One became a highly trained chef. The other is an enthusiastic, self-taught cook. And the kitchen we built for them is in the Barossa. But lest you think Simon Bryant and Maggie Beer are revamping their famous TV series, this is all about a couple named Corey (the ex-chef) and Kate (the cook) and the kitchen we built for their home in Angaston. That’s a fair haul from our home in Strathalbyn, so it had to be something special. And it was, helped enormously by the fact that this family turned out to be so well prepared, so open to Sarah’s ideas and such perfect clients from start to finish.

Right from the outset, we knew we were going to love working with this family. Kate had already prepared a great mood board to discuss at our first consultation and it was the perfect base to build from. Basically, if you’re not familiar with mood boards, they’re a collage of pictures that represent colours, styles, materials, architectural examples or even just emotions that express what you love or would desire to achieve. If you can’t find precisely what you want, that’s OK. We can talk around that. It’s actually quite a fun exercise for all the family to get involved in.

What became clear was that these two Angaston locals love to cook and entertain, so the kitchen was going to be the heart of the home and their lives with their two girls, and it would need to function just as well as it looked. (They came to the right place.) Kate’s brief was for “something interesting”. Well, frankly, we’d be horribly shocked if someone came to us and asked for something dull. The inspiration was mid-century (hallelujiah) and colours such as olive green, mustard and terracotta, along with materials like terrazzo and timber. (They really, truly had come to the right place.)

Now, terrazzo is one of those materials that can be polarising: you either love it or you hate it. For our vote, we love it, although it’s certainly best not to go overboard. A little goes a long way, which Kate and Corey completely agreed with.

The next dilemma was space. Yes, that perennial problem. The quandary for Kate and Corey was how to manage that limited resource. As it stood when Sarah first visited, the kitchen was separated from the dining/living room and there was a wall dividing the kitchen and pantry, which they undertook to remove. But once those barriers were gone, it still wasn’t a massive area. Sarah’s challenge was to deliver a kitchen that was big enough to give these two the space they needed to create their feasts without eating too much into the dining area, pun intended.

Adding to that dilemma, Kate does a lot of work from home and the casual dining area would also be her office during the day. They talk about kitchen-sink dramas on the telly but this one was for real.

As for the nitty gritty detail, Kate and Corey’s must-haves included more pantry space, storage and bench area. Just to add a little spice to that requirement, they also wanted to keep the overheads to a minimum. And by that we mean overhead cupboards, although who doesn’t want to spend as little as they have to? Good solutions aren’t always the most expensive if you start by nailing the brief with a clever designer.

On that point, Kate and Corey were keen to include a mix of cost-effective yet resilient materials, although they were certainly open to some higher-priced features to complement the design. For example, a tiled splashback was definitely on the agenda to add texture and interest, and they were very happy to incorporate some of those famous SpaceCraft curves to soften the space and create a transition between the soon-to-be-open living space and the kitchen.

One of the last things to discuss was one more very important detail: making sure that the new timbers either matched or, at least, worked together with the new flooring. What we always look for is an addition that blends with its surroundings: a conspicuously beautiful kitchen that looks like it’s belonged from the very beginning.

Sarah took Kate and Corey at their word to do “something interesting” and make the space feel fun with bold colours and varying finishes. Her idea was to create a 21st-century interpretation of the mid-century aesthetic by linking the interior of the home to the environment surrounding it: so, the olive, mustard and terracotta mutated to echo the Barossan eucalypts, red dirt and sun. Isn’t that more inviting than painting everything stark white? It’s a kitchen that speaks to country.

At the centre of Kate and Corey’s new family cosmos is a big, generous breakfast bar that easily accommodates all the cooking, casual dining and home-working, with a cantilevered edge all the way round and punctuated at the open end by a timber leg so, if needed, you can gather all the way round on stools.

Not surprisingly, the central bar is the main feature in this production, made from a jazzy terrazzo, which transitions to laminate for the rest of the benchtops through a curved point at the corner. A delightful finishing touch is the solid-timber trim that edges the back benches. This same timber is used as the signature trim for the windowsill, tile trim, floating shelves and exquisitely notched handles, as well as the above-mentioned bench leg. And, yes, it matches the flooring.

The keen-eyed observers will notice what’s missing in this kitchen: overhead cupboards. It’s something Kate and Corey really were very determined to go for, even if it meant sacrificing vertical storage space for a cleaner look. What they ended up with, however, is the svelte and curvy floating timber shelves and feature rangehood instead. Instead of dull cabinetry, they can pause and admire their collection of mid-century ceramics and cookbooks.

Digging deep into her box of tricks, Sarah managed to solve all the storage issues with lots of drawers, as well as two two-tier pull-outs either side of the cooktop for all their favourite sauces, oils and spices. Another nifty notion was to extend the benchtop into the pantry for even more workspace.

Finally, you can’t help but notice that splashback with the highly textured, gorgeous green tiles laid vertically. It’s like a window into a dense eucalypt forest.

You’d have to go a long way to meet a lovelier family. And Angaston was far enough for us. But it sure was worth the effort to set the stage for this cook and ex-chef to be the stars of their own show every single mealtime.