to like grey tones and a neutral palette, although they also wanted to break that up with a pop of bright yellow or green. What they really didn’t want was the same-old same old. (No argument from us.)

Specifically, they wanted the kitchen to continue the mid-century feel of the rest of the home, complementing the warmth of its timber doorframes and windows. Having seen some of our recent work, they also leapt onto the idea of avoiding handles.

The final problem to be overcome was that half the original floor was tiled and the other half wasn’t. So they had the whole lot ground back to the concrete slab, which was then polished.

The polished concrete floor gave us, quite literally, a great basis to style from and suited Daniel and Jacquie’s colour palette nicely. For functionality, Nathan made a few subtle changes to the home’s layout, which made some delightful features as well as freeing up valuable space. An inconvenient linen/storage cabinet, for example, was moved and given a new purpose as a very convenient coffee/breakfast station. He also added a long bench seat to create a dining nook for both casual and formal dining. It also serves to accentuate the shape of the room, whilst the chosen fabric creates a lovely warmth and playfulness.

For that mid-century feel, Nathan designed the timber framework with inset handles to create a streamlined finish and the timber was matched to the colour of the window and doorframes.

Of course, if you’re looking at the photos, the standout feature we haven’t yet addressed is the funky ribbing on the overhead cupboards with its yellow pops to temper the neutrally coloured doors, panels, tiles and benchtop. Speaking of which, instead of having the ubiquitous stainless steel sink cut, we fitted a Staron acrylic top that incorporates a moulded sink and drainer grooves within its thin profile. Sleek, subtle and stylish.

The result is clean, modernist and totally in sync (or, is that ‘in sink’?) with the rest of the home. And whenever this family is all together at the one time, it’s now their favourite place to be. Who needs Bondi when you’ve got Belair?